Want to stay "young at heart"?

I've got a file full of newspaper cuttings and bits 'n pieces, collected over - well, let's say a few decades. I don't have the heart to take them out of the filing cabinet and throw them away. I'm one of those people who keep things "just in case". I tell myself that they'll come in handy, but who am I really kidding?

But girls, I found this list of suggestions, and decided I had to share it with you. I hope you're not becoming bored with "motivational" suggestions on how to enjoy your life, but I take the attitude that there is nothing boring in or with life. If a person is bored, it is because they are boring!! And it does us good to be reminded about some of the more simple but meaningful things about life.

1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why we "pay" them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches only pull you down. And if you're nice and round and tubby like me, you'll have difficulty in getting back up if you're pull down to the ground, so why bother with them?

3. Keep leearning. Learn more about the computer (I admit I have heaps to learn in this department); crafts (keeps the little grey cells working); gardening, whatever. Never let the brain be idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop". And the devil's name is Alzheimers!

4. Enjoy the simple things. Even a nice glass of water.

5. Laugh often, long and loud until you gasp for breath.

6. Tears happen. Endure, grieve and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourself. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. Whatever, treat it and your body with respect.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even interstate, another country, but NOT where guilt is.

10. Tell people that you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS WE TAKE,
BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY.

A few simple things!

Let's start off right.

1. Remember compliments and forget insults

2. Enjoy your body

3. Dance (even allowing for arthritis, you can sway to the music!)

4. Don't read beauty magazines - they'll only make you feel frustrated. Recognise and realise they've all been digitally enhanced anyway! Whereas you're beautiful as you are, right now!

5. The older you get, keep your old friends

6. But keep a watch out for new friends - they can arrive, unexpectedly

7. Don't mess too much with your hair.

That's all for today, girls.

A personal "Can Do" List

1. I will let go of "negative" labels, such as lazy or bad or clumsy, that I have used to describe myself these long years, recognising that labels are inaccurate and destructive and that they stifle growth.

2. I will nurture myself by giving approving, reassuring messages to myself about me. I will be a friend to myself and offer myself the same understand I would offer to another in my place

3. I will release others from the responsibility of making me happy. I take the initiative to get what I need rather than waiting and hoping that somehow what I need will be brought to me by someone else.

4. I will share the vulnerable parts of myself with those I love.

5. I choose to be happy NOW - to celebrate all the small pleasures of life as they occur - instead of putting happiness off until I lose weight, get married (or divorced), make my first million, move house and so on.

6. I will expect that I will incur the disapproval of others. I recognise there is no way I can please all the people all the time.

7. I realise that some of my greatest learning has come from the mistakes I have made.

8. I embrace the position that I am an intrinsically valuable human being. I am a worthy person simply because I am.

......© 1991-2009 RoseMarys NoteBook - Australia. (By permission of the author.)