If
we only program ourselves like this woman,
life will always be rewarding and enjoyable.
The
92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady who is fully dressed each
morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly
applied, even though she is legally blind moved to a nursing home today. Her
husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many
hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly
when told her room was ready.
As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I
provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that
had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the
enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room ... just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like
my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I
arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I
can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my
body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that
do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day
and all the happy memories I've stored away ... just for this time in my
life. Old age is like a bank account ... you withdraw from what you've put in."
"
So, my advice to you," she continued, "would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account
of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still
depositing.
Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from
hatred, 2. Free your mind from worries, 3. Live simply, 4. Give
more, 5. Expect less.”
Writer
Unknown
The
secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the
past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live
in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ~Buddha~
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of
everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along
their way.
|
Tim
|