A Heartwarming Trip down the Memory Lane.......

The big eyes, the innocent smile, the cutest face you could ever imagine, crowned with dark curly hair........ The face captivated me when I was at a recent party. And for a second I wondered why. You see, I'm in my mid forties and she is 13 months old! And then it came piling down on me..... her face was eerily familiar to my daughter's when she was her age (my daughter is 19 years old now). So I stepped towards this doll-like little girl and there was this unexplainable, instant connection. She came to me willingly and for the next 2-3 hours, I entertained her and she took me on a wonderful trip down the memory lane.....

In those 2 hours or so, my daughter's childhood years flashed by. And it was almost heaven on earth! I was back in time, reliving the first smile, the first steps, the occasional pout.... And somehow, I can't explain how, I felt that this little girl probably sensed what was going on and helped me out by sticking with me for the whole evening. For that brief period of time, it was the good old days again..... when nothing came close to the excitement of watching her smile, when she's the boss and you do her bidding, when you voluntarily lose connection to the world for that moment and it's just you and your child.

How I wish the clock could be turned back! But I know that can't happen. Why do children have to grow up so fast? But this little bundle of joy did take me back in time and helped me relive some wonderful childhood memories of my daughter. But that's the cycle of life, moments in the past are gone forever and what's left is memories to cling on to.

The next time I meet that wonderful little girl, I don't know whether she'll remember me or not, she might have another favorite person that evening (maybe one of her aunts, whom she totally ignored the day I was the chosen one!!) But thanks a million to her, that day she helped me connect to a beautiful period in my past and flooded me with wonderful recollections of the great time I had with my daughter when she was growing up.

Make every day special, create beautiful moments, so that you have wonderful memories to look back to!

The daily blessings in disguise!

A wonderful person and a dear friend recently sent me a thought-provoking e-mail. It outlined a number of daily, mundane, inconveniences in our daily lives which stress us out so much. It flashed back to the tragedy of 9/11. The same inconveniences, annoyances and delays saved so many lives. Somebody had to drop of their kids at daycare out of turn, another person got a cut on his foot and had to stop at a drugstore to get a bandage, somebody was held up in traffic...... All of these people were late getting to the twin towers and because of that are alive today.

Maybe all these daily little bumps on the freeway of life are a part of the master plan. And what, might you ask, is the master plan? The answer would be a resounding "No Idea". The planner and architect is God and only He knows!

The next time you are held up in traffic, delayed at an airport, etc. etc....... Deal with it. It maybe a blessing in disguise. Take everything in stride, accept it as a part of life. And it's a lot easier said than done!

Taking these tiny road bumps in stride can be extrapolated to accepting who you are as a person. "Type A" personalities would have the toughest time with accepting their limitations. People who always want to be ahead of everybody else, want to be better at everything compared to people in their social circle will have their stress level through the roof when faced with these daily road bumps, however inconsequential these might be.

I'll try not to complain the next time I'm stuck in traffic or delayed at an airport or....... (so many other things). It'll be hard but I'll try! Because somewhere in that delay, in a hidden corner of that annoyance, could possibly lurk a blessing.

To be happy, embrace life as it comes and accept it with all its joys and pin-pricks.

Remember, happiness is a journey, not a destination.