Happiness, it’s all about decision! – Arthur Unknown

A 92 years old short and very well-presented man, who takes great care in his appearance, is moving into a retirement home today.

His wife of 70 years has recently passed away and he is obliged to leave his home.

After waiting several hours in the retirement home lobby, he was told that his room is ready.

As he uses his cane to walk slowly to the elevator, the Administrator describes his small room to him, including the sheet hung at the window which serves as a curtain.

“I like it very much”, he says, with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old boy who has just been given a new puppy.

“You haven’t even seen the room yet, hang on a moment, we are almost there.”

“That has nothing to do with it “, he replies.  “Happiness is something I choose in advance.  Whether or not I like the room does not depend on the furniture, or the décor.  Rather it depends on how I decide to see it.

“I have already decided in my mind that I like my room.  It is a decision I take every morning when I wake up.

“I can choose to spend my day in bed listing all the difficulties I have with the parts of my body that no longer work very well, or I can get up and give thanks to Heaven for those parts that are still in working order.

“Every day is a gift, and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on the new day, and all the happy memories that I have built up during my life.”

“Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw in later life what you have deposited along the way. “

So, my advice to you is to deposit all the happiness you can in your bank account of memories.

Remember these simple guidelines for happiness:
1. Free your heart from hate.
2. Free your mind from worry.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Parting with our Dwarf Bunnies

It has brought back a lot of sad memories while reading Janet’s Notebook – Postcard from Singapore: one DEAD chicken in August 2012 (I started to write this post since then, but I had never finished it, because I found it really difficult to go back to those few days, but I think I should fulfil my promise to Janet and finish this post).  You may not be able to feel and/or understand my heartbreak, but here it goes:

Several years ago, our home had 2 addition members – a girl and a boy dwarf bunnies – they were 7 weeks old when I got them from my colleagues.  The kids loved them dearly and always cuddled them like little babies.  Within a very short period of time, the kids decided to name them Puffy and Fluffy.

Couple of years later, we moved to a stand alone house, where we were able to station their house in a semi-enclosed area and the kids had more space to play with them.  They had “walked” out from their area twice and hide underneath the patio once, but they always stayed there until we pick them up.  Then there were reports of fox appearances around our area, since the local council notified us they were going to leave some baits around, we did not pay too much notice.

I still remember clearly it was a sunny Saturday morning, I went to feed them after I finished my breakfast; when I walked out from the house, I felt something was not right, the fence was not locked and it was not fully closed.  The bunnies were not there, I called their names but they did not come out; I looked at all the usual places, I still couldn’t see them.  I was so worried and shock <– actually I can still feel how I felt while typing this post 😦

My husband and I did a carpet search and less than 1/2 hour later, my husband called out, “Found one!”  It was covered by some dirts at the edge of our garden bed.  Then another 1/2 hour passed, we were not able to find another one.  Since we had took them to the Vet for the past few years, I decided to call the Vet to check how should we handle the situation.  Finally we decided to deliver that body to the Vet, so she could examine it, because we wanted to know the cause of death.  I think the most difficult thing was to tell the kids.

On Sunday morning, the Vet confirmed most likely the bunny passed from heart attack because there were no visible injuries; and with our description of where did we find it, the Vet believed they were taken away from us by fox.  We’re so sure it was 1 fox, because it left one bunny behind and used dirt to cover its body – I have to say, it’s such a clever animal, because there were no other trace that the garden bed had been disturbed, the pathway did not even have any single trace of dirt left behind; if there were more than 1 fox, both bunnies would have take away physically.

The Vet was so nice, she did not only waive us the examination charges; but also allowed us to use the clinic as mid-point for the Pets Cremation Company to pick the body up and drop the urn back, so we could collect it from the clinic.  I asked the Vet to confirm if it was the girl bunny (Fluffy) or the boy bunny (Puffy) body; however, I must have deliberately forgotten about the finding, so I did not need to lie to the kids.

They were about 5 years old.  Since then, I did not allow any more pets except few existing Gold Fish, because I found the experience was way too stressful for me to swallow.

They were not just dwarf bunnies, they were not just pets, they were part of our family members.  And I still miss them dearly after all these years.

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Richness of Heart

The Little Kid’s Heart

A lady has just moved home and found there was a poor family of a widow with her two little kids living right next door.

Few nights later, the area had black out, so she lighted up some candles.  

A short while later, there was a knock on her front door.

It was one of that poor family’s kids, who looked very nervous and asked, “Excuse me, do you have candles in your home?”

The lady thought, “Are you for real?  They don’t even have candles?  No way I am lending you candles, who knows what else will you ask me next time!”

With that thought in her mind, she replied very rudely, “NO!”

Just as she was going to close the door, the kid showed a caring smile and handed her two candles, “I thought since you’ve just moved in, you might not have candles ready, so I’ve asked my Mama’s permission and bring you these two candles for the night.”

The lady felt so shameful of herself, she moved to tears and hold the child tightly in her arms.

 

The Pure Heart

It has not rained for a very long time, the farmers in a little town have struggled in harvesting, so the Pastor has organised a Prayer Meeting for Rain Fall.

Everyone in the town attended the Prayer Meeting, among them was a little girl, but because she’s tiny, no one had paid much notice to her.

The Pastor went up to the pulpit to start the Prayer Meeting, but something caught his attention, which moved him to change what he was planning to say.

He said, “Today we come together to ask God for rain fall; but look around, this little girl is the only person who has brought an umbrella!”

Sometimes we have to say, “Little kids are in fact not that ‘little‘, in fact they are really ‘big‘!  They have a very big heart to love and they have a very big mind to trust!”

 

<< We may not earn a lot of money to be financially rich; but we can always show the richness of our heart! >>

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