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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.
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