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 applied, 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 have decided to love it. "It's a decision I make every morning when I wakeup. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty Ihave with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and bethankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the newday 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.
Pass this message to 7 people, EXCEPT ME. You will receive a miracletomorrow.Now, STOP! Did you hear what I just said. You WILL receive a miracletomorrow. So send it right now!
Just as I finished editing this post my 3 yr old son came running up to me with a huge smile and my bible. He plopped it on my lap and ran away laughing. Ok, I get it....
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Wow. What an amazing experience. The elderly are always looked down upon and tolerated------I've always made a point to cherish and learn from them----sounds like you're one of those people too. Just THINK of what we can learn from them!
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