On a recent flight back home from China, I struck up a conversation with a fragile-looking old man who was sitting next to me on the plane. From the wrinkles and folds in his forehead, I guessed he was about 80 or 85 years old. I thought that I would try to forge a new friendship with him. We talked for the entire flight, about 14 hours. Our conversation mostly fluctuated between floating down the Yangtze River, being a shepherd of a flock of sheep in the countryside, traveling to many foreign lands, and being flung into the foam and white water from a raft that was traveling down the Amazon River. The old man had done all of these things in his lifetime, and I can guess that he had done many more.
I explained to him that in my life, I had only done a fraction of the interesting thing he had done. I told him that my foster parents always forbid me to do things that brave folks like him enjoyed doing. He listened to me with a smile on his face and said that he would help me formulate a plan to help me to do more formidable and exciting thing as I moved forward in my life.
He said that life should not follow a boring format, but be an adventure filled with fragments of great excitement and time of sorrow, times when we succeed and times when we foul up. He then asked me how many girlfriends I’d had. Immediately my face became flush, because I had never had a girlfriend. He told me not to be embarrassed, but he recommended that I use my heart as often as possible. He said that that was his biggest piece of advice for me. However, he warned me that the risk of using your heart was that someday it might be fractured into many small pieces by someone who you love. He told me that by following those rules, his life was able to flourish with excitement for so many years.
The 14-hour flight went so quickly because of our interesting conversation. As we were leaving the plane, he grasped my hand and squeezed it for a moment. He looked in my eyes, and said, “Young man, you have the potential to do anything. Foster that potential. Don’t worry about success, just try everything!” I know I’ll never forget those words form
that day. I hope you will bear in mind the message I am forwarding to you through this story.
I explained to him that in my life, I had only done a fraction of the interesting thing he had done. I told him that my foster parents always forbid me to do things that brave folks like him enjoyed doing. He listened to me with a smile on his face and said that he would help me formulate a plan to help me to do more formidable and exciting thing as I moved forward in my life.
He said that life should not follow a boring format, but be an adventure filled with fragments of great excitement and time of sorrow, times when we succeed and times when we foul up. He then asked me how many girlfriends I’d had. Immediately my face became flush, because I had never had a girlfriend. He told me not to be embarrassed, but he recommended that I use my heart as often as possible. He said that that was his biggest piece of advice for me. However, he warned me that the risk of using your heart was that someday it might be fractured into many small pieces by someone who you love. He told me that by following those rules, his life was able to flourish with excitement for so many years.
The 14-hour flight went so quickly because of our interesting conversation. As we were leaving the plane, he grasped my hand and squeezed it for a moment. He looked in my eyes, and said, “Young man, you have the potential to do anything. Foster that potential. Don’t worry about success, just try everything!” I know I’ll never forget those words form
that day. I hope you will bear in mind the message I am forwarding to you through this story.