Jacqueline Emerson ~ A Smile A Day :)
Upstander: An individual, group, or institution that chooses to take a positive stand and act on behalf of themselves and others.
Being an upstander is about doing something. It's not just sitting around and listening and waiting for someone else to do it.
Being an upstander is about doing something. It's not just sitting around and listening and waiting for someone else to do it.
87Be happy with nothing and you’ll be happy with everything.
The Random Billboard of Wisdom I passed as I was driving today
An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose
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 round 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, and 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. 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 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.
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.
<3
(via cdanvers)
Be happy for no reason, like a child. If you are happy for a reason, you’re in trouble, because that reason can be taken from you.
Deepak Chopra
(Source: considerthishippie, via bareilless)
I took this photo in Botswana and it was one of my favorites…a group of elephants drawing into a protective circle around their young.
I remember the simultaneous rush of fear and awe that came as they joined together. On a planet where we humans think of ourselves as the central beings, WE were the intruders. We were the ones interrupting these elephants in their home.
In an ever-shrinking world, it’s nice to remember how big it is sometimes, and just how little of it we control. We are on this earth to learn and love and give yet we tend to get caught up in the little complications of it all.
It’s a funny feeling—of being both small and gigantic at the same time. Yes, each of us is one person, on this planet covered in billions. The problems and issues that plague us everyday may mean nothing to someone across the world—may mean nothing to a herd of elephants only interested in protecting their young. But at the same time, think about how big we are! How much we can do, how many people we can touch, how many lives we can change.
Anyways, I know I’m rambling. I basically just wanted to say: Look at how beautiful the earth is. We are so lucky to live on this planet and to have the opportunity to learn from everything around us.
Hope your night is filled with beautiful sunsets and sparkles and love. If it’s not, I’m sending it your way <3
Anonymous asked: You give off tall person vibes.
This is the greatest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. I thank you for that.
Anonymous asked: How does it feel being the most fab person ever?
I could ask the same to you! :)
