Okay. This is scary.
Rich Singing Mandarin
When I turned 50, I decided to try something I've never done.
Learn Mandarin.
Maybe it'll help offset Altzheimers. Or Melheimerz. Maybe it'll help me understand my godson Song Yang He and my good friend Dr. He Qi better. Maybe it'll open some doors to future work in China. I'm not sure.
So as soon as I began to get reasonably good at it... er... marginally good.... er... okay, I'm still pretty bad at it... He Qi's wife, the famous Yu Hua, cons me into getting on a stage in front of 1000 people and singing a love song with one of the up-and-coming pop stars of China, Yuanping Cao.
It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
and later:
"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."
I agree. And I'll add a quote from my friend Monty:
"And if it feels stupid... you're doing it right."
