When your dreams die
WHEN YOUR DREAMS DIE
Would you like a recipe for staying young? From earliest times men have believed that their search for the fountain of youth would be rewarded. They have sought it much as a man goes in search of happiness, only to find that the secret of both youth and happiness lie in the same place, within themselves.
A philosopher wrote, “There is not much to do but bury a man when the last of his dreams is dead.” That seems to be the answer, a person is as young as his dreams for it explains why some people are old at 40, others still young at 90.
Youth is a time for tackling new projects, as a person is enthusiastically beginning something new, he will remain young in the only places that really count, in his mind and heart, he will be young in spirit. As Emerson said, “We need not count a man’s years until he has nothing else to count.”
The person who has no dream to spur him on; no goal to achieve, is already old, for age comes when hope and planning for the future die. This is why a person’s life work must be much larger than an eight hour a day job. Men only grow old in occupations with fixed limitations, uninteresting surroundings, and with no call upon the imagination or the mind. But some people stay young regardless of their work. These are the folk who are striving for something better, something greater. People who stay young are people who feel young, regardless of their years. They are people who like to try new things, not afraid of change, willing to work on their goals realising that failure is not an option. The sort of person who will plant an Oak tree even if they may never sit in its shade.
People who stay young keep their sense of humour, they laugh often, even when the joke happens to be on them. They do not hold grudges, if they are angered by something or someone, they are quick to forgive and forget. They seem to know that hatred only hurts the one who hates.
Those who are young at heart look for and are quick to accept new ideas. They have a healthy curiosity about everything that comes within the range of their senses. They know that while the body may slow down, the mind can grow more able and more powerful with the years. A person can be at their best, mentally, at eighty or even older.
When my mother turned eighty someone told she was now over the hill, she responded, “Well in that case, I will probably pick up speed!” When she turned ninety, she said “Every morning when I wake up, I tell myself that today I’m going to enjoy every moment because I’m never going to be this young again.”
So, never give up on your dream, the one that you are trying to bring into fulfilment, for a person is as young as his dreams and as old as his doubts.
“As I approve of a youth that has something of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with an old man that has something of the youth. He that follows this rule may be old in body, but can never be so in mind.” Cicero
To your success
Martin Louw
thinkandgrowwealthy.co.za
