Starting the New Year Right

There are some days when I just don’t feel like getting out of bed. Maybe I didn’t sleep well the night before or there is something I dread doing ahead of me. For whatever reason, whenever I started my day with fear and worry, the rest of the day was doomed to plod along in a sluggish, miserable manner.

The attitude with which we choose to begin our day determines the type of weather we’ll spend the rest of the day in. We can either choose a ray of bright sunshine or a raindrop from a storm cloud. We all make that choice every day. Do we start with dread and fear or optimism and hope?

When we begin our day with dread and fear, we naturally invite negativity and a sense of emptiness into our lives. Minor inconveniences are blown into catastrophes, simple pleasures bring us no joy, and we inevitably focus on the negative in people and situations. As the day draws to a close, we wonder how we could have made it through yet another day like this.

But we could endeavor to start each day with an unburdened mind and heart. We could look to our day with enthusiasm and hope, and consciously decide to seek out the good in people and situations. We could choose to be grateful for the seemingly common and simple, and appreciate the little blessings each day brings.

Now, some might argue that that isn’t reality – that the world isn’t that wonderful a place. Well, isn’t it true that how things look depends on the lenses through which we choose to see them? We make our own reality in how we choose to perceive the world around us.

This doesn’t mean that as long as we start our days with hope and optimism that things will magically go the way we want them to. Our attitude towards the world doesn’t change the world. It simply helps us better manage changes in the world. Dread and fear stokes the flame of negativity and self-destruction. When we are knocked down, they make it harder for us to get up. Optimism and hope get us on our feet again.

As Mary Pickford once said, “If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

New Year Celebration

It was December 31, 2009.

Since I am working in the call centre industry, I usually have night shifts. I finished the shift in the morning on Dec 31 and started myself to Ayyapanthangal where some of my friends have taken room in that place. I decided to celebrate the New Year in their room.

I got a train from Nungambakkam and reached Guindy and then I took a bus to Ayyapanthangal. I reached their place by 9.30 AM in the morning. I was not able to sleep due to the anticipation of the new year celebration. We watched the movie "PAA" starring Amitabh and Abhishek Bachan in the Laptop. Then we do not know what to do in the noon time. So we decided to go to the recently released movie "AVATAR". And also my friends have decided to celebrate the new year in Purasawalkam with their colleagues and I could join them. We have to reach there by 6 PM.

We found it very confusing to decide to which theatre we could view the movie whether in Purasawalkam "MOTCHAM" thatre or any nearby theatre. Atlast we decided to go to the nearby "S S R PANKAGAM" theatre in Vadapalani. The show time was from 3.30 to 6.30. The movie was great and we had a serious discussion about the movie on or way to Purasawalkam. We reached the place only by 8.30 PM since there was a huge traffic in the roads due to the new year celebration. Everyone was waiting for us with both the hot and cold drink.

We started the party by 9 PM itself and our party continued till 4 AM in the morning. In the middle we also cut the cake to celebrate the new year and no was able to eat he cake since it was on our faces. Some of my friends faces beecame pale red due to the chocolate flavor of the cake. Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhh... That was one of the great time in my life. I can't even forget this day...

Lots of Boozing...
Lots of Facial (ie with the cake)...
Lots of Fun...
Lots of Smiles (mostly bursting laughter lol)...
Lots of enjoyment...

Hope this new year will be a great year for me...

I am sure it will bring me both Joy and Happiness...