When
we’re young, we certainly feel like we have all the time in the world. Just
starting out. No cares. No worries.
As we
grow wiser, aka, older, we begin to see life in a different way. The
limitations and the obstructions. All sorts of thing stop us from the dreams of
our youth.
So the
50, 60, or 70 year old who always wanted to write a book, gives up.
Whispers
slither through our minds: “You can’t do it. You’re too old.” “Not possible,
your best years are behind you.” “Nuh-uh. What will people think? That you’ve
lost your mind?”
So
what’s left to do?
Sit on
the porch in a rocker and wait for the end? Drink your prune juice and tuck the
lap robe a tad tighter? I don’t think so. Join me on a journey of the Second
Time Around:
--Colonel
Sanders was 65 when he started KFC as was Laura Ingalls Wilder when she began
the Little House series.
--Golda
Meir became the 4th prime minister of Israel at 70.
--At 71, Katsusuke
Yanagisawa, a retired Japanese schoolteacher, became the oldest person to
climb Mt. Everest.
--At 77, John Glenn became the
oldest person to go into space.
--At 79, Winston Churchill
received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
--At 85,
Theodor Mommsen became the oldest person to receive a Nobel Prize in
Literature.
--At 94, George Bernard Shaw was working on his last
play, Why She Would Not.
--Grandma
Moses got her last commission as an artist when she was 99.
And here
you are, wondering if you are capable of writing a novel!
You
certainly can. You have all the time in the world. And you don’t have the
limitations of youth who have yet to pull on the richness of life experiences!
You’ve been there; done that. Now sit yourself down and write that novel.
Yesiree!
You’ve got all the time in the world.
10 comments:
Great encouragement.As Grandpa always said, "Can't never did nothin'."
I love all the old expressions.My dad was loaded with them. And they always encouraged to try something new!
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” -Henry Ford
I'm also remind of fitness guru Jack Lalalanne, who stated that he absolutely refused to think about his age. He performed his daily exercise workout up to the day before he died at age 96. Well into his senior years he was swimming while haulting rowboats, etc.
I always appreciate stats like this. It gives me great encouragement! It is so easy to sit back and say you've done it all when there is so much yet to do!
I have a class I do on this, and you'd all be amazed at some of things that weren't even dreamed of until the person was well past 80! I guess it's true, you're only as young as you feel!
A fun and encouraging reminder. If you're Paul McCartney, you can still keep touring till you're seventy, even if you might not hit that last high note on "Hey Jude." I just hit birthday #60 and spent part of the weekend writing, so thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks, David. And yes, especially writers where physical limitations are a moot point for the most part. You're right, though, the last time I saw PM, he didn't quite hit those notes, but I don't think anyone cared. LOL
I met a wonderful man named Glenn at Mount Hermon, who wrote his first book when he was 80. This year, at age 87, he won "best new writer" award.
That's AWESOME, Lyneta. I love stories like this.
This is so true! I have a friend who at seventy three is beginning a novel and it is amazing. I am going to send him this link, because he needs to hear this!
Post a Comment