I am bringing back my month-ender blog and saying hello to a new month. Welcome December!
Tomorrow is another start in the liturgical calendar. It’s new year, the First Sunday of Advent. It is always a joy to greet the start of the Christmas season. I attended the anticipated mass held at Our Lady of Light Parish a few hours ago. They have lighted the first Advent candle – the expectant waiting and the preparation for the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. These are usually busy days for my apostolate, updating our page with Gospel readings and reflections for the Christmas season. Fr. Louie, my co-admin at the site is busy with the preparation of the coming visit of Pope Francis in UST come January 2015. Pope Francis will be the third Pope to visit our alma mater and the fourth time that it will be visited by a Pope. It was first visited by Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1970, I was in high school then and he was the only Pope I saw personally. It was followed by St. Pope John Paul II in 1981 and during the World Youth Day in 1995.
Lately, I noticed that there are lots of views on my previous posts about the Advent season. If there is one thing that I’ve often blogged about the last five years, it’s Christmas. I love listening to Christmas carols, I think it’s time to bring out my collection of Christmas CD albums. One of my favorites is the Gunther Kallmann Choir. The album is a priceless collection of Christmas songs that remind you of some lovely childhood memories. Nostalgic but happy. A close friend recently asked me how I still find time to smile and show a happy face despite everything that happened in my life. All I can say is, happiness is and will always be a choice. Then I remember a blog I wrote about finding happiness three years ago as part of my Post A Day 2011 challenge. I am reposting it here in case she visits my blog and read it.
There was this story of a little boy who ate worms because he felt no one would mind if he did. No one would care if he gets sick because he has no friends. How many of us feel that way? We feel abandoned and alone because no one would say, “Don’t, you’ll get sick if you do that.” How many of us feel that our life is useless because no one cares?
We seek that elusive thing called happiness but there is really no cut and dried formula or rules by which we could say, “follow this and you will be happy.” Since time immemorial, man has searched for that one special something that would permanently put a smile on his face, a lift of the heart and a feeling of joy everyday of his life. But do you think life would be interesting if we don’t encounter those small barriers that give its meaning? Problems are meant to spice up life just as search for happiness is. They say that happiness is a state of mind and it is a result of events and circumstances that have positive effect in our well-being. I don’t think we need to search for it because it naturally follows when something good or something inspiring happens in our lives. Some people would be happy with just a few pesos in their pockets but some need millions stashed in their bank accounts to make them feel secure and happy.
Happiness comes easy to those who look at the sunrise and think that it is another golden opportunity to shine while it does not come easy to those who think that it is another day to hurdle. In the end, happiness is how we make it, it depends on our attitude towards life, whether we choose to enjoy it or choose to be miserable. Happiness is infectious while misery is not. Think of happy thoughts always.
November is about to end, and December will always be a favorite month of the year. Happy new month dear friends.
Dreams And Escapes 