Happiness is...

jrae · 01-13-08, 12:14 AM

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed
each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coiffed 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 eyelet 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 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.