Building on Your Bank Account

A story:
 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. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of  happiness in the bank account of memories!

‘Remember the 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.

A thought:
One of my friends sent this to me this morning. I was unsure YET AGAIN, as to what to write. I seem to get better responses when I stick to what I know rather than what I feel so I figured today I would go down that road again.

A case study lesson: 
I met a woman one time who told me she spent alot of her time in her own mind. She had created this whole other alter ego and life that only she lived in. She had a different name, and could be/ date and accomplish anything she wanted to in that world when she was all alone as there was no one or nothing to stop her. And if she didntlike it anymore, all she had to do was start over with a new fantasy.  She had dated the most famous of people, and been to the most glamorous of  events (in her mind). She has had more paparazzi surrounding her then she knew what to do with. And like I said- when it got to be too much she would just say “OK- that sit for that  lets start over”

I asked her why she did that. Did it take away from her normal life? How and when would she fantasize like that? She said it was pretty much an all day thing. When she is alone she was this other person until her real life knocked on the door, or rang on the phone. These two universes were parallel to one another and no one knew about this in her. When I was in college studying for my BA in psychology - she was a case study for me. It was very early in my studies and I saw how this woman lived a double life.
 
“Why would you want to live like that? : I asked her………………………………………..her reply ” I am happy in my real life yes. I simply know thre are things about my life that will never happen. I want a man with a great head of hair. I want a man who can sing to me without it bringing home the dogs. I want  to be someone the world sees and knows is here. I want to leave an impression- and in my mind I do.”

A word of advice:
My friends- my advice to you is the same I gave to her. Live your LIFE like that. I have said it before if you are not happy- find what will make you happy and go there.  I feel compelled to quote one of my favorite songs right here….. 33 miles has a song called One Life:
 
You only get just one time around
You only get one shot at this
One chance, to find out
The one thing that you don’t wanna miss
One day when it’s all said and done
I hope you see that it was enough, this
One ride, one try, one life…
To love….

We are allowed to enjoy life. We are allowed to be happy. In fact, God wants that for us all……….

Choose to be happy- and go for it.