Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bank account of happiness. . . .


I love this story!  I hope and pray that my bank account of happiness will always be full, even if I'm broke!!  Life is what we make of it - good or bad, rich or poor, we alone, determine which road we will take and how much happiness we deposit in our account!
 
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 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 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.  Try to deposit a lot of happiness in your bank account of memories!  If you haven't already been making deposits of happiness into your memory, start now.   I am watching someone I love, suffer from insufficient funds in their bank account of good memories!  

I am a big believer in choice and accountability, you are never too old to make good choices and change the bad ones!   We all have good memories to fill our accounts with, and, they are free!   If you have stored away mostly unpleasant memories, you may find that you become mostly unhappy when you are older, and what a very sad way to live the rest of your life - I am still depositing!

I am going to try to remember these five simple rules to be happy:

   1. Forgive yourself and others - life is too short to carry that burden
   2. Free your mind from worries
   3. Live simply
   4. Give more
   5. Expect less


Hugs and Love,


11 comments:

The WIlloughby Family said...

What a sweet little story! I need to have a "full bank account" more often. Optimism is a characteristic you can never have too much of. Just when I become a little pessimistic something always humbles me, you would think I have learned my lesson by now. This is a great reminder of what truly matters in life.

The Stewart said...

I think I've heard that story before, and every time I hear or read it, I love it! It sure is true. Life is too short to be putting negativity and unhappiness in our bank account. We have a pretty happy bunch though, so much fun to be around!!

Karen Beth said...

You are always so profound and make me feel so much better. I love this post and you.

Susan B said...

What a great story...with some great advice! Choosing happiness is alway our choice...so is the attitude with which we live. :)

Love the picture you used.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

What an inspiring post. Love it! We all can use a reminder to keep our accounts filled with happy deposits, and as you say...they are free! Thanks for sharing these wonderful thoughts today.

Just Ramblin' said...

Great Post! Always a good reminder to be positive, fill our accounts with good memories. Hopefully, if we focus on the good ones they will keep the others from affecting our lives. Thanks so much for sharing the story. It is a timely reminder when we are often faced with so much negativity. Nola

LeAnn said...

Bless you Barb! You will never know how much I need to read this today. Choosing to be happy is one thing I do try to do. This has been a difficult few weeks for me; but I know I just have to get up and get going and this helped me a lot.
I am happy that you are through with your surgery; you have been in my prayers.
Love to you! LeAnn

Simply Heart And Home said...

Barb, I love that story! Thank you so much for sharing it. What a lovely man and story!

Gina

Lynn said...

What a lovely post, and such great reminders to be thankful for all we've been given. I often realize when I have some minor ailment like a cold, that I rarely stop and thank God for all the times my nose and throat are working perfectly :)

Janean said...

thank you, barb, for this gentle reminder to deposit sweet memories and make the CHOICE to be positive and happy. big hugs!

Vickie said...

'Mornin' Barb! Great post! I try to live my life with a half-full cup and be positive. Sometimes life does get hard, but overall the Lord's been so good to me and mine. I am blessed beyond measure and I plan to fill up my "bank account" of precious memories, Bible passages to keep in my heart and treasures in heaven!

Happy Spring!

  Outside my window . . .  Two weeks ago this is what it looked like.  We had a  huge winter storm, and got 12 inches of new snow!  It was c...