Friday, December 31, 2010

Goodbye 2010 - The Countdown is on!!

 
photo credit - dinikusuma.com
Well they say all good things must come to an end and it so happens that today is the last day of the year 2010. Wow! Time certainly flies! I remember distinctly just sitting on my front porch last year around this time reflecting on the past year gone by and silently making my New Year’s resolutions for this year. A-m-a-z-I-n-g! Some friends of mine tell me I think too much and I’m too deep for my own good but my mind sometimes works overtime…I was thinking to myself once that right here in this moment is all we have, and it will never come again…. and how quickly it passes…and poof! It’s gone and now the past. Every single moment that we have is seemingly fleeting. If we try to grab on and hold on to a single moment it is self-defeating because the truth is you can’t. The most you can do is try to cherish and fully enjoy it. Last night I was at a Maroon 5 concert and if I look back in my mind’s eye…I was just there standing in the crowd singing along to their songs and thinking wow what a great way to end the year…these guys are super talented musicians in every sense of the word and although my feet hurt and I sorta wanted to get to put it up…I don’t want it to end. And now that moment is gone and I’m sitting here at my computer. I did indeed enjoy it to the max and will do it over again in a nanosecond (but probably with sensible shoes:). It seems like time is just racing faster and faster without us even being aware of it. It’s sort of bitter sweet. On the one hand you sometimes want time to progress so you too can move forward and then there are other times when you want to savour every moment and wish it could last forever. Like if you have a child that you want to grow up and have kids of their own and yet you want to savour the little moments…the developmental stages from first words and steps as a baby to toddler to adolescent, teenager and young adult. Sometimes you can’t have your cake and eat it to. You have to experience and endure it all…it’s all a part of life and learning.

Have you ever thought that something in your past feels like just yesterday and yet it seems like soo much time has passed in reality? Call me nostalgic but time is an enigma that I can’t seem to relinquish. I don’t often sit and reminisce but in the fleeting silent moments I reflect in awe of this magical creation and universe. I guess that’s why I am a writer. I observe the little things that people don’t usually talk or even think about…. if they do it’s in their quietest moments of solitude. This year has been a good year for me though. A lot of milestones and events, I am grateful and happy to have experienced it all. Every year is an opportunity to start anew and try to make it better than the last. Each year is unique and it will bring with it, it’s ups and downs, joys and sadness, disappointments and blessings in disguise if you want to look at it that way. Each unique experience is an opportunity to find a lesson and meaning from which we can grow and transform it into something positive or creative. Life is an adventure and it’s up to you to make it work in your favour. Every moment is to be savoured and enjoyed so that we can pass on our lessons and joy with others. The negative ones are put in our path for a reason and it is up to us to turn inwards and find that reason so that we can move on and make way for the positive ones.
 
The Christmas season is also almost over and we take with us those memories of celebration and reflection. So as I say goodbye to all of my experiences of 2010, I tuck away those memoirs in a very special place in my mind so that I can visit them often and draw from them so as to help me in the future. Time will tell where we would be in another year’s time. Keep on living in confident faith and love and you would be exactly where you need to be at any given moment.

Wishing all a very introspective New Year’s Eve or Ole Year’s as we say in these parts (amidst the celebration) and may God smile on you in 2011 so you may have a blessed and bountiful New Year with the best of health, strength, love and peace with all your nearest and dearest dreams coming true!!! :-) ©

Cheers!

photo credit - sodahead.com


Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas!!

I did not get a chance to blog yesterday – Christmas Day since my Internet was down but the sentiments remain true and I would like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas!!! Hope you had a wonderful day! As we celebrate with our family and friends, we give thanks for all our blessings and living to see another Christmas with special people to share it with. May this Christmas bring you all the things you wished for and may you create memories to last not only at this yuletide season but also throughout the New Year 2011 and beyond!

My vacation has officially kicked off and I look forward to blogging even more regularly and sharing with you my thoughts and feelings on issues that present themselves in my consciousness and day-to-day life. I changed the name of my blog and from here on end it is no longer “Reflections” but “Moment to Moment.” I wanted “A little bit of me, a little bit of you” but that was already taken so Moment to Moment it shall be until I think of something that can better encapsulate what it's about. Look out for a year’s end article coming soon as 2010 winds down and we reminisce on the good times and look forward to major breakthroughs, revelations and goals realized. Life is wonderful! …. Can you even wait to find out what is in store for us in 2011?!! Hold onto your seat and enjoy the ride cos it’s only gonna get better. ©

Think it, believe it, live it!!

