Could it really be this SIMPLE?

I received this as an e-mail today. It was one of those pass along e-mails - sometimes I don't even read them but today I did. First I'll share it and then I'll tell you why I needed to read this today.

A 92 year old, petite, well poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionable 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 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 it in 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!

5 simple rules of happiness

1. Free your heart from hatred

2. Free your mind from worries

3. Live simply

4. Give more

5. Expect less

OK now me talking. . .

I consider myself  a pretty happy person - but lately I have been feeling a little down (I think it has to do a little  with the BC pill - but that's another  post in itself) but life has a way of getting us down every now and then and I have been in one of those slumps. I could make my own list of all the things lately that have been bringing me down - but after reading this I won't. Instead I am going to focus on 1 of these simple rules each day and make it work for me. 

I will check back later and confess how I did.