The other day I was in a meeting at APX and my boss said to me, “Blogging about alarms is kind of like toilet paper; it can be boring, but it is totally needed.”

I thought about that a lot this week as I was deciding what I wanted to post, and then I got this email from my mom that really inspired me. I wanted to share it with everyone I knew, so I thought I would pass it on to my “blogging family” (that’s you!). This email reminded me that life is short, unpredictable, and inevitably something we can only control to a degree; the rest of it is out of our hands.

Photo by It’s all about love.

With that said, here’s the email:

“First I was dying to finish high school and start college, and then I was dying to finish college and start working, then I was dying to marry and have children, and then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could go back to work, but then I was dying to retire.

Now I am dying, and I suddenly realized, I forgot to live.”

- Anonymous

The end of the email was a list of a few ways to stay young:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them!

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

As I read through this email, I realized that so much of what we forget to do is to STOP WORRYING!  As you all know from my other post Confessions of a Worryaholic, I am someone who worries. I am so glad that although I worry, something that I never have to worry about is my safety in my own home! My husband and I have had an APX Alarm system for the past two years, and with my husband working late and traveling, I am very lucky that I do not have to worry when my daughter and I return home at night alone. I feel like being able to get a good night’s rest, without worrying and with a sense of peace in my own home, I will be able to stay young longer, and live a better life!

Hopefully this blog (like toilet paper!) was soft, needed, and full of comfort for all you worriers out there!

Tagged as: apx alarm