Friday, August 10, 2007
We make the world....
"You are the people who are shaping a better world. One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion." -- Dalai Lama (1935 -)
We can decide to make the world that we live in. If we chip in with our little bit, the world would be lot better. It may be apt to take this oath, which was once told by Edward Everett Hale
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
We make the world in which we live
By what we gather and what we give,
By our daily needs and the things we say,
By what we keep or we cast away.
We make our world by the beauty we see
In a skylark's song or lilac tree,
In a butterfly's wing, in the pale moon's rise,
And the wonder that lingers in midnight skies.
We make our world by the life we lead,
By the friends we have, by the books we read,
By the pity we show in the hour of care,
By the loads we lift and the love we share.
We make our world by the goals we pursue,
By the heights we seek and the higher view,
By hopes and dreams that reach the sun,
And a will to fight till the heights are won.
What is the place in which we dwell,
A hut or a palace, a heaven or hell,
We gather and we scatter, we take and we give,
We make our world - and there we live,
Lets us all make an effort to make this WORLD of ours a better place.
We can decide to make the world that we live in. If we chip in with our little bit, the world would be lot better. It may be apt to take this oath, which was once told by Edward Everett Hale
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
We make the world in which we live
By what we gather and what we give,
By our daily needs and the things we say,
By what we keep or we cast away.
We make our world by the beauty we see
In a skylark's song or lilac tree,
In a butterfly's wing, in the pale moon's rise,
And the wonder that lingers in midnight skies.
We make our world by the life we lead,
By the friends we have, by the books we read,
By the pity we show in the hour of care,
By the loads we lift and the love we share.
We make our world by the goals we pursue,
By the heights we seek and the higher view,
By hopes and dreams that reach the sun,
And a will to fight till the heights are won.
What is the place in which we dwell,
A hut or a palace, a heaven or hell,
We gather and we scatter, we take and we give,
We make our world - and there we live,
Lets us all make an effort to make this WORLD of ours a better place.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Growing Older is mandatory. Growing Up is optional
The first 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 when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. CanI give you a hug?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course youmay!" and she gave me a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such ayoung, innocent age?" I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet arich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...""No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to betaking 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 building and shared achocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom andexperience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easilymade friends wherever she went.
She loved to dress up and she reveled inthe attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living itup. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our footballbanquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, shedropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let mejust tell you what I know."
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playingbecause 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 every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even knowit!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather forthings we did not do. The only people who fear death are those withregrets." She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our dailylives. At the year's 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 students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to beall you can possibly be.
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
REMEMBER,GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.
She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. CanI give you a hug?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course youmay!" and she gave me a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such ayoung, innocent age?" I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet arich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...""No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to betaking 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 building and shared achocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom andexperience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easilymade friends wherever she went.
She loved to dress up and she reveled inthe attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living itup. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our footballbanquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, shedropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let mejust tell you what I know."
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playingbecause 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 every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even knowit!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather forthings we did not do. The only people who fear death are those withregrets." She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our dailylives. At the year's 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 students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to beall you can possibly be.
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
REMEMBER,GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.
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