Deciding To Be Happy

     She is 92 years old, petite, well poised and dignified. She is fully dressed each morning by 8 a.m., with her hair fashionably coifed and her makeup perfectly applied. (Oh yes… and she is legally blind.)
     I met her on the day she moved to the nursing home. Her husband of 70 years had recently passed away, making this move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home where I am employed, she smiled sweetly when told that 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 a new puppy.
     "But, Mrs. Jones," I said, "You haven't even seen it yet… just wait!"
     Then she spoke these words that I will never forget:
     "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she gently 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 have already decided to love it. To be happy 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 I can get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do work. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open in the morning, I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I have stored away… just for this time in my life!"
     What a beautiful attitude! May we all learn from sweet Mrs. Jones - those of us who, like her, are already in their sunset years; and others of us who, by God's grace, will someday reach them.     Let us greet each day with a decision to be happy!

-AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Philippians 4:11 "…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content"