Happiness

 

An old man lived in the village. He was one of the most unfortunate people in the world. The whole village was tired of him; he was always gloomy, he constantly complained and was always in a bad mood.

The longer he lived, the more bile he was becoming and the more poisonous were his words. People avoided him, because his misfortune became contagious. It was even unnatural and insulting to be happy next to him.

He created the feeling of unhappiness in others.

But one day, when he turned eighty years old, an incredible thing happened. Instantly everyone started hearing the rumour:

 

“An Old Man is happy today, he doesn’t complain about anything, smiles, and even his face is freshened up.”

 

The whole village gathered together. The old man was asked:

Villager: What happened to you?

 

“Nothing special. Eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness, and it was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m happy now.” – An Old Man

 

Moral of the story:

Don’t chase happiness. Enjoy your life.

Swapping out red and processed meat for a diet rich in lentils, porridge and nuts could add up to 13 YEARS to your life,

 

What is the optimal diet for life expectancy according to research? 

The University of Bergen diet calculator advises people to eat per day:

• 225g of whole grains, such as brown rice for an extra 2.2 years of life expectancy
• 200g of fish for 0.6 years
• 0g of processed meat, like ham for 1.8 years
• 25g of nuts for 0.9 years
• 0g of red meat for 1.8 years
• 200g of legumes like lentils, for 2.4 years
• Only 200g of milk or dairy products for 0.1 years
• 400g of vegetables for 0.4 years
• 400g of fruit for 0.4 years
• 0g of sugar sweetened beverages like soda for 1.2 years
• Only 50g of refined grains, such as white bread for 1 year
• Just 25g of eggs for 0.8 years
• Only 50g of white meat
• Keep to 25g of added oils
• 
  

Blind Girl

 

There was a blind girl who hated herself purely for the fact she was blind. The only person she didn’t hate was her loving boyfriend, as he was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry him.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her – now she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”

The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:

 

“Just take care of my eyes dear.”

 

Moral of the story:

When our circumstances change, so does our mind. Some people may not be able to see the way things were before, and might not be able to appreciate them. There are many things to take away from this story, not just one.

This is one of the inspirational short stories that left me speechless.