If you get anything from what I share I hope you get this:Sometime ago I read somewhere that studies showed Dementia and Alzheimer's were linked to regrets and living an unfulfilled life. When I look back at the folks in my life who have suffered I can see this to be true. SO...I opt to live this life to the fullest. My birthday month starts Saturday and, as every year, I make sure to honor my existence by doing something new every single day of the month. It's the simple things like taking a road never traveled or eating something I've never tried or even learning a new word in a different language. I make a point to fulfill every day with an extra oomph of presence. By the time the last day in April arrives I am totally wiped out of ideas. April becomes the longest month of the year and I love that. Whenever I enter a facility to visit a sweet elderly person I recognize regrets staring back. I hear stories through their loss of reality and watch the expressions of souls who are just waiting for death. Regrets, resentments, bitterness, loss, and unfulfilled dreams are on top of the lists. Stories get told and relived with sorrow and sadness. If I am to live a healthy life with full capacity of my mind, I will do anything to make sure I live to the fullest. Circumstances aren't always available. Challenges rise and fall. Love comes and goes. Hurt breaks the heart and then repairs. I haven't much on any list of things I care to do that I haven't done. I choose to love fully. Live openly. Laugh every day. And treat strangers as old friends. No regrets. No resentments. I choose to be present to the best of my ability. It's a matter of being mindful. I have seen too many loved ones with Dementia and Alzheimer's to know I will do what it takes to enjoy this life. It might not always be comfortable but that's also a matter of perception. Now you. You get to decide what you hold on to and hurt you, or what you release and see as beautiful life lessons. Enjoy your life, darlings. This is a gift every single day. It doesn't have to be so hard. It just has to be lived. Mucho love ~ Millie