A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is > fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. > His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the > lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. > > As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a > visual description of his tiny room, including the eyele t sheets that had been hung on his window. > > 'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. > > 'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just > wait.' > > That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he > 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 would be to deposit a lot of > happiness in the bank account of memories!* > * > Thank you, all, 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. >
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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.
"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. "
