Happiness after seventy
i asked a friend who is over seventy and is closer to eighty about the changes he feels after he has reached this advanced age, so he promised to send his reply in a whatsapp message, and it was the following, with a behavior:
1. after i used to love my parents, my brothers, my wife, my children, and my friends, i have now begun to love and care for myself much more than before.
2. i realized that i am not an atlas (that is the name of a bone in the neck), the world does not rest on my shoulder.
3. i recently stopped negotiating with vegetable and fruit sellers. a few dirhams or another bankruptcy will not break me financially, but it may help the industrious seller in providing school fees for his daughter, the only one, perhaps.
4. in a coffee shop, i always leave a handsome tip to the kind waitress who understands my request before i open my mouth, trying to put a smile on her tired face, as she is a mother of three, who toils to provide for them and her sick husband.
5. i stopped interrupting old people like me, that they had already told me that story several times after it became clear to me that saying that often did not deter them from continuing to tell it. telling a story or a smutty joke also makes them feel alive, and that their memory is still sharp about their past.
6. i have also learned not to rush and correct the mistakes of some, even when i am confident in my information. what harm will befall me or them if they mention that hitler, saddam or so and so are still alive, or that the east, or even if they believe that the sun rises from the south... and not what i used to think.
7. the burden of making everyone perfect does not necessarily fall on me, for peace with oneself and others is more precious than perfection. i greet everyone freely and generously, as it is already free. compliments also improve the mood of those who receive them and who hears them. and i hope that everyone who hears a compliment, even if it is simple or not true, will not refuse it, but say, “thank you.”
8. i learned, at this age, not to be bothered that my shirt was not ironed properly, or that there was a stain above my right pocket.
9. i learned to mind my words, as personality often speaks louder than appearances.
10. over time, i learned to avoid meeting those who do not appreciate me, do not know my value, or whose presence puts pressure on my psyche.
11. and i’ve learned to stay calm when someone is playing dirty to beat me in a race or match or solve a puzzle.
12. i also learned that it is better to let go of one’s ego than to break off the relationship with the one i love. an overdose of ego would isolate me and make me lonely.
13. and i learned to live each day as if it were my last. after all, it may be the last.
14. i do what makes me happy. i am responsible for my happiness and i owe it to myself. happiness is a choice. and i can be happy at any time, just if i choose to do so!
