Smile

I guess it makes sense. When you're old, you've lost the one person you love most, or several people you love most, its hard to find happiness. When your body doesn't work the way it used to, when you don't have the same abilities you used to... It's gotta be depressing. No one likes getting old, I can't think o fone person who has ever been thankful for the fact they're getting older. In our society, getting old is associated with being closer to death... And daeth is something that is highly feared in our society, it seems. Whether it should be or not, I'm not sure. I've never died. But my faith keeps me from fearing it, because I believe that I will be taken care of afer I die...

But that's a who other bridge to cross. What about the path to that bridge, the old age portion? You lose people, you remember losing people, you miss people, you miss activities, you miss a lot of things. But at hte same time, when you age, you get to meet so many more people, experience so many more things, and be able to give advice to the young, so they won't make the same mistakes you did. The world wouldn't turn without the older people.

So, when you reach that state, how do you keep your happiness? There are some things you simply can't control, but what you can control must be taken with a positive outlook. Of course, that's easier said than done, but it takes only a little more effort to smile at whatever happens in life, than to frown. Surely you've heard the quote about how it takes almost 50 muscles to frown, but less than 5 to smile. The amout of effort someone puts into something mentally can't be counted in muscles, but think about it, doesn't life seem much easier when you smile? We were designed to be a pleasant people, to rejoice and sing and dance and laugh and smile and have fun. Our ideas of fun have changed, yes, and our lifestyles require more than pure joy to get through the day. And of course, there are always times in our lives that will upset us, bring us down. The good thing, though, is that when there are hard times, we enjoy the easy times much more because we will always remember what it was like when we had to go through that rough time.

So, remember the hard times, remember the bad, but in the end, just... smile because it happened...