Happiness is...

...a decision to appreciate the simple things in life.

This little anecdote popped into my incoming email box this week.  
It's the kind of Round Robin I usually delete at source without opening,
but something about it caught my eye.
It did indeed turn out to be a worthwhile read and something I wanted to share...

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 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 manoeuvred 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 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! 

There are five simple rules to being happy: 

1. Free your heart from hatred. 

2. Free your mind from worries. 

3. Live simply. 

4. Give more. 

5. Expect less. 

You see, it turns out that happiness is not something that is the preserve of those with 'perfect' lives, those without obstacles, challenges or hurdles to face.  And yes, there are days where we'd all rather hide away from humanity.  But perhaps 'deciding' to be happy, to adopt a positive mental attitude is part of the answer to appreciating the simpler, yet more important, things in life.


Our children certainly seem to have got the knack of this without any effort haven't they...