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Happiness In Old Age

I received this in my Inbox and thought you might like to comment on it here.

ATTITUDE

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 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.

Age Old Happiness

Beautiful story JB, it brought tears to my eyes, yeah, I'm very emotional...I loved the story.

I think I need to work out more on Number 2, Number 4 and Number 5. Maybe I could use it as great goals for the New Year.

Happiness In Old Age Health & Special Psychology

The attitude this woman demonstrates by these two statements has a lot to do with why she is still alive at 92! A positive attitude is so important to our health, not just our mental health, but physical as well.

We have probably all known someone who was always negative. Always expecting the bad. Ever notice how they often end up getting exactly what they expect.

Thanks for posting such an important reminder JB. I am going to work more conciously on having a positive attitude about everything in my life!

Edited: tenaheff on 8th Dec, 2003 - 6:48pm

Age Old Happiness

I think the sad part is that most of us do the opposite of every one of those pieces of advice. We usually carry around bitterness instead of "freeing our heart from hatrid" and that brings our overall view of life down. Worry...Worry is a big one, for me in particular. We are such a society that needs to be in control of everything, even if it is beyond what we can control. Live simply...give more... Life nowadays have to be extravagant and about us. Media tells us we need to be the focal point, andmost people adhere. Expect less... How many of expect less in our lives? Truthfully.

I think this story is a wonderful transcription of how we really should live our lives. If everybody in the world had that same mindset, then our world would be a better place.