Dear LPG, 

I am a pensioner who used to get up every morning, open my eyes and, no matter how wonderful my dream was, I would return to reality with a bit of a thud.  Mine used to start with taking a few minutes to get my bearings and remember what I would have preferred before remembering all the things I needed to do, usually the tedious ones, and then deciding that I would never be able to achieve them all.   For quite a few years, this ‘morning approach’ to my day habitually left me staring at the rest of it relatively downcast.  Reality is indeed different for all of us, and I wondered how many of us see ours as happy.  

Reality often means getting up alone or at least with that feeling of isolation as we get older because there will be no one to say hello to unless you use the phone.  Breakfast might well be something you don’t bother to think much about, and whatever you can transfer straight from the fridge to your mouth will do. 

I know that I am painting a pretty negative picture so far. Though I really hope it is not typical of all the pensioners who live alone, I have to admit to it being pretty close to mine not so long ago.  

I feel that I can share all this because I know that few people will find out who I am, and I also know that, despite the façade I put on when I am out with my friends, this has been my personal morning routine for too long.  

One day, I realised that there had to be a better way to start each day, and I decided it was time to do something about it. I spent a little time trying to work out what makes for a really happy day-to-day existence, and I strongly recommend that if I have been describing a typical morning in your life, you do the same.  

The big question has to be: Can you recall the part of your life when you felt happiest and what you were doing at the time? 

They say that at least one answer to every question can be found online, and I decided to look there. What I found was interesting. Statistics show that people in the UK see the years between their 45th and 59th birthday as the most challenging, while we are happiest during the 65th and 74th years of our lives. But the graphs start to show a decline in happiness after that. 

I then went looking for some ways that we oldies can make sure that we stay happy, and I found that the secret is to look for contentment rather than happiness. From what I have read today, I have decided that contentment is more important than happiness because it is a long-term feeling not so affected by what happens around you.   My online look at the question gave me only some of the answers. Still, I learned that one of the secrets to being more content with your life is to look at all the events that have got you to where you are because they are an essential part of your reality. Even though present circumstances can get you down somewhat, a daily ponder through memories of all the good things that have made us the individuals we have become is the aspect of our lives that we forget to appreciate. With those thoughts in mind as a basis for the day to come, the outlook has to look a little brighter.  

I have found some internet advice that might help anyone who wakes up the way I described at the start of my message…

WG. Beckenham

WG offers the truths she had found...

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…and LPG adds some information on today’s celebration…

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