Bye bye a happy year and welcome a happier year!

That does sound like an odd title, doesn’t it? Well I wanted to show my gratitude for the year that’s gone by and express my hope for the year that’s on the threshold. And with hope I’m reminded of a saying on my calendar this month, by Vaclav Havel

It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Isn’t that  a beautiful quote? Anyway I digress. Come new year and we can see the word “resolutions” everywhere – on blogs, minds, conversations and what have you. I’m not much of a resolution person; there was a time when I would make resolutions very excitedly and lock them up until next year when it was time to make new ones. Then one year I felt bad when I realized that they didn’t mean much to me. So last year I made some goals for myself – primarily related to my hobby; I would take an account of how I was doing on them every month and now when I look back I think I “exceeded expectations” on my goals (I must admit that it is so good to get that rating in some review ). So I think I’ll continue with that trend – make some goals for myself and take a checkpoint on my progress every month.

Coming back to the happy year gone by, this has been on my mind for quite some time and I think now is an appropriate time to do it. I would like to post my gratitude to God for His blessings in the year that was:

• I’m grateful to Him for the wonderful jobs we have. In this economy when people are facing hard times I can’t thank him enough for blessing us with great jobs! I will not deny that there are moments when I feel “This is too boring!” or “How wonderful it would be if all I could do was stay at home”; but deep inside I am grateful to Him. Whatever I might whine about my job, there’s no denying that I feel very proud of it!
• I’m grateful to Him for blessing me with a wonderful family. It feels good to know that there are so many people who care about you. Of course there are moments when you have a hard time with one more people in the family but that’s what a family is all about. You can fight all you want and still know that whatever happens they’ll always be there for you and you for them. And I know that’s the kind I have. With that I would also like to say that it’s OK to fight in a family. Many people have this notion that you have a “bad” family if you have people fighting. I don’t think so. It’s like the more you talk, the more there are chances of an argument. Sure you can avoid any arguments by not talking at all; but then that’s not a family.
• I’m grateful to him for blessing me with the most beautiful home. Yes we bought our first home last year! It is a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. My mom knows that I always wanted a home of my own since I was a kid. So the day we got the key to our very own house was one of the happiest days of my life! And as I always tell my DH it’s the best house in the whole wide world! Not that it has no blemishes but in the grand scheme of things they do not matter. It’s when I see a homeless that I realize how blessed I am to be able to come back to a warm home. That does not mean I’m underestimating my home in any sense – all I want to say if that first I would like to thank God for the fact that I have a house and then for the wonderful house.
• I’m grateful to him for blessing me with me. We’re unable to appreciate what we have till we either lose it or see others around us who don’t have it. We take it for granted that we eyes to see the beautiful world, ears to hear the sweet sound of everyday life, legs to walk to the bus and hands to do the odd jobs around the house. Have you ever seen a handicapped person? Next time you’re feeling deprived, just think of one handicapped person you’d seen and put yourself in his/her shoes. I’m sure you’ll find your spirits lifted up!
• I’m grateful to him that I could do not one, not two but three crafts fairs – the first time in my life! Having done them I know it’s not easy to do them and you need a lot of things to work for you!

You must be wondering why with every “up” I’d posted a “down”. I did that to let people know that my life also has its down moments and there might be many more that I’ve not listed here nor do I want to recall them.

1. Because your life is as happy as you think it is.
2. Because your life is as good as you think it is.
3. Because your life is as blessed you think it is.

It’s all in the mind. I feel so good now, so blessed. How do you feel?