It Can Only Get Better

After that nice hectic week of posting here almost every day, life intervened and refused to be ignored. Of course I paid it full attention. In the middle of repair work, heavy rains, power outages and all the other little hassles that make up life, we managed to laugh quite a bit. Strange how our day goes the way our mouths are turned. We were on the up and up. I got engrossed with:

• an increased workload (and loved it)
• doctors’ visits for each of us in turn (lucky we have a good one)
• a earache (I turned a deaf ear to it, ha, ha.)
• fighting with my neighbor upstairs who drained the dirty water from her balcony into mine (stinky people in more ways than one)
• part of my kitchen wall becoming damp thanks to same neighbor (in the process of getting fixed)
• tiles being fixed in the common area of our floor (nice. had some tea-times with the workers, too)
• heavy rains (felt especially okay because it mostly happened late at night and we were dry and warm indoors)
• interesting conversations (online and offline)
• catching up on my reading (oh, the delight!)
• continuing to clear up my cupboard (yeah, the one that gives me soul smiles and discovering more stuff)
• celebrating Ganesh Chaturti with family (The elephant-headed God who zaps all obstacles and whose form is lovable and fills my collectibles)
• losing a family member (prayers)
• and carrying on with life, sometimes meeting it head-on and sometimes trying to dodge it.

It has been eventful and I found myself getting irritable too frequently for my liking. During these times, I pray to calm down. Didn’t work though. I decided to check out my stash of inspiring quotes. Why, a couple of my blogger friends seemed to sense just what I needed without me having to tell them, and posted these:

18 beliefs for a joy-filled life by Fran Sorin

9 great Lao-Tzu quotes to illuminate your life by Elle Sommer

And then, I remembered reading this wonderfully motivating post over at Victor’s which included the Optimist’s Creed. The first time I read it, it sounded so much like a prayer! I find it particularly relevant at this moment, because in exactly two weeks, it will be my birthday. This year is more significant for me than ever.

Here is the Optimist’s Creed, for you to enjoy:

Promise yourself…

to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
to make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism some true.
to think of only the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
to wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
to give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
to be too large for worry, to noble for anger, to strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

As long as I can check off a few of those at any given point, I am happy. As I take stock of the brighter moments we enjoyed this week, I am grateful. It is a fact of life that the good memories stay and the bad ones fade. After all, happiness is a choice, isn’t it?

As my son cheerfully says….It’s a good day to have a good day! It can only get better!

I am looking forward to a hectic weekend of hospital visits, music programs and perhaps a bit of birthday shopping.

What are you looking forward to?