A foreign language school started its new term of basic Japanese course. On registration day, an elderly lady came forward. ‘Registering for your child?’ the girl at the counter asked with a smile. ‘No, it’s for myself.’
The lady explained, ‘My daughter-in-law is Japanese. I don’t know Japanese so I can’t understand what my son and daughter-in-law say to each other. I hope to communicate with them better. That’s why I’ve decided to take up this course.’
‘How old are you, madam?’ asked the girl. ‘Sixty-eight,’ she answered. ‘You probably need to learn for 2 years before you can understand what they are saying in Japanese. But you will turn seventy 2 years later!’ The girl told her bluntly. The old lady smiled and replied, ‘Miss, do you think I will turn sixty-eight 2 years later if I don’t take up the course at all?’
Things always go on this way. We think that we are starting too late so we give it up totally. But it is always never too late to get started. We will be a year older next year whether we are walking or lying down all the time. When next year comes, every one will have a year added to his or her age. However at that time, some may have made some achievement whereas some are still empty-handed. This difference lies in whether you make the move to start at all.
The elderly lady would still turn seventy years old two years later, whether or not she took up the foreign language course. But the difference would be, she would be happily joining in the conversation between her son and her daughter-in-law or she would still be sitting aside like a statue not able to join in the conversation.
