The Happiness Bank

[PrincessFiona]

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and
proud lady, who is fully dressed
each morning by eight o'clock, with her
hair fashionably coiffed and makeup
perfectly applied, even though she is
legally blind, moved to a nursing
home today.


Her husband of 70 years recently passed
away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in
the lobby of the nursing home,
she smiled sweetly when told her room was
ready.


As she maneuvered her walker to the
elevator, I provided a visual
description of her tiny room, including the
eyelet sheets that had been
hung on her window.


"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm
of an eight-year-old having
just been presented with a new puppy.!


"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room . .
just wait."


"That doesn't have anything to do with it,"
she 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.


"Thank you for your part in fi! lling my
Memory bank. I am still depositing."


Remember the f ive 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

[Sheherezade]

Great story. I do alright with numbers 1, 3 and 4. I am constanly working on 2 and 5. I think expecting less is a particularly interesting topic here in iMSN. We deal with diminished returns from our relationships and independent careers throughout training. Still, I think many of us expect some payoff after training is through. That expectation of a big payoff can lead to dissatisfaction. Here's to keeping it all perspective.

(Is your happiness bank getting you through this MIL visit? I think I'd need to deposit a week in the Caribbean with Johnny Depp to balance that out! )