When you reach a problematic point in your life you have two choices. Either you question it or accept it. Often times I do question it. Why does it happen to me, to us. However, doing this didn’t really help me at all. It didn’t remove that heavy feeling in my heart. What it did was add even more.

As these problems pile up even before I manage to solve half of them, I tried to accept it. I realized the more I deny the problem, the more heavier it gets. So I accepted it. But I didn’t surrender. I wanted to but, I can’t. I won’t. One proof that I know I am still fighting is by doing this. By sharing my ups and downs with you I am helping myself to remove the heaviness in me. The idea of being alone is less whenever I see you interact with my stories and recipes. It may be a tiny thing for some but for people who are going thru something, a little interaction goes a long way. And for that I want to thank you.

I looked up the word Advocacy online and it is about something you support or recommend. Usually when we hear that word we think of something big. Something grand. Then I asked my self, “what is my advocacy?”. What grandiose idea I can pour my heart and time in? Then it came to me. I don’t have to do anything grand! What I need is to start something small but devote more time and passion to it. So what am I an advocate of? I am an advocate of Happiness and the Simple Joys in life. 

Making sure that everyone around you is happy and well is going to be my thing. I realized that our vision is often blurred by the big things to be passionate about while we forget being happy. We can pour our sweat and money over things but we still forget to be happy. Being happy is free. Sometimes it’s just tricky to achieve. That’s where my advocacy comes in.

When a person is having a hard time to be happy, I will give my best to lift them up. After all happiness doesn't cost a single centavo. Experts may have recently contradicted that we use less muscles when we smile. But they still say the muscles we use for it is stronger because we use it often. I think that is still a win. Still a good thing. So if I can do something for someone to be happy, then why not. You know what can make happiness even free and easier? If you can also join in. Make people happy. No membership fee required. Just have a heart for others and you are automatically a member of the happiness team.

If I am to review my day today, I guess it will be simple. I fed our furbabies, finished a few tasks and made fried rice etc. Dull for some but I am happy for it. Because for me it was as good as yesterday—and yesterday was a good day. If my day is as peaceful and normal as the day before then that’s my simple joy. That’s what happiness is for me.

Yes problems are still there just lurking around the corner...but I am learning now. I am learning on how to face them. I believe that being happy is a sure way of fighting it. I understand that being actually happy is hard. But oftentimes it is easy and doable. With all the problems and stress that we have, we sometimes choose the wrong thing. Out of confusion we forget to be happy.

What you can do is pause for a while. Relax. Take deep breaths. Hold your head high and say,

 “I am strong and I choose to be happy!”. ❤️😁❤️

Ps. Here’s a photo of my assistant for tonight. LOL

***Stay happy and kind.***