We should never give up!!!

As long as we are in full possession of our faculties, no matter what our chronological age may be, we should not give up and say “I’m too old for this”… It all comes down to the way we decide to think and to live. We might easily still have twenty years ahead of us and we just can’t simply sit around and wait to be ushered into the next life. The number of years that we may still have to live is the same as those we lived between our twenties and forties… We should remember all that we managed to do in those two decades!! Evidently, we no longer have the energy that we had then, but that is no excuse to not pursue our interests, find things we love to do, and be thoroughly happy with our new achievements!!!

After reading an article on the BBC about Sir David Attenborough and his 70 years presenting programs on plant and animal life on television, I decided to look up and make a list of people who live or have lived their lives with enthusiasm and to the fullest, without giving much thought to how old they actually were.

Here is a small sample that will continue eventually:

Sir David Attenborough – Renowned naturalist and television presenter of nature programs for the past 70 years. He is currently preparing a special program for the BBC to commemorate his 90^th birthday.

The Dalai Lama – I believe he does not need an extensive introduction – he is now 80 years old and very much in tune with the current world and its situation.

Leon Tolstoy – In 1909, when he was 81 years old, he finished “A Calendar of Wisdom” and he would die a year later.

Marguerite Duras – French author, scriptwriter and filmmaker. She passed away in 1996 when she was 82 years old and finished the book “C’est Tout” (“No More”) just days before she died.

Jorge Luis Borges – Argentine writer, essayist and poet. He died in 1986 when he was 86 years old. In 1983 he published a book of short stories, “Shakespeare’s Memory”, in 1984 a book of essays, “Atlas” and in 1986 he visited Spain to present his book of poetry, “Los Conjurados”.

George Bernard Shaw – Irish playwright and critic; he won both the Nobel Prize and an Oscar (for his adaptation of Pygmalion to My Fair Lady). He died in 1950 at 94 and in that same year had finished writing a play: “Why She Would Not”.

Pablo Picasso – A genius in the world of art, was working and producing until the very end of his life. He died when he was 91.

Michael Caine – British actor; he is 82 years old and in 2015 participated in the movie “Kingsmen” as well as in “Youth” which was presented at the Cannes Festival and will be in the movie theaters soon, as well as in “Going in Style” to be shown in 2016. Totally active!!!

The list goes on and on and I’ll add names and stories to it later on. To the list of these famous people we should add the names of all those who don’t make the news and who also live or have lived their lives to the fullest until the very end. I’ll always remember a story that a friend told me about a very dear and very old aunt she had. She had been invited to have lunch with her and at the end of the meal, her aunt commented that the malfatti she had prepared that day had not been as good as they usually were and that she would make sure they came out better the next time. She died peacefully in her sleep that night. What a wonderful way to live!!!