Sunday, February 16, 2014

Dear IPhone....

I have one question for you:  WTF?

I upgraded my iTunes on my phone as well as the OS- and somehow- you messed up my whole phone!  Any changes to my contacts, texts or photos from May 2013 through Dec 2014- gone. GONE!

I've hot most of my contacts back but not all. 

Basically it took me way too long to try it get it situated.  So while I love my phone, lesson learned. You are a rock star of a phone- so long as I don't connect you to ITunes!

Aargh!!!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Say something....

Today was one of those days that I sensed my mother around me. 

It doesn't happen often; actually I rarely feel any semblance of her presence which makes me doubt my hopes in the afterlife. 

But today, I did. It started with a song on the radio during my drive in.  And then it happened again with a phrase that I said during the day that was hers incarnate. 

But the real kicker was when I logged into my Facebook account for a minute. I don't go on often or post hardly ever- but I try to check it every other day or so. Today, my cousin posted photos of my family from waaaay back. The first one that popped up on my news feed was.... My mother.  Smiling. Something she rarely did in pictures because she didn't like her teeth. 

It was shocking and reaffirming at the same time. 

Happy Valentines Day Mom. 
I love you. 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you....

There's nothing wrong with being someone who smiles at a stranger.   There is a strength in kindness, and in happiness. Being happy or kind, is not weak or naive.  I always tell my kids, if you're smiling - then people can't help but to smile back at you.  It's almost instinctive, infectious even.  It's as if smiling is a reflex that we're born with, rather than a learned behaviour.

In some ways, isn't that the truth?
We have to actually work at being unhappy or dissatisfied.  It's so much easier to smile and make light of things rather than to hang on to the things that make us less than happy.  Who wants to hang onto all of that heaviness?  That, is work and effort - and almost counterintuitive, never mind counterproductive.

Life gets in the way of our own personal happiness sometimes.  It's easy to get jaded and bored; it's easier to be grumpy and go the path of least resistance....give in to being that mouse on a wheel circling mindlessly, endlessly....with no real endstate to speak of.  What's there to be happy or excited about when it's the same thing day in and day out....or you feel like nothing is exactly the way you thought it might be.

That's why it's always important to rise above.  It's always important to smile - even when you don't feel like it.  It's not just for the outward appearance you give to others; but most importantly for youself.  Sometimes, if you keep on smiling - you just won't have to work at it so much anymore and then suddenly....you're just happy.