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"Rocking Chair"
A
man was walking down the street when he noticed
his grandpa sitting on the porch, in the rocking chair,
with nothing
on from the waist down.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?" he exclaimed.
The old man looked off in the distance
and did not
answer him.
"Grandpa, what are you doing sitting out here with
nothing on below the waist?" he asked
again.
The old man slyly looked at him and said, "Well, last
week I sat out here with no shirt on, and I got a stiff
neck.
This was your Grandma's idea!"
GOOD ATTITUDE
IN OLD AGE
The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised
and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock,
with
her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. 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
manoeuvred her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room,
including
the eyelet sheers 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'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.
Thank you for your part in filling
my Memory bank.
I am still depositing.
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.
The Carpenter
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave
the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.
He would miss
the pay cheque, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and
asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that
his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to
end a dedicated career.
When the carpenter finished his work the employer came to inspect the house. He handed the
front-door key to the carpenter, he said, my gift to you. The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he
was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.
So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at
a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realise we have to live in the house we have
built. If we could do it over wed do it much differently. But we cannot go back.
You are the carpenter. Each day you
hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall.
Life is a do-it-yourself project, someone has said: Your attitudes and
the choices you make today, build the houseyou live in tomorrow.
Build wisely!
Until Next Time...CARPE DIEM!
=Bill Rayborn=
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