# 7

Rose and lessons of Life

Last week of friend that I haven't seen in several years sent me a story about a lady named Rose and her attitude on life. Some of you may already have read about Rose. I would like to add some thoughts to the e-mail I received from Tom Scheller.

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether they are twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep learning." Henry Ford

There is a song by Chris Rice--Life Means So Much. If you get a chance listen to it. If I can find the words to the song that will be a future Motivational Moment.

Dr. Robert Schuller wrote about life's problems: Ask yourself these two questions: 1. What is the worst that can happen to me 2. Can I handle it? He adds, If you play it down (the problem) and pray it up, God will give you the ability to cope with the worse that could happen. ("Tough Times Don't Last, But Tough People Do!)

And, according to the comic Ziggy: "Life is a game, but only you can decide whether it's going to RISK or TRIVIAL PURSUIT."

Dreams: The 1st day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around to find a wrinkled old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit her entire being.

She said, "Hi handsome, my name is Rose, and I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may", and

she gave me a giant squeeze.

"Why are you in college at such a young and innocent age I asked?" She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel."

"No seriously" I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education, and now I'm getting one", she told me.

After class we walked to the student union and shared a milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk non-stop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time-machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year Rose became a campus icon and easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she prepared to deliver her speech, she dropped three of her five cards. Frustrated and a little

embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and said, "I'm so sorry to be so jittery. I gave up beer for lent, and the whiskey is killing me. I'll never get my speech back in order, so I'll tell you what I know". As we laughed she cleared her throat and began.

"We do not stop playing games because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around dead and don't even know it. There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for a full year, and don't do anything productive, you will turn twenty. I am eighty-seven years old and if I stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity to change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather from the things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

She concluded by singing "The Rose". She challenged us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the years end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college student attended her funeral in tribute to a wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late be all you possibly can be.

Contact Tom at: tomhughes@motivationNmore.com

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