I was talking to a slightly older bunch of participants at a workshop today and was amazed at the lack of energy they displayed at the thought of reinventing themselves or even of looking at some dreams. The common refrain was that 'we are too old, why do we need to do this?' They were all around 45-50 and they were all too old for even thinking!
Coming home I saw for a brief while the exit of Tony, the trucker, from Masterchef US and he is 52 and seriously thinking of changing his career from trucking to cooking. I googled old achievers and here's some stuff I found on the net which I hope is authentic. Some interesting stuff about old achievers.
- Helen Keller (blind at nineteen months old and deaf soon after)wrote a book "Teacher" at 73, which was published two years later, and died at 88.
- Miguel Cevantes wrote Don Quixote when he was almost 70 years old
- John Milton wrote Paradise Regained when he was 63
- Noah Webster wrote his dictionary at 70
- Benjamin Franklin helped frame the US Constitution at 81
- Alfred Tennyson published the memorable poem Crossing The Bar at 83
- Michelangelo painted some of his Masterpieces in his late 80s
- Galileo made his greatest discovery when he was 73
- Thomas Edison worked in his laboratory at 83
- Arturo Toscanini conducted an orchestra at 87
- Mark Twain wrote "Eve's Diary" and "The $30,000 Bequest" at 71
- Titian painted his great work "The Battle of Lepanto" at 95 and his "Last Supper" at 99
(http://cristina327.hubpages.com/hub/Blooming-In--The--Golden--Years)
And on another website I found this.
- Oldest person to climb Mt Everest (male) Katsusuke Yanagisawa (Japan, b. 20 March 1936), a former school teacher, who summited from the north side of the world's tallest mountain with team Himex on 22 May 2007, aged 71 years 63 days.
- Oldest Tandem Parachute Jump (Female) Estrid Geertsen (Denmark, b. August 1, 1904) made a tandem parachute jump on September 30, 2004 from an altitude of 4,000 m (13,100 ft) over Roskilde, Demark, at the age of 100 years 60 days.
- Oldest person to complete a marathon (male) Fauja Singh, in Toronto on October 17, 2011. At age 100, he finished in 8.25.18.
- Oldest person to ski to both Poles Norbert H. Kern (Germany, b. 26 July 1940) who skied to the South Pole on 18 January 2007 and the North Pole on 27 April 2007 when he was 66 years 275 days old.
(http://smileinseconds.blogspot.com/2010/04/old-achievers.html)
Now to print this and go back to class tomorrow!.. It's never too late to dream and to achieve. Like George Burns said 'you don't get old as long as you are working.'
Coming home I saw for a brief while the exit of Tony, the trucker, from Masterchef US and he is 52 and seriously thinking of changing his career from trucking to cooking. I googled old achievers and here's some stuff I found on the net which I hope is authentic. Some interesting stuff about old achievers.
- Helen Keller (blind at nineteen months old and deaf soon after)wrote a book "Teacher" at 73, which was published two years later, and died at 88.
- Miguel Cevantes wrote Don Quixote when he was almost 70 years old
- John Milton wrote Paradise Regained when he was 63
- Noah Webster wrote his dictionary at 70
- Benjamin Franklin helped frame the US Constitution at 81
- Alfred Tennyson published the memorable poem Crossing The Bar at 83
- Michelangelo painted some of his Masterpieces in his late 80s
- Galileo made his greatest discovery when he was 73
- Thomas Edison worked in his laboratory at 83
- Arturo Toscanini conducted an orchestra at 87
- Mark Twain wrote "Eve's Diary" and "The $30,000 Bequest" at 71
- Titian painted his great work "The Battle of Lepanto" at 95 and his "Last Supper" at 99
(http://cristina327.hubpages.com/hub/Blooming-In--The--Golden--Years)
And on another website I found this.
- Oldest person to climb Mt Everest (male) Katsusuke Yanagisawa (Japan, b. 20 March 1936), a former school teacher, who summited from the north side of the world's tallest mountain with team Himex on 22 May 2007, aged 71 years 63 days.
- Oldest Tandem Parachute Jump (Female) Estrid Geertsen (Denmark, b. August 1, 1904) made a tandem parachute jump on September 30, 2004 from an altitude of 4,000 m (13,100 ft) over Roskilde, Demark, at the age of 100 years 60 days.
- Oldest person to complete a marathon (male) Fauja Singh, in Toronto on October 17, 2011. At age 100, he finished in 8.25.18.
- Oldest person to ski to both Poles Norbert H. Kern (Germany, b. 26 July 1940) who skied to the South Pole on 18 January 2007 and the North Pole on 27 April 2007 when he was 66 years 275 days old.
(http://smileinseconds.blogspot.com/2010/04/old-achievers.html)
Now to print this and go back to class tomorrow!.. It's never too late to dream and to achieve. Like George Burns said 'you don't get old as long as you are working.'
2 comments:
Dev Anand closer home is a good example.
But Dev Anand is a young achiever who went on achieving till an old age!
Post a Comment