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...!