Thursday, August 12, 2010

80) Teach children lessons using stories- Happiness IS an Inside Job

"Very little is needed to make life happy. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." Marcus Aurelius.

A blind 92 year old woman entered an old age home, after her husband of 70 years died. The attendant at the home tried to explain to the woman about the room she would occupy. She thrilled at the idea; was almost euphoric. The puzzled attendant asked her:"You have not been to the room yet. How can you rejoice?" The Woman replied: "Happiness is something you decide. Every morning I decide to be happy with what I have and not be unhappy with what I don't have, because each day is a gift. I have also many happy memories, which I try to relive. So, young man keep depositing in your memory bank. You will never be short of happiness."

What a special woman! It is great that in a deary world we still have happy people to give us a reason to be hopeful. Are we happy; do we spread happiness? Do our children learn to be happy by seeing us happy? Or, are they weighed down with cares, because that is the way we see life - care-filled, anxious and depressed? Do we teach our children that every cloud has a silver lining; that dawn follows the dark night; that a crisis is the test of character; that there many others who are worse off; that there are many happy memories to relive; that each day is a gift from God to be thankfully accepted and made happy with happy thoughts. As Marcus Aurelius puts it: it is in our way of thinking. When we change our way of thinking, we change the way we look at life. Then happiness is just a thought away.

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