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Happiness Is a Choice You Make
Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old | John Leland
7 posts | 9 read | 4 to read
An extraordinary look at what it means to grow old and a heartening guide to well-being, Happiness Is a Choice You Make weaves together the stories and wisdom of six New Yorkers who number among the oldest old those eighty-five and up. In 2015, when the award-winning journalist John Leland set out on behalf of The New York Times to meet members of Americas fastest-growing age group, he anticipated learning of challenges, of loneliness, and of the deterioration of body, mind, and quality of life. But the elders he met took him in an entirely different direction. Despite disparate backgrounds and circumstances, they each lived with a surprising lightness and contentment. The reality Leland encountered upended contemporary notions of aging, revealing the late stages of life as unexpectedly rich and the elderly as incomparably wise. Happiness Is a Choice You Make is an enduring collection of lessons that emphasizes, above all, the extraordinary influence we wield over the quality of our lives. With humility, heart, and wit, Leland has crafted a sophisticated and necessary reflection on how to live betterinformed by those who have mastered the art.
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Suet624
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Section 2 goes into more detail about the six individuals highlighted in this book. This is Fred Jones on the left. He has a lot to teach me. “Problems were only problems if you thought about them that way. Otherwise they were life — and yours for the living.”

Suet624 And a quote from the author: “you don‘t have to be on easy street to feel grateful.” 6y
SandyW Stacked. Thanks. 6y
61 likes1 stack add2 comments
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onlyAngil
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Pickpick

Already choked up and crying

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Suet624
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Listening to the audio as I walk near my house. Can‘t say that the book is helping me to feel any happier but it‘s not making me feel worse so that‘s a plus. The cool air and sunshine is definitely helping.

JennyM Beautiful view. Enjoy 6y
Suet624 @JennyM Thank you. Fall is in the air and that‘s a beautiful time in Vermont. 6y
Smrloomis Ooh, that‘s so beautiful! 6y
See All 9 Comments
CoffeeNBooks Wow! What a beautiful view! 6y
PurpleyPumpkin Beautiful view!😍 6y
Tanisha_A 😍 6y
kspenmoll Gorgeous! 6y
Andrew65 A lovely picture. 5y
Suet624 @Andrew65 thanks! 5y
68 likes1 stack add9 comments
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sophierayton
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Pickpick

A thought provoking and unique look at aging and the elderly. Would make a nice gift for someone going into a care home - (I'm serious).

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Suzze
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This is a hard one for me!
1. Neither. I do watch American Ninja Warrior. Great to read during.
2. I don‘t know mythology or movies. So I‘m not exactly sure who they are.
3. No seafood, so most sushi is out. Ramen is okay, but too much sodium.
4. I only speak English, my dad‘s family was French Canadian.
5. I play a couple of video games and like board games but rarely play them. Cards, anyone?
So I didn‘t really answer any of these did I?

Samplergal That‘s ok. I didn‘t know question two at all. Not sure I did much better! Lol. 6y
RealLifeReading I like ramen but yeah a lot of them are rather salty! 6y
44 likes2 comments
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mkinney10
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"The lesson of John Sorensen was that to accept death was to accept life, and to accept life was to live in joy, however dire the circumstances around you."

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TheBookDream
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A choice you make and a pug you cuddle.#pugsoflitsy

LauraJ Agreed! 6y
24 likes2 stack adds1 comment