My mother turned 84 this year. In June she fell in her room and broke her hip. After my father passed away, she joined a swimming club and took good care of herself. It must have been quite a shock for her to not be able to walk for a while because of the fracture. For a stretch there were days that she was depressed and didn’t socialize with anyone. Her strength waning, her muscles weakened, she stopped going to rehab. I received worried calls from her grandchildren. They pleaded with me to stay by her side as much as I could.
I decided to join a special seminar with my mom. For three days we stayed together in a hotel room and participated in the seminar. The attendees were various top level professionals from a mix of industries, including the president of a major company, the top-selling insurance agent in Japan, and the CEO of a well-known restaurant chain. However, the lecture was not complex talk directed at specialists in a specific field. The focus was on the basic things we can do to live a good life–the skills we should acquire to achieve our goals, the proper mental attitude, the tasks we know are important but have neglected completing. Many excellent ideas were presented.
If you compare life to an auto race, this seminar is like the pit stop that we all need every so often. I have attended several times and thought taking my mom would be a great birthday present for her.
The day following our three-day seminar my mother told me she had returned to her swimming club. She was putting on her makeup and even giving herself a pedicure in preparation. As she was going out the door, she uttered, “I wish I had been able to join that seminar with your father.” And she dashed off.
Regardless of whether you are a CEO, a top salesman, a or mother, we’re all simply humans sharing the same important thing in life–love.