Life's Simple Joys

2005 had been a wonderful year for me. It marked our first year as husband and wife and he took me to Palawan to celebrate. We’ve been coordinating for more than a year and earned the trust of many couples. I switched job and finally reached supervisory level at my ideally set age. I’ve renewed my friendship with my bestfriend and after 3 years of being away from each other we finally got the hang of how to communicate and be the best of friends overseas. We had new toys like our play station & xda’s. Almost finished all my academic subjects if not for La Salle who didn’t offer my last 2 subjects last term. Improved relationship with my mom and brother. Aand a lot more things I’m so thankful to the Lord everyday!

I was so confident our life was going the way we planned it. For my birthday this year we were planning to go to –Antonio’s in Tagaytay or Baguio driving our own car. Actually Ryan is even insisting going out of town like Boracay or Davao especially when he was able to close a project at the end of the year, received plenty of bonuses etc. We exceeded our target for the year and to mark it, after Christmas, he took me shopping and I was able to buy 3 pairs of shoes including my first boots that looked very very sexy matching it with jeans or nice fitting slacks. Life was so fast tracked and God told us to slow down…my mother-in-law collapsed a had a stroke. Suddenly the abundance of material things and the promise of a luxurious living beyond what we grew up in didn’t matter. I took it hard. I am not a materialistic girl who have to acquire a lot to be happy (although I must admit that I can be a gadget queen once in a while as some of my former officemates labelled me) but one common thing about me and Ryan is that we have big dreams. We have a perfect picture of how we want life to be.

Tomorrow I’m turning 26. For a girl who grew up always celebrating birthdays with a bang (because my family always made a big deal out of birthdays) I should be crying my heart out not having a grand day tomorrow but I’m not. Check out how I celebrated d-day last year . I even asked myself if I’m sure I’m not sad or anything close to that. How do I want to celebrate it? I want to hear mass at Greenbelt chapel (my favorite sanctuary). Before Christmas I wanted to have my hair fixed it’s so unruly na! I don’t think “beautification” is an option. I want to have ice cream! My favorite Coffee Crumble. Pag ginanahan ako I will make myself buko pandan or any salad and finally I want to play Harvest Moon all day! I want to have a hot stone massage at Fitness First since we bought a whole year worth of massage anyway and I haven’t used it for this month. (Kaso lang as if nagpa-sched ako…hello!) Back to reality naman kse the next day, I have to finish my weekly assignment due on Monday otherwise lagi akong absent ng Monday like what I recently did. Hehehe…quiet!

So is happiness a choice? A debatable question my professor asked us in my Positive Psychology. Sometimes when you don’t plan to be happy things that can and will make you happy comes to you. Most days it comes as a choice. You can dwell all you want on the things that make you feel bad or you can be happy despite of… You don’t have to consciously do it because happiness is so strong that it becomes spontaneous.

The experience of losing everything we have and even owing what we don’t have yet made me have a better perspective on things. In some ways it validated our marriage and strengthened our vows(for better or for worst kind of stuff). I have loved and lost so many times (and I’m not talking about the guys I stumbled upon before I found my perfect match.) Lola, Tita Glecy and my Lolo all passed on and left a remarkable statement at different points of my life. Life is short and everything has an end. It’s a lesson I need to be reminded of once in a while.

As I slowed down these past few days there are things I took note:
~the joysss of having a wonderful man as my husband who is strong to face the trials yet gentle in his ways of showing love to me and his family
~the joy of finally having a great boss, who trusts me, listens to me, guides me and respects me. Who can be as professional in dealing with HR matters that are so emotionally and mentally draining and be a friend who listens to my heartaches and shares her own. Making me forget how chaotic our organization is!
~the joy of having my mom visit the house frequently and taste the home cooked meals we never tasted before because she was so busy with work when we were kids. Even if I still have better culinary skills than her…hahaha! conceited!
~the joy of being able to relate to my teenage younger brother who is so guarded most of the times.
~the joy of being closer to my in-laws starting from my sisters-in-law, father-in-law and the rest of the extended family. Getting one step closer to completely understanding their dialect. Nakakarelate na ako kahit papano!
~the joy of watching Jewel in the Palace with a very excited and eager Ryan! Geez it has to be said that my husband and I are soo hooked …hmmm last year I was like this with Lovers in Paris.
~the joy of finally having somebody to help around the house especially now that my time is not only divided by schoolwork since we also frequent the hospital after office.

I can talk endlessly about the blessings I received and it seems that counting all my blessings it can be my birthday everyday, with or without the celebration and definitely without the ageing!

I’m just happy and I’m at peace. More than I thought I'd be on my birthday. For now I let life come to me but I make sure I make the most out of it and live it to the fullest! God knows best and I have all the love in the world my heart could ever contain. That's enough to keep me going and be happy.