Peace/


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Where is your Christmas Spirit?!

Four more days for Christmas 2010…. and somehow the Christmas spirit is now kicking in…. despite the fact that I spent the entire day Saturday shopping for gifts. Is Christmas moving further and further away from Christ and becoming more materialistic I wonder? This mad rush that happens every year…somehow is not reflected in our respect for humanity…. simple things like how we treat fellow motorists and pedestrians on the roads among other things. How come I’m not really feeling it this year despite the decorations, ham and grog, Christmas music and fandangle? Our tree was actually up since late November and I usually feel that feeling in the air as early as September when one of my favourite radio stations starts to play carols and parang on the radio.

On another note, we had our Annual Christmas Gift Exchange and Birthday Club celebration today at the office. While hosting it, I realized I really like doing this and I should be doing it full time…as a business perhaps?! Apart from the joy on people’s faces and laughter emanating from the room, people comment (sometimes not to me) on how much they enjoy it and I like to recreate nostalgic moments. So I have individual prize giveaways and team games based on a particular theme from the 1980s and 1990s ….I am obsessed with the 80s actually…. love the music, television, movies and fashion.

Christmas is right around the corner and I have so much to do still. It seems like just last year I was studying for my final postgrad paper and barely had time to enjoy the season and now it’s all behind me. God is good and we must remember to give Him thanks. By next year round this time…we will be in totally different situations and circumstances, a year older and wiser hopefully progressed from our former state(s) and having accomplished much more. So whatever our desires whether it is a new home, new job, new baby or relationship we have to set our sights and release it into the universe for with perseverance and faith it WILL happen!! Even if it takes a little longer than expected, if we really desire it, I’m sure it will be well worth the wait and the sweat and sacrifice. ©

May all Your dreams come true this Christmas. All the best to you and yours for the season and beyond!~

photo credit - vocationvibes.franciscan.org

Sunday, December 5, 2010

What does Christmas mean to you?


photo credit - istockphoto.com

The days are inching closer with the events leading to the culmination of the Christmas holidays. We are now in the month of December and it’s raining every day in these parts. Yet life must go on and we all must brave the rain and put in an appearance at our various destinations. It all depends on your perspective, rainy weather (or snowy in some cases) can be a magical time and it’s up to you to make the most of it. It can be a cozy time indoors if you bundle up with warm clothes and heated beverages and think warm thoughts. People all over the world are making plans, some have been planning months in advance to spend Christmas with their loved ones at perhaps a far off exotic location or a winter wonderland. Others may be just going back home to spend the holidays with the parents or grandparents, aunts, uncles or otherwise.


photo credit -christmaswallpapers.info
Times like this deserve someone to share the festivities of the season with even if it a neighbour, a close friend or a distant relative. Our life is such that we must cultivate and foster close relations for the old saying rings true “no man is an island.” Christmas is a wondrous time of year where all little kids fantasies come true and are usually granted by their parents. Although we are now adults, and we don’t have a fairy godmother to wave a magic wand as in the fairy tales, we can attempt to make our dreams a reality one day at a time whether it is personal, career/business or leisure. For Christmas we can treat and pamper ourselves with a day at the spa or a day of shopping. If we can’t afford to do that we can make our favourite Christmas treats and invite friends over to watch our best holiday movies over teas, liquors and wines or listen to carols or parang while we decorate and reminisce over the good ole days. We can volunteer our time at a soup kitchen or children’s home. Christmas brings back memories and if we can’t spend it with the ones we love we can share it with those in need of love.

Remember Christmas is about thanksgiving for a second chance given by our Saviour whether you celebrate it at this time or in this way, the sentiments are universal. It’s about love and sharing and peace to all men and most of all inner peace. We have to find ways to make Christmas special because it is not about you and it's not about me - it is about selfless giving especially to those less fortunate. Like everything in life, we have to work at it to make it magical and keep the fires burning long after the last Carol has been sung and the last gift opened. May your light shine bright during this month of December and may your Christmas 2010 be special beyond words. ©


photo credit - deplicque.net