I am looking at this list called “How To Stay Young”. It is one of those lists that have been passed on from one e-mail account to another though generations … or in this case through the art of forwarding.

It lists out advice on how to keep ourselves youthful, even when our hair turns grey and our joints ache from arthritis.

But seriously, it is a good list, filled with some age old wisdom that we, in this fast paced world of materialism, tend to forget.

For example, the list tells us to laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. So when was the last time you laugh like that? Remember those days when you sit around with your friends and you talk and you gossip and you laugh and laugh and laugh?

Well, if you have done this recently, good for you. As for me, it has been a while. I laugh of course … but not like before. There is just isn’t the right time for my friends and I to meet up and hang out. Life have overtaken everything.

I have been consumed by the everyday routine that there is no room for the little things. 

On a certain level, it frightens me to see how I’ve changed over the years. My outlook on life at times is filled with scepticism and I see my future as dull and routine.

I need to always remind myself that these little things matter. They matter a lot. They are the little icing on the cake, the ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. These are the little things that I need to fight to keep in my life, so that I won’t get swept away by the rush to get ahead, to earn more, to have more. So that I don’t suddenly wake up one day and realised that I am surrounded with material things that only leaves me feeling hollow.

Anyway, for those of you who might be interested, here is the list I was referring to. Hopefully it will help you remember the important little things in life too.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

Throw out the nonessential numbers. This include age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay “them”.

 

Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

 

Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer.

 

Enjoy the simple things.

 

Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

 

The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

 

Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

 

Don’t take guilt trips. Take trips to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where guilt is.

 

Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.