What wisdom would you share with the world at 91?
Recently I have had the chance to spend a significant amount of time with my wonderful 91 year old Grandmother. During this adventure I came to the conclusion that everyone should like with a 91 year old at least once in their lives! Since that doesn't happen as often these days I thought I might share some of the many lessons that I learned while I was there. This is the wisdom she shared not only with me but with everyone around her. She doesn't use her words to share her wisdom, she uses her actions!
First and for most my Grandma reminded me to always put God first! She arose around 6:15 am every morning and before she could do anything else she spent time doing her daily devotions. She read from the Bible, Prayed, and followed a Guidepost study. Her study has been planned so well that she will read the Bible in a year again. Because she had spent some time in the hospital she was just a little behind so she read double for the first few days to catch up. These sessions were an hour and half long. I could see from the way she reverenced her time with God just how important that time was to her. She prayed personally and we prayed together and I could see that over the years she had developed a personal connection to Him!
At least a few times every day she would say the phrase "Progress, Progress, Progress". I watched as she set goals and worked to accomplish them. One example is in her daily walk. Before her surgery she would walk for 30 minutes a day. She desperately wanted to get back to this goal and feel like she was in full swing. So every day she would walk just a little bit further and for just a little bit longer. Even when she didn't feel like doing it she went to work because she knew if she didn't get up and go she'd never get better. She yearned for progress and rejoiced when she succeeded! She taught that "the hurrier I go the behinder I get" meaning that if she rushed to accomplish her goals and tasks every day she was more likely to make a mistake and have to start over. Slow and steady really does win the race!
Next, she taught that the better friend you are the more friends you will find. It never ceased to amaze me how every day she would receive multiple phone calls from friends checking up on her and asking if she needed anything. Every day that I checked the mail box there was a card or letter from a friend sending well wishes. These were from people at Church, from volunteering, and friends she had for many years. Everywhere I went in her little community people would ask how she was doing. With 500 people living in the community even the waitress in the dinning room remembered her name and asked about her. Then I saw her interact with some of these friends. It was beautiful to watch as she listened to them, and shared with them, and cared about them. Even though she didn't think fondly of everyone she met, she always found something good about them to talk about to highlight in a conversation. She focuses on the good!
The last lesson I will highlight for now was her extreme lesson in always expressing gratitude. Every day she would thank everyone around her for everything! Her list of thank you cards on one particular day was 14! She remembered to thank her friends and also her family members in personal ways for any amount of goodness that was brought into her life. These weren't simple, but were well thought out and meaningful. She also wrote down every day in her journal the good things that had happened and the simple blessings from God. This seemed to help her remain optimistic and cheerful.
Her life is still ticking forward, and every minute she is making the world a better place to be! I'm not sure where I will be when I am 91 years old, but I hope that I can carry on her legacy and teach by example the wisdom of experience! I'm so thankful that I was blessed to spend so much time with her and I am looking forward to many more memories!
First and for most my Grandma reminded me to always put God first! She arose around 6:15 am every morning and before she could do anything else she spent time doing her daily devotions. She read from the Bible, Prayed, and followed a Guidepost study. Her study has been planned so well that she will read the Bible in a year again. Because she had spent some time in the hospital she was just a little behind so she read double for the first few days to catch up. These sessions were an hour and half long. I could see from the way she reverenced her time with God just how important that time was to her. She prayed personally and we prayed together and I could see that over the years she had developed a personal connection to Him!
At least a few times every day she would say the phrase "Progress, Progress, Progress". I watched as she set goals and worked to accomplish them. One example is in her daily walk. Before her surgery she would walk for 30 minutes a day. She desperately wanted to get back to this goal and feel like she was in full swing. So every day she would walk just a little bit further and for just a little bit longer. Even when she didn't feel like doing it she went to work because she knew if she didn't get up and go she'd never get better. She yearned for progress and rejoiced when she succeeded! She taught that "the hurrier I go the behinder I get" meaning that if she rushed to accomplish her goals and tasks every day she was more likely to make a mistake and have to start over. Slow and steady really does win the race!
Next, she taught that the better friend you are the more friends you will find. It never ceased to amaze me how every day she would receive multiple phone calls from friends checking up on her and asking if she needed anything. Every day that I checked the mail box there was a card or letter from a friend sending well wishes. These were from people at Church, from volunteering, and friends she had for many years. Everywhere I went in her little community people would ask how she was doing. With 500 people living in the community even the waitress in the dinning room remembered her name and asked about her. Then I saw her interact with some of these friends. It was beautiful to watch as she listened to them, and shared with them, and cared about them. Even though she didn't think fondly of everyone she met, she always found something good about them to talk about to highlight in a conversation. She focuses on the good!
The last lesson I will highlight for now was her extreme lesson in always expressing gratitude. Every day she would thank everyone around her for everything! Her list of thank you cards on one particular day was 14! She remembered to thank her friends and also her family members in personal ways for any amount of goodness that was brought into her life. These weren't simple, but were well thought out and meaningful. She also wrote down every day in her journal the good things that had happened and the simple blessings from God. This seemed to help her remain optimistic and cheerful.
Her life is still ticking forward, and every minute she is making the world a better place to be! I'm not sure where I will be when I am 91 years old, but I hope that I can carry on her legacy and teach by example the wisdom of experience! I'm so thankful that I was blessed to spend so much time with her and I am looking forward to many more memories!
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