Things That Make Me Happy

List 30 things that make you happy.

I was about to ignore this but I saw the topic again when I checked my reader feed. I need not enumerate those thirty things that make me happy. They are actually more than that as we go along with life. The experiences that make life wonderful and the challenges they bring would definitely help everyone to grow and when we do, happiness is not far behind.

What are the things that make me happy? Simple things make me happy but it is not only ‘things’ that do. My family, friends and people around me that I do get along with make me happy. Happiness actually depend on how you look at life, how you face those problems you encounter now and then. Happiness does not depend on material things alone. Nothing can bring you happiness but yourself.

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Happiness Is Within Your Reach

She looked –

As the sun merges slowly with the thin cloud

What would this morning brings, she thought.

Will it be better than yesterday?

Will it bring heartaches again?

She held the cup of almost tepid tea in her hands

Thinking of tomorrow.

The tea leaves have spread at the bottom of the cup.

And she wish she could read what’s written there.

She likes to believe happiness could be hers again.

Maybe tomorrow

Maybe in the future

She wish she could bring the smiles on her face again.

The tea leaves say,

Get up my child, dream on.

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The Old And The Young

We had this photo taken last Saturday, October 31 when Nissa and Obet dropped by to visit us. This ends  my October the only highlight of which were my birthday and Nissa and Obet’s visit.  We have to take this photo for prosperity…hehe!

Mother and daughter team…

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Which Is Which?

And do you write Happy Heart’s Day or Happy Hearts’ Day?

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When They Get It Right

So proud of my  nephew.

I talked to my youngest brother a while ago and we talked of the kids. They live in Tulsa. My nephew is graduating in Architecture at the end of December. It took him only four and a half years to complete a five-year course. He usually take summer jobs and two of them offered him a job right after graduation.  Two job offers…wow!

I am so proud of him. He was offered a salary even higher than what my brother is getting.  Wow! When he qualifies after his training and apprenticeship, that might even be doubled.  Right now, he is doing some rendering and teaching autocad at the university where he is studying.

Ah, the pleasure one gets when you see your kids finish their schooling and be successful.  My niece, the oldest of the three kids is a full-pledged nurse and the youngest is studying Astronomy. According to my brother, he wants to become a scientist.

“You’re blessed and lucky“, I said. His kids are really doing well. My niece together with some of her friends in the medical field visit Haiti regularly.  She finds it fulfilling to do those missions and render help to the kids there.

My brother and I were joking. He was asking about my birthday. I told him in jest, “Don’t send me  a gift, send dollars instead”. He laughed and we were laughing over the phone like crazy. He wants to go home and take a vacation here.  I hope he does. We haven’t seen each other since Dad died.

The joys of getting in touch with family…..priceless 🙂

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When You’re Healthy, You’re Happy

My doctor is happy.

I am happy.

Thank God for a clean bill of health. People always say, health is wealth. I do agree. And I believe that when you are healthy, everything good follows. You can enjoy life in all its glory.

Went back to my doctor early this morning and showed him the result of my lab test. He smiled and said jokingly, “ang galing ng doctor mo ano?” I just laughed. I really hope I won’t have to visit him again for a long, long time. I’ll just come back when my prescription for my medicines are fully used up.

It’s a lovely day for shopping. Not too many shoppers around. I was all alone at the gift wrapping counter. I asked the staff assigned there if he could also wrap the small items I purchased. He agreed with a smile.

Hmm, my Christmas shopping is done.

All I need are some extra decor for the tree if Josef would help me put it up.  And yes, grocery shopping too next month for Christmas. I haven’t planned a menu yet on what to prepare by then. Let me first anticipate the joy  of having another birthday. Did I say I am turning 62, 63, 64 in almost three weeks?

Time does fly, doesn’t it? Imagine, I left the bank where I used to work when I was forty three. That is about two decades already.  Back then, my kids were only in their teens. Nissa was only starting in college and Josef was in high school. Now we have an almost seven-year old in the family.  Sometimes it is lovely to look back and think of the memories we left behind.  They are memories to treasure and keep. When you have a home to go to and a family to love, they are both blessings in our lives.

October is a lovely month, isn’t it?

A friend forwarded this to me a long time ago. I thought I’ll share it  with you.

 

 

 

 

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Those Days

I just laughed and smiled.

A few days ago, I saw this video on Facebook featuring our talented and famous local artist  Jose Mari Chan introducing some of his new compositions along with old songs that were so popular playing in the air lanes in recent years. He is a singer and a composer, a gifted artist.

