On Being Grateful and Choosing Happiness

It’s been days after Christmas and only three days left before the New Year is here.  While some still stays in their bed longer than usual, taking advantage of some of the holiday’s privileges - unlimited rest and sleep, being work-free and doing nothing, I found myself in our warehouse picking some linens, décor materials and catering utensils.  Then I went straight to a Clubhouse where a gathering will be held and started preparing tables and chairs with the help of DH's nephews.

Yesterday, DH’s family had their annual reunion and the kids were actually the most excited about it, they are happily looking forward to it every year, buti pa sila hehe.  It’s sad that some family members were abroad however, what makes sadder is having families who were here and yet didn’t want to be part of the gathering, I can only just sigh.

While some tried to reach out to estranged families, the latter still chose to be excluded and they even grew in number, haay. No matter how you try to stay calm and positive, I realize that we can only do so much especially if we have already step our foot first towards the path of reconciliation. I guess we’ll just have to accept things the way it is right now, and maybe, pray and hope that in time, everything will go back to how it used to be.

Anyways, we had our dinner reunion and families from out of town were all present and for me, that was enough good reason to continue celebrating. One of the keys to rise above a sad situation is to set your mind to be happy.  Then enjoy the day without trying, after all its not a hard thing to do specially if you have a bunch of kids who are very cooperative and competitive joining every game and crazy photo-ops for a prize, even the adults who became cheerleaders were in the mood to enjoy the rest of the night, keeping some liquors at bay also added happiness for the adults. We had a hearty share of good laughs and the connection with family was made stronger, I’m sure of it. I'm also grateful that everyone in the reunion made time for today and chose to be reunited this holiday season.

These are some photos from last night, you’ll see in our funny faces that we did enjoy the night and that’s all that matters.  Thank you dear Lord for the gift of family!