You may remember that I wrote recently about a perfect January afternoon I spent with my daughter, Mary Elizabeth, at the horse rescue where Mary Elizabeth volunteers.
The perfect afternoon ended with a car accident. We weren’t hurt, but our car was damaged so much that it couldn’t be repaired.
The questions that I asked at the end of the blog post were: “Was it a perfect afternoon? Or, was it a lousy day?”
I answered by quoting Dr. Karl Pillemer, author of Thirty Lessons for Living—Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. You can be “happy in spite of” or “happy if only,” Pillemer concludes. “You have to make a decision “to embrace a positive attitude.”
Dr. Pillemer read our blog post, and he thinks that the 1,000 Americans, all over age 65, who were interviewed for his book would agree that it was a perfect afternoon. “Focus on what was positive and don’t worry about the negative,” he wrote to us, “because, as you look back from 90 or beyond, it’s the positive that counts!”
Fayteen agrees, too. “When you have a perfect afternoon or a perfect day, it’s perfect. Period,” she says.“Treasure your happy memories, and don’t let anything spoil them.”
Of course, as Mary Elizabeth and I rode back to Dallas in the tow truck with our banged-up car, it was a little difficult to feel upbeat and remember what a perfect afternoon it had been. Now, days after the accident, I can be a little more positive and philosophical. Of course, it was a perfect afternoon.
–Joy