Rules of Happiness

This story is dedicated to those of us who have come to the age/stage in life that
means changes and adjustments in living location and life style; the revision of old and
the greeting of new routines; along with making new friendships (while relishing the
old)–and, just plain MAKING A LIFE CHANGE because it is time to do so. May the
Lord bless and guide all who are at this stage to joyfully welcome and accept “each
new day as His gift.” The author of this story is unknown.
A 92-year-old delicate but well-poised and proud man, who was fully dressed each
morning by eight o’clock with his hair fashionably coifed and his face shaved perfectly–
and legally blind– moved to a nursing home.
His wife of seventy years had recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled
sweetly when I told him his room was ready.
It was my job to introduce him to his new living accommodations. 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. So, my advice
to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!” “I
thank all those who were a part in filling my Memory bank–and, I am still depositing.”
From this story we can all remember these 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
   The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important
   than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than
   whatever anyone might say or do.
   It is more important than appearances, giftedness or skill. The remarkable thing is that
   we have the choice to create the attitude we have for that day. We cannot change our
   past. We cannot change the way people act. We cannot change the inevitable.
   The one thing we can change is the only thing we have control over, and that is our
   attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what actually happens to us and 90% how we
   react to it. As this story shows, the single most significant decision we can make each
   day is our choice of attitude. Attitude keeps us going or cripples our progress. When
   our attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too
   extreme, no challenge too great, for us.
   I learned that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is a settled
   way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, and that is typically reflected in
   a person’s outlook and behavior.
   Let’s focus on what we “GET TO DO” instead of what we “HAVE TO DO.” Too often we
   complain and focus on what we HAVE TO DO like “I have to go to work.” Start shifting your
   perspective by focusing on what you GET TO DO. I get to go for a walk!!