Happy Monday!

Mondays usually are horrible for me and I am pretty sure I am in the majority on that one.  By the time I wake up on Monday morning, I am filled with a sense of dread for what’s to come the next five work days.  Will there be frustrating situations, inefficiencies, incompetence, ridiculously snarky people??? 

But today, unlike most other Mondays, I feel super happy because I woke up with a sense of gratefulness.  Super grateful because a voice mail last night gave me a short blast from the past and a reminder of how much progress I’ve made the last 6 years and how much happier I am now.  When I say progress, I do not mean it in the sense of career and/or monetary achievements.  I am referring to progress on becoming a happier, better, and stronger person…well, at least by my own standards.  By my own standards, I would say that progress means becoming less selfish, more giving, more caring and loving, more understanding, and more cognizant of people’s feelings in general – and most importantly, actually remembering and doing these things even when I am in a “I-don’t-want-to-be-nice-I-just-want-to-eat-you-alive” mood.  I don’t know when I’ll perfect this because it is hard, but at least I know I am trying and hopefully heading towards it.  I am also grateful because as I am getting older I realize more and more the strength and resilience we have as people and that even when things are bad, I truly have faith that it will get better.  I definitely didn't learn all of this from or by myself but from some of the people around me who have been such wonderful examples.  And on a much bigger and way-more-important scale, recent global events (rather it be natural disasters or political conflicts) have made me think even more about my place in this world and what it means to be content in life.  It has made me more humble and more grateful than I’ve ever been because I am alive and living with happy thoughts…for the most part anyways!

Vundabar!

A sneak peak to a couple of cherry blossom photos.  AND I swear Bali photos are next!!