Food For Thought!

This is a repeater, but worth sharing again.
>This is a true story and quite relevant to all of us.
>
>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. 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, innocent age?" I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a
>rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids..."
>
>"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 building and shared a chocolate 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 and experience with me.
>
>Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made
>friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she 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 began to deliver her
>prepared speech, she dropped 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 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.
>
>1. You have to laugh and find humor every day.
>
>2. 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!
>
>3. 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 the opportunity in change.
>
>4. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did,
>but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are
>those with regrets."
>
>She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose." She challenged
>each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
>
>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 be all you can possibly be.
>
>When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to
>your friends and family, they'll really enjoy it! 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. God
>promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it He
>will
>bring you through it.