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My father sent an email to me this morning that touched my heart. I’ve included an edited and paraphrased version of it below, with the hopes that it makes you smile……. (thanks Dad, for the reminder).

 

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud woman, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably combed, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
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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.

On the long walk to the elevator, as she paused to lean on her cane, the attendant provided a visual description of the woman’s tiny room.  “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”, explained the attendant.

“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. Rather, 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.”

The elderly woman continued, “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 filling my Memory Bank, as I am still making deposits each day.”

According to Mrs. Jones, being happy is a choice we make each day, and it’s simple if we just remember these five rules:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Choose to be happy in this very moment. Then share your happiness (and this post) with someone you love. 🙂

 



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Gail Lynne Goodwin is the founder of InspireMeToday.com, bringing the best inspiration to the world. InspireMeToday.com provides free inspiration, each day from a new Inspirational Luminary, to a global community of folks from over 150 countries. Gail has interviewed many well-known names including Sir Richard Branson, Guy Laliberte, Seth Godin, Tony Hseih, Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Gerber, Marci Shimoff, Jack Canfield and hundreds more. According to Mashable, Gail was one of 2009's Top 25 Most Inspirational People on Twitter.

Prior to InspireMeToday.com, Gail spent several years as manager for her recording artist daughter, Carly. As a result of the success of their co-penned song, "Baby Come Back Home", Gail accompanied her daughter to bases in the US and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where Carly performed for our troops. Gail and Carly created the 'World's Longest Letter' of love and support and delivered the 18-mile long scroll on a month-long tour of Iraq and the Persian Gulf in 2006.

Gail is excited to present her latest course, Love in 21 Days, a step-by-step guide to finding love online. Love in 21 Days is founded on a logical process that has been tested - and proven! - by not only Gail, but also by students around the world who too have found love.

Gail is a published author and a regular writer for the Huffington Post. She offers mentoring and mastermind services to clients worldwide from her home in Whitefish, Montana. Follow Gail on Twitter or Google+.

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. Gail – You should make this a #sixwords tweet – Live Simply, Give More, Expect Less

    YOU are pretty awesome! I’m glad you shared your Father’s wisdom. give him extra hugs when you can. He blessed me so! (and i’ve been missing my dad lots lately…)

    Thanks for all to do to help inspire our hearts!!

    this article was in the spreadingJOY daily – and I’m hoping others enjoyed it as much as I did!!

    {{HUGS}}

    @spreadingJOY

  2. Nice Gail,

    Doing good for others feels good.

    The value of life is not what you get, but by what you give to others

    Lee
    fanx.com

  3. Thanks for sharing Gail! This a great example of a great person who decides to live at it fullest. That’s fantastic! As a life coach I help people achieve their goals and make their dreams come true, so it really means a lot to me. I’ve written a post on my blog called “Make choices and start living”, have a look at http://myactioncoach.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/make-choices/

    Thanks
    Sylvia

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