Growing Old

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 wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm 87years 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 3 x 5 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 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 know it! There is a
huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are 19 years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn 20 years old. If I am 87 years old and if I stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn 88." "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.
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" and she received the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over 2,000 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.

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 surely bring you through it.

I Believe I Can Fly

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly I believe I can fly I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me, oh
If I can see it, then I can be it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it
Hey, cuz I believe in me, oh
If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

Hey, if I just spread my wings
I can fly I can fly I can fly, hey
If I just spread my wings
I can fly

************************************
Cat : Lagu ini memang lagu motivasi. I Believe..
Norarman : Seriously.. i'm now at the point in life where i'm too tired to fly high any more.. am working to position myself to be able to spend more time wt people that matters most to me... May God help me.insyaAllah... sheeshhh.. flying high is too tiring sis....
Cat : Well.. all these while cat has been thinking more of other people than cat and in the end.. sheesh. Now trying to stand on my own feet and take charge of my own life (be it for better or worse).. May God help me too. I will try to fly even if my wings are broken.. Got to believe in it, bro..if not won't be able to face everything..

Salty Coffee

He met her at a party, she was so outstanding, guys were chasing after her.
He, by contrast, was so normal, nobody paid attention to him.
At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him.
She was surprised, but as he was polite, she agreed.

They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything.
She felt uncomfortable and thought : "please, let me go back home".

Suddenly he told the waiter: "Would you please give me some salt. I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him. How strange!
His face turned red, but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it.
She asked him curiously: "Why do you put salt in your coffee?"

He replied: "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing in the sea as I could feel the taste of the salty sea, just like the taste of salty coffee. Now every time I drink salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, of my hometown. I miss my hometown so much. I miss my parents who still lived there." Tears filled his eyes as he was saying this.

She was deeply touched. What he had said was his true feeling, coming from the bottom of his heart. A man who can speak of his homesickness, must be a man who cares about home, has a sense of responsibility..

Suddenly, she started to speak about her far away hometown, her childhood and of her family. They had a really nice talk, which is also a beautiful beginning of their story.
They continued to date each other. Slowly, she found out that he was actually a man who meet all her requirements: he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, responsible...in summary, he was such a good person and she almost overlooked him!

Thanks to his salty coffee!
The story was just like every beautiful love story: the princess married the prince, then they lived happily together.. and, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.

40 years later, he passed away, leaving her a letter which said:
"My dearest wife, please forgive me, forgive me as I have started our life with a lie. This was the only lie I have told you----the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time. Actually, I really wanted some sugar, but I mistakenly said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went on ahead with it. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried afterwards to tell you the truth many times in my life.. but I was too scared to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you about anything. Now I'm dying, and I am afraid of nothing. I will tell you the truth: I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste. But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life

Since I know you, I have never feel sorry for anything I have done for you. Having you with me is the biggest happiness for me. If I have the chance to live for a second time, I still want you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink salty coffee again."

Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her: what's the taste of salty coffee? It's sweet. She replied.

Sometimes, you feel like you know your partner more than anyone else..but only to realize afterwards that the person is not what you have described. It's just like the story of the salty coffee. Everyone has a hidden side which sometimes they hide for your own good.

Sometimes, salty coffee does taste better than sweet coffee..