2.13.2011

Will it be fun?

In a conversation with the kids yesterday, we were discussing the concept of fun.   While anticipating the evening with my parents, E wanted to know if the evening was going to be fun.   We talked about how anything in life can be fun, it just depends on how we look at it.   If we determine ahead of time that we are going to have fun, then we most likely will have fun.  It is something that my parents taught me as a child.  (Besides that, when is an evening at Grandma's not fun??)   

A couple of weeks ago, my brother-in-law passed on an e-mail that tied into this thought process:
 
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!   
 

With life moving along as such a busy and hectic pace as of recent, I have been enjoying the days and the activities that life brings.  Each day brings its challenges and blessings, but I am choosing during this time to enjoy the days and what they are bringing to my life right now.