In a world that seems to be filled with anger and discontent, it is easy to concentrate on the negatives in life. I came across a story that is a breath of fresh air. If God lets me live to be the age of this woman, I hope I can leave deposits of joy around me. The following story is so heartwarming.
“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time,” she said. This story about a ninety-two-year-old woman has been shared over two hundred thousand times. When you read it, I think you will understand why. It all has to do with her attitude.
Here is what Alex Steblowsky wrote about Peggy Jones:
This 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 yesterday. 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 curtains 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 is how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It is 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 have stored away, just for this time in my life. She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you have put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.”
And with a smile, she said, “Remember the five simple rules to be happy.”
Free your heart from hatred.
Free your mind from worries.
Live simply.
Give more.
Expect less and enjoy every moment.
Today is a good day to arrange our minds to acknowledge and testify of the goodness of God in our lives. The Apostle Paul wrote powerful words in Philippians 4:11-13. As you read them, do so with an awareness of Paul’s circumstances when he wrote them. Paul was in a dreary, cold, dark prison simply for being a follower of Christ and preaching the Good News.
“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”