Feel too old…too broke…too tired…to chase your dream? Maybe you just need a role model.
Although he hadn’t made a movie in 36 years and had never really “acted” before, George Burns won wide acclaim and an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in The Sunshine Boys. It was his first Academy Award. He was 80-years-old.
Ocie Tune King had always wanted to complete her college degree after leaving school at the end of her junior year. She finally realized her dream in 1999, graduating from West Virginia University at the age of 94.
Golda Mier was 71 when she was elected Prime Minister of Israel — the first woman so elected. Ronald Reagan was the oldest person ever elected President of the U.S. at age 69.
Tim Frisby waited 20 years to fulfill a lifetime dream. He was a 39-year-old freshman on the 2004 varsity football team at the University of South Carolina.
Maxcy Filer was 61-years-old before he passed the California Bar Exam after failing 47 times over 25 years.
J.C. Penney lost his entire fortune at age 45 but bounced back to endow many charitable causes through his James C. Penney Foundation, which is still active today. He was still coming in to his office at age 95.
Harland Sanders was 62-years-old, with nothing more than his $105 social security check and a recipe for fried chicken, when he founded franchise giant Kentucky Fried Chicken.
At 47, Martina Navratilova became the oldest woman to ever win a match at Wimbledon. Proving that no matter which way the ball bounces…it’s never too late.
THIS IS GREAT, I THINK THIS MESSAGE TEACHES US THAT NO MATTER, THE AGE , CIRCUMSTANCES, WE CAN SCRAPE THROUGH THE HURDLES.
FROM
OLUYEMI PHILIP.
NIGERIA.
This is wonderful. I stumbled on it while searching for a biography of Martin Luther. I was 33 years old when I received my B.A. degree; was 41 when I had my first child; and was 43 when I received the Ph.D. I am determined to be the award-winning author of ten books before I am 60. By the grace of God, I will as I am working on the 18th chapter of the 10th book. No condition is permanent and whatever the mind can imagine and conceive, that it can achieve through persistence. I am a successful Nigerian, an international motivational speaker.
These stories are brief but invaluable, each one providing another seed of hope. I am 63 (almost) and know I am just now at the start of my life. My “before” was invaluable too; so many lessons leading up to, finally, this time of clarity. I have been researching, and I personally choose to follow the pathway that Vic has delineated for us, because I can readily see that therein is true integrity. Thanks for this post too – it is inspirational.