Ruth Bernhard, a highly regarded photographer and a senior, offers this “Recipe for a long and happy life”:
1. Never get used to anything.
2. Hold on to the child in you.
3. Keep your curiosity alive.
4. Trust your intuition.
5. Delight in simple things.
6. Say “yes” to life with passion.
7. Fall madly in love with the world.
8. Remember: Today is the day!
According to Eric Tainter, “A person is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.” He also said, “Happiness is that peculiar feeling when you're too busy to be miserable."
From the Internet comes these thoughts about things people have learned as they aged:
I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. (Age 82)
I’ve learned if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the best you can, happiness will find you. (Age 65)
I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. (Age 62)
I’ve learned that it pays to believe in miracles. And to tell the truth, I’ve seen several. (Age 73)
I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch—holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. (Age 85)
I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn (Age 92)
While on their fishing boat, the husband, concerned about a possible emergency, said to his wife, “Please take the wheel, dear. Pretend I’m having a heart attack and you must get the boat safely to shore” She did so.
That evening, she walked into the living room where he sat watching the tube, switched the TV channel and said, “Please go into the kitchen, dear. Pretend I’m having a heart attack. You must set the table, cook the dinner, and wash the dishes.”
Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
Despite the cost of living, it’s still quite popular.
The aging process could be slowed if it had to work its way through Congress.
Don’t take life so seriously—it’s not permanent.
The age of some folks is like the speedometer on a used car—you know it’s set back but you don’t know how far.
From a senior center newsletter story about staff changes: “Please bare with us as we acclimate and move forward for a better future.”
Bumper sticker: Friends may come and go, but aches and pains accumulate
“Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.”—Redd Foxx
“When men reach their 60s and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking.”—Gail Sheehy
“Age is a high price to pay for maturity.”—Tom Stoppard
T-shirt message: At my age I’ve got an achy breaky everything.
Another T-shirt: The older I get the better I was.
And here’s Ashleigh Brilliant’s slant:
“Life has been very confusing, because I’ve been different ages at different times.
“I still have many of my old dreams, but some of the colors have faded.
“Inside every older person there’s a younger person wondering what happened.
“No wonder I feel so tired—I’m older now than I’ve ever been before.”
* *
Cicero put it this way: “Life is a play with a badly written last act.”
“It is time to be old, to take in sail.”— Emerson
But, says E.B. Skinner, “It is not a time to be wholly adrift.”
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