Aunt Bee's Bible
Oil on Wood Panel
6"X6"
She wasn't my Aunt. She came to me through marriage. A prize. To be cherished. This Bible is inscribed, "To my dear Bee from Mother, Aug. 27, 1940." In it she kept a well worn piece of paper titled, "Ten Rules for Happiness." Here they are:
1. Make up your mind to be happy.
2. Make the best of your lot.
3. Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't think that everything that happens to you is world-shaking importance and that somehow you should have been protected against the misfortunes that befall other people.
4. Don't take other people too seriously. They are not much of a muchness either. Don't let their criticisms worry you.
5. Don't borrow trouble. You have to pay compound interest on that and it will bankrupt you in the end if you do.
6. Don't cherish enmities and grudges. Don't remember all the mean things people have done to you. Forget them.
7. Keep in circulation. Go around and meet people.
8. Don't hold postmortems. Don't spend your life brooding over the mistakes you have made, or the sorrows that have befallen you.
9. Do something for somebody less fortunate than yourself. Happiness is a coin that we keep only when we give it away.
10. Keep busy. That is a sovereign remedy for unhappiness.
Man Admires Superman
