The following story was taken from a post made in the LDS forums:
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.Please share your thoughts about this story in the comments.
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.
I love this story because it teach us that we have to have a good attitude for the things that we have every day….. I will share it with my family.
I have recently moved to an isolated location far away from my family and friends. I am struggling. This story brought tears to my eyes and touched my heart, I pray for the strength to make that same choice to be happy.
In a large degree, we choose our emotions. We choose to hate or forgive, accuse or assist, be selfish or compassionate.
wow!.. i certainly love the story. its true that we are the one making our self happy. I remember how my old friends betrayed me and make me angry. I thought they are really friends, but im wrong. So, it took me atleast 3 months before i moved on. Now, my looks is not so sour and messy when the bitterness is still inside my heart. I withdraw that feeling and enjoy my daily life now.
How can be other people so selfish, full of hatred in their hearts, envious and destroy their friends? Life is precious but short, so lets not make it even shorter:)
I learned a lesson from this story instead of us focusing on the things that are might be less than what we expect in our lives, we need to start focusing on the many blessings we have and praise God for it. It was such an inspiring story. No one can make us happy, we have to condition our minds to be happy despite our circumstances.