Getting old is mandatory, growing up is optional

 

On the first day of school, our teacher introduced himself to the students and challenged us to introduce ourselves to someone we hadn't met before. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I looked back and saw a small lady, old and wrinkled, smiling radiantly at me, with a smile that lit up her whole being.

 

- Hey, handsome. My name is Rosa. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug? 

I laughed and replied enthusiastically: 

- Of course you can! - and she gave me a gigantic squeeze. 

- Why are you in college at such a young and innocent age? - I asked.

 

She replied playfully: 

- I'm here to find a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids, and then retire and travel. 

- You're joking,’ I said. 

I was curious to know what had motivated her to take on this challenge at her age, and she said: 

- I've always dreamed of having a university education, and now I'm having one! 

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 have class together and talk non-stop. 

I was always enraptured listening to that ‘time machine’ share her experience and wisdom with me. 

In the course of a year, Rosa became an icon on campus, and made friends easily wherever she went. 

She loved to dress well, and it showed in the attention she received from other students. She was enjoying life! 

At the end of the semester we invited Rosa to speak at our football banquet.

 

I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and approached the podium. As she began to read her prepared speech, she dropped three of the five sheets on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed, she picked up the microphone and simply said: 

- I'm sorry, I'm so nervous! I stopped drinking for Lent, and this whisky is killing me! I'll never get my papers in order again, so let me just tell you what I know. 

As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began: 

- We don't stop loving because we get old; we become old because we stop loving. There are only four secrets to staying young, happy and successful. You need to laugh and find humour in every day. You need 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 realise it! There's a huge difference between getting old and growing up. 

- If you're nineteen years old and you lie in bed for a whole year doing nothing productive, you'll be twenty. If I'm eighty-seven and I lie in bed for a year and do nothing, I'll be eighty-eight. Anyone can get older. It doesn't require talent or skill. The idea is to grow by always finding opportunity in novelty. This doesn't require any talent or skill. The idea is to grow by always finding the opportunity to change. Have no regrets. Old people generally don't regret the things they've done, but the things they've failed to do. The only people who are afraid of death are those who have regrets. 

She concluded her speech by courageously singing ‘The Rose’. 

She challenged each of us to study poetry and live it in our daily lives. At the end of the year, Rosa finished the final year of university that she had started all those years ago. 

A week after graduation, Rosa died peacefully in her sleep. 

More than two thousand students from the college attended her funeral, paying tribute to the wonderful woman who taught, by example, that it's never too late to be all that you can probably be. 

When you've finished reading this send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they'll really appreciate it! These words have been spread out of love, in memory of ‘Rosa’ and remember: 

‘Getting old is mandatory, growing up is optional’. 

If you read this with your heart, you'll be wiser, but if you read it with your mind, you'll just be older.

by Edival Toscano Varandas

ZT