And would you believe?

They talked about the BER months saying that it is only a month to go before we start celebrating Christmas. Yes, we have the longest celebration of Christmas on planet earth that starts on September and ends around the month of January. Then Jose Mari Chan sang his famous Christmas songs and I was hooked. It prompted me to go to YouTube and find more, the Ray Conniff singers, the Gunter Kallmann choir and the group called Pentatonix. Of course the version of Bing Crosby’s   I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas tops them all.  It’s a 1942 original version.

Christmas in August, why not?

I have a confession to make. Over the years, I play Christmas songs as early as June and I get a thrill listening to those fantastic voices. There is nothing like a good melody to make you smile and reminisce even of Christmas past –  the family gatherings and reunions, buying gifts for family and close friends, preparing a nice menu for Christmas and New Year’s eve, seeing lanterns on the streets at night, decorating the Christmas tree and of course listening to Christmas music.

The days are long but they move fast. We still have birthdays to celebrate.

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What Happiness Means

You’re lucky when you find a friend who celebrates with you at your best and be there for you at your worst.

Happy Monday morning friends.

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Dreaming On A Monday

Glad to see the sun again in all its glory.

Been busy in the kitchen early this morning cooking. Been able to cook the santol in coconut cream and there are plenty more left.  Boiled the young corn and they were super soft when cooked, yum.  A neighbor gave me  kamias (tree cucumber)  candies early this morning. It is almost out of season now so what was left of the kamias fruits in their tree, she made into preserved candies. It taste better than prunes.  She said she loved the Indian mangoes I gave them yesterday, so sweet.

From time to time, we give each other cooked food or fruits which we harvest from our small gardens. It’s really nice to have friendly neighbors, they’re like relatives to us.

Last night I spent almost an hour listening to Chopin’s Etudes  and Nocturnes since I was inspired by the book I have  just read. It was about classical music. I remember my  late grandmother (my parents’ godparents) who used to play those LP records of  Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Johann Strauss’ Vienna Waltz.  When I was in high school, we had music classes every Saturday and our music teacher made us research on the lives of those famous artists of long ago. My dad used to have some of those LP collections too which were given by some priest friends of his when he worked  in UST before. I don’t know where they are now.  Once in a while, I crave to listen to classical music. It’s a good thing I can always rely on YouTube for those lovely and unforgettable tunes. And when you are using a nice head set, listening is quite a beautiful experience.

Have a lovely Monday everyone!

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Just My Two Cents

Happy  Sunday all!

After that intermittent rain last night (yes, there were moments it totally stopped then rained again), we have finally seen the face of the morning sun. Compared to yesterday, it is still cloudy outside but the rain has finally stopped.

I haven’t attended Sunday mass yet, gonna wait for Josef and Jovy to come home before we catch the evening mass here at the village. My gosh, it started to rain again as I write this.

I’d like to think that happiness is not always measured by one’s success in life. Sometimes we think that successful people are happy but deep inside they’re not. You could be smiling, shaking hands with people you meet, showing a happy face for others to see but  deep within, you are alone in your thoughts, sometimes ugly, sometimes suicidal. What makes people commit that one act  of ending their lives despite their success? What makes them think of suicide and do it? What makes them so unhappy that they have to do that drastic measure of taking life into their hands?

You’ve heard of Kate Spade ending her life one Tuesday morning then a few days later Anthony Bourdain followed suit.  Time and again I would hear of Kate Spade and her creations  (not even dreamed of even seeing her creative designs in my orbit) but Anthony Bourdain was famous even here in our country. He has visited the Philippines several times, trying on our exotic food like balut and our to die for lechon.  He even shared a glass of halo-halo  in a slum area in Tondo.  Most posts at Facebook are about his life, how he struggled to study culinary arts in his early  years. A celebrity chef, traveler and a story-teller.

Beneath the success and happiness may be a deep depression for both.  Do we really understand what depression is and what depression means? I don’t. All I know is that success in life does not always makes you happy.  My oncologist a few years ago emphasized that one of the major causes of cancer, any cancer at that is stress, aside of course from genes.  I believe so. When you are stressed, your body shows signs of weakness too physically. You get that gargantuan headaches and you think it is a normal way of life.  You get those joints  and muscles pains and you think they’re just part of growing old. Sometimes we ignore and procrastinate until it is too late.

Let’s learn to value life every day. Let’s learn to be happy in the true sense of the word.  Even little things could make us smile and be happy. Albert Camus said it so well and I quote: “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” 

 

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