He waited patiently for September to come, when he would harvest great quantities of ripe amber, ruby, and rose grapes swollen with sweet juice. With his face illuminated by the brightest smile and his eyes shining with sparks of happiness, he would begin his task of creating “Sunny Beams” juices and wines. The old man went about his work in a passionate way and often said that he was so happy he felt as if he could kiss everyone in the whole world a thousand times.
This man was my grandfather.
Now I will share a story that he shared with me when I was a little girl.
“Come here, into the vineyard” he told his children one day. “The grapevine will pass happiness along to you too.” The children came many times to his purple and green kingdom, sparkling with millions of thin, almost invisible luminescent threads of sun rays and he told them everything he knew about grapevines and happiness.
The grapevine has always inspired great artists and poets. Many centuries ago a Greek artist painted a grapevine that became a famous legend. The grapes he painted were so attractive and realistic on the canvas that the birds mistakenly thought they could eat them. They flocked to the painting from everywhere to take a bite of happiness and enjoy the taste of juicy grapes. But the birds soon learned that the talented artist had fooled them.
“So don’t be mistaken in your life,” Grandpa told us. “See things as they really are. Don’t fool yourself. Whatever you do, do it well and you will always be satisfied with yourself and happy with the whole world. It’s so easy. If you do not do a good job, you will have to pay the consequences. You will have to correct what you did wrong and do it over and over again and you will not come to a great result. My advice to you is to do everything right in the first place and all good things will come back to you like a boomerang.”
24 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
Grandpa used to say. “The land, especially the vineyard, loves hard workers and happy people. If you are in a fine mood, your grapevines will be too. Your feelings are passed along to them.” My grandfather worked hard every day from sunrise to sunset with his brothers by his side. This was the way in which he lived his life and he accepted it and was satisfied with it. He never wished to change it. In the 1930s the brothers built a family empire: vineyards, orchards, fields. They built a plant where they made their fine wines and juices. Then the Soviets came in 1940 and they nationalized people’s private properties. They prohibited private citizens from owning commercial vineyards and orchards. The two oldest brothers fled to France and Canada. For a year after that, my grandfather could not recover from the shock of what the Soviets had done or the loneliness he felt without his brothers, nor could he adjust to his new life without his beloved vineyard and orchard. He became terribly sick for a long time, suffering from shock and distress. One day my father gave him hope and renewed energy. He got permission for Grandpa to grow his cherished grapes and fruits on one acre of land in the outskirts of the city in which we lived. And Grandpa planted with great enthusiasm his new and last vineyard. He was always a gentle and kind man who didn’t talk much. I never heard him complain of being tired. I watched him toil in his orchard, and it was for me a priceless lesson because I learned how happy a man could be doing what he loved to do. I recalled many times the story of my grandfather who began his life anew after losing everything. Grandpa, this tiny but strong man with the soul of a child, had never been ill in his life. But the magic of our human nature is that we can adjust to any changes in our lives. Positive ones we adjust to in the blink of an eye; the negative changes take longer. The main point is that we can get accustomed to almost everything—if we love and believe.
Grandpa quickly became accustomed to his new life and a much smaller piece of land, and again he was happy, healthy, optimistic, and cheerful. He could not imagine life without his work. He couldn’t imagine losing his liaison with Nature and the vineyard. It was his magical world of the grapevines of happiness. As long as he dwelled in this spot, he was healthy and happy.
“A healthy spirit lives in a healthy body” is a wise expression attributed to the ancient Greeks. They did not have antibiotics or other chemical stimulators, such as sedative drugs, which so many people use now—and yet they were healthy and happy.
A Healthy Spirit Lives in a Healthy Body @ 25
We must maintain our health and energy to keep up with the fast pace of life in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately too many people are unaware that they are poisoning their bodies with chemicals in an effort to obtain rapid relief from their ailments.
While our physical health is supremely important, we cannot neglect our mental and emotional health either. Most of us, in an effort to manage our jobs, home life, and other roles we have taken on, must process a seemingly endless and continuous stream of information flying at us at breakneck speed via our modern media. Consequently we become overstressed
