Getting Older.

 

The above is a drawing I did two years ago. He is a very friendly and gentleman I have met on and off for a number of years as I make my trips to the Lake District. I spent some time in his company last night and laughingly he said about the drawing he had aged a bit in the last two years. I just smiled had we all not done the same?

I found myself thinking back to when I was younger and came into contact with a much older lady. We were both attending an evening class on theology. I was there to see if learning more I might make an effort to go to university. She told me she was there because she was too young to stop learning.

She played an enormous part in my becoming a minister, and in my understanding of life.

I remembered another older lady who taught me many things in another way. I first met her when we were attending a course together. We had been told to introduce ourselves to somebody we did not know. Before I got a chance she was introducing herself to me. She was in her eighties and had a beaming smile.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Mary. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she did just that.  

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

 “No seriously,” I asked. I was curious about 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 making a start on getting one!” she told me.

So began a great friendship that did not last as long as it might have but at her age, that was to be expected.

I do remember she had been invited to speak as an after dinner speaker and I attended as her guest.  I will never forget that night  She was introduced and stepped up to the podium.

As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her prompt 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 me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing 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 humour 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 know it! 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. And have no regrets.

To end a little thought of my own. Life should never be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely and well preserved. Rather we should skid in sideways with your favourite food in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Your body should be thoroughly used up and spent totally worn out with living. There should also be a smile of satisfaction on your face for a life fully lived.

Have a great day.