Monday, February 9, 2009

Your Bank Account - An Old Beginning With a New End

Story time, now, with a beautiful message:

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 80 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 are 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 got this article, via email from my niece. I loved this message but will I follow it at least 50%?! If I do, I will be the happiest person, I know.

My mama, when he was in his 70's used to be happy all the time. Maami told me later that the joints in his hands and legs are very painful but he doesn't talk about it to anyone. I asked mama, why so? Normally, old people like to talk about their ailments and the younger ones will try to show more concern. My mama said "These pains are age related. I have stopped all the treatment after trying them for sometime. I am on just painkillers now. If I am going to live for some more years, I am not going to hurt my children talking about my pains." Now he is no more. He used be the first person to wish us on Deepawali day, Ugadi (Kannada New Year starts on this day) etc. I still remember him doing 108 full stretch namaskaras (pranams) in front of the pooja room, after coming back from his shop at night (he had a book shop in Udupi, selling shloka books, Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Bhagavatha etc. (hard bound copies). He used to converse in Sanskrit also, fluently. I still miss him, when I go to Bangalore.

Hmm...I hope to try to be happy and make others happy....try...try...try...!

12 comments :

butterfly Surya said...

தங்கள் வலை அருமை.. Cool.

வாழ்த்துக்கள்..

உலக சினிமாக்களில் என்னதான் உள்ளது. அவர்கள் மட்டும் உலக விருதுகளை வாரி குவிக்கிறார்கள். அந்த சினிமாக்கள் எவை..?

அது போன்ற சினிமாக்களை பற்றி அறியவும் பார்த்து ரசிக்கவும் அன்புடன் அழைக்கிறேன்.


உலக சினிமா பற்றிய எனது வலையை பார்க்கவும்


http://butterflysurya.blogspot.com


தங்களின் மேலான கருத்துக்களையும் கூறவும்

நன்றி

Shilpa said...

beautiful message

Renu said...

beautiful post Sandhya, loved it and i also believe in this, most of the time i also never tell my health problems to anyone at all and never to my children, becuase i know that they will unnecessarily worry about me, and I always want happiness in their life.

Sandhya said...

Vannaththuppoochchiyar: Thank you. I don't know how to write in Tamil here. Yes, I will visit your site, definitely. Thank you.

Shilpa: Thank you.

Renu: You are engaging yourself. So you will not have time to think about your illness. You are the best MOTHER, Renu.

Renu said...

Sandhya..you are always too kind to me:), but i love it.

Sai Charan said...

Sandhyaji, you have conveyed many messages through this post.

Yes, old age is definitely a bank account, which safeguards the best memories of our life.

Ageing is a natural process. But why people always associate old age with disease?; Is disease not striking the young?

In a recent periodical, an author talked about old age as "You do need old age - you protect it, promote it, you extend it".

Sandhya said...

Thanks a ton, Sai!

The line "You do need old age - you protect it, promote it, you extend it" is very beautiful.

It is nice to know that even younger generation likes what I am writing ...I never thought that I will get this much boost from you all. Thanks once again!

R. Ramesh said...

Deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! wonderful line..in fact, this is what v all try to do but most of us fail..u know what, i always think heaven is here on earth if u r surrounded by happy people..thanks for the msg, friend

Sandhya said...

Hello Ramesh, I am lucky to have you bloggers as friends. Thank you.

Read Sai's lines - it is beautiful and now yours - "i always think heaven is here on earth if u r surrounded by happy people.."

Soul Searcher said...

A great message. Five simple rules, easy to put down and it would take a lifetime to implement.

In addition to the rules I loved the concept of a bank of memories. In the end that is all we have left.

Thanks so much for sharing

Swaram said...

Thatz so beautiful Sandhya .. hats off to ur Mama!

Sandhya said...

Swaram: Oh God, you are reading my year old post, thank you, Swaram!

I had forgotten about this post, I am reading it again, thanks to you!

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