The Happy Book

I've been reading David Matthews' Being Happy for the past week.



It's a great follow-up read to Dr. Joseph Murphy's The Power of Your Subsconscious Mind.

Happiness has always been a personal choice and a state of mind.

The most successful and happiest people learned the art of choosing happiness over angst or sorrow in the most challenging and difficult situations.

And I'm just a newbie learning the how-tos.

As they say, the pursuit of happiness begins with learning to live "in the now," rather than drive ourselves nuts worrying about what the future will bring.

Sharing some excerpts from the book about Living in the Now:

"Living in the now is expanding our awareness to make the current moment more delicious rather than shutting off. Each of us has the choice, moment by moment, as to whether we really live and absorb and allow ourselves to be touched and affected.

Whenever we are living in the present moment, we drive fear from our mind. Essentially, fear is concern over events which might happen sometime in the future. This concern can be paralyzing to the point where we find it impossible to do anything constructive.

However, you are only open to intense fear when you are being inactive. The minute you start to take action and actually DO SOMETHING, fear subsides. Living in the now is about taking action without fear of the consequences. It is about putting in the effort for the sake of the involvement, without worry as to whether we will get our just rewards."

Note to self: Buy Boyfriend a copy of the book. 'Might just do some tricks in allaying fears of things that may not even be there or events that may not even happen.

Weekend spent happily with Ninay

This weekend was nothing extraordinary. I managed to write a few pages for my thesis, get the packages I bought from eBay, had some snoozy downtime on my ever-so-missed bed and spent a lot of time with my Mom and Ninay - my almost baby daughter.

Last Friday, after office, I went home to Mom's house for dinner and cartoons. As I was lazily lying on my Mom's bed, she was watching Ant Bully with me. When the movie was about to end, she saw that the kid from the movie eagerly hugged his Mom.
From out of nowhere, she muttered, "Basta ako may Mommy. Ikaw." Then she hugged me tightly and gently kissed my forehead.

How can you say no to a beautiful child like that?
Today, after going to church for Sunday Mass, I bought her first set of fat crayolas for beginners and her very first coloring book. I gave it to her after dinner and taught her how to color and stay within the lines. She already knows her colors very well and the best way for her to naturally recognize them is for her to dabble with crayons and paint.

That, and to avoid the scolding of my Mom. Ninay recently experimented with Mom's eyeliner and lipstick and drew lines and circles all over the mirror. Lagot na bata.

I reprimanded her for it gently. I can't get myself to scold or punish the kid - she's kind, wonderful --- and obedient. Mom made her clean up the mess she did, though.

She's one of the major reasons why I stay home a lot lately. It's not just about her having a mother figure in her life. It's also about me... learning so much from a kid like her.

It's great to see life in the eyes of a child and learn to appreciate its simplicity once again. And it's amazing how her kind, loving words can melt my heart and make me cry.