Some practical, positive advice for making 2010 a great year

Money critical to grow state’s ports
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‘Greater Tuna’ a glimpse of Anywhere USA
December 31, 2009
Money critical to grow state’s ports
December 29, 2009
‘Greater Tuna’ a glimpse of Anywhere USA
December 31, 2009

The following motivational story is appropriate for the beginning of a new year.

A 92-year-old petite, well-dressed lady, with stylish hair and makeup perfectly applied, although she is legally blind, was moving into a nursing home.


Her husband of 70 years had recently died and she was unable to live by herself.


After many hours of waiting patiently in the nursing home lobby, she smiled profusely when they told that her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, the director provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet curtains on her window.

“I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old.


“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 ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how they arrange the furniture. 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 works, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift. As long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away for this time in my life.


“Old age is like a bank account. You can only withdraw from what you’ve deposited. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in your memory bank account. By the way, I’m still depositing.”


The following is practical advice on how to make 2010 a healthy and happy year.

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.

No one can go back and make a brand-new start. However, anyone can start now and make a brand-new ending.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain. God did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way.

Disappointments are like road bumps; they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterward. Don’t stay on the bumps too long. Move on! When you feel down because you didn’t get what you wanted, just hang in there, because God has something better for you.

When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. We can learn from all life’s events.

“Every new day begins with possibilities. It’s up to us to fill it with the things that move us toward progress and peace,” the late Ronald Reagan once said.

You cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be a loving person. The rest is up to the other person to realize your worth. It’s better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride.

We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love. Instead, we should be perfecting the love we give.

“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.” (Og Mandino)

May God’s peace be within you this year and always!