The blues for mondays

Timon: Hey, he looks blue.
Pumbaa: I’d say brownish-gold.
Timon: No, no, no. I mean he’s depressed.
Pumbaa: Oh.

(act from the animation movie ‘The Lion King’, Disney, 1994)

image credit from ‘Crêpes Suzette & A Camera’

Hello World!

Is it so blurry outside or is it just Blue Monday? If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year. And apparently, that day is today, the third monday of January. The holiday season has been gone, apart from Valentine’s day we have to wait for a long time for that joyful spirit. And our New Year’s resolutions are not quite as brilliant as they did two weeks ago.

The weather outside is greyish and blurry. And at work the word ‘work pressure’ is trending. Hmmm… is it coincidence? Apart from my cerebro-spinal (from swimming?) I feel fine. I had a turbulent, but marvelous weekend. And as far as my New Year’s theme, well, let’s just say that I’m taking one step at a time. Just a few weeks ago I wrote about my theme word for 2014, my spark of vitality. It’s the middle of January and so far I only got a list of things that bring me energy. Like painting and drawing, or writing just random stories. Friends who give me energy and friends who longer don’t. My goal to cycle to work every day (so far not so good) and do my daily morning meditation (yeah, so far so good).

So what to do about Blue Monday? At the moment, while posting on this blog, I’m watching a comedy show especially made for Blue Monday. By the way, whoever said women can do two things at a time, it’s not true. In fact, I’m multiswitching instead of multitasking. I believe that apart from the weather you can change any situation, or at least your attitude towards any situation. It’s like when Winnie the Pooh claimed that a tree can fall, but on the other hand, that it might not fall at all. Looking at the bright side of life.

What did you do today to cure Blue Monday?

Whenever I feel depressed, I go to YouTube or turn on my dvd, and I go directly to my favorite Disney scene of all times. It’s the scene with the flamingo playing Jojo from the movie Fantasia 2000, with the energetic classic music ‘Carnaval of the Animals’, by the brilliant Camille Saint-Saëns.

Or I dance at the old school beat of ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain. Once someone gave me a tip to ‘fake it until I make it’: if you feel sad or depressed, put on a smile and you won’t feel sad or depressed anymore. It’s true, though, try it. Smile, just like Charlie Chaplin in the movie ‘Modern Times’.

And remember what Pooh says:

‘Today is my favorite day!’

Yes, even if it’s Blue Monday.

The Teacher

Once upon a time, a long time ago, when I was a teen, I asked my teacher about the meaning of life.

“Mister, what is the meaning of life?” I asked him.

He replied: “it’s 24.”

I looked at him, puzzled. “I don’t understand.”

He muttered: “it’s a stupid question, therefor you get a stupid answer.”

From that day forward, I considered him to be a wise man.

My life reflected in a quote – #3

Photograph by Tim de Groot, via unsplash.com

Faith has nothing to do with logical thinking

The quote above is from the Indian sufi teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882 – 1927). I have seen this quote in the block calendar of Happinez last saturday. To be honest, it is not the most beautiful or inspiring quote I’ve ever heard. It’s the story that’s written on the back of the block calendar that really touched me. It goes like this:

A young man traveled with a caravan across the desert. When he arrived at an oasis he heard that there were many robbers. So the young man took his purse and drove around until he saw an old man sitting, peacefully smoking a pipe. “Dear stranger, would you like to keep my money hidden? I trust you, for it seems that there are many robbers here.” Silently, the old man took his money.

Once the young man returned to the oasis it seemed that everyone got robbed. How lucky he felt that he put his money in custody with an old man. Although…

When he came back to the old man, he saw that he was surrounded by all the robbers. And suddenly it hit him: he had trusted his money to the captain of the robbers! The young man got quite upset by this knowledge and he turned around, leaving the scene. But the captain of the robbers saw him: “Where are you going? Don’t you want your money back?” And the captain of the robbers continued: “I may be a robber, but I am not unfair. I will not betray the faith that you put in me, so here is your money back.”

(author unknown)

So often we have already made up our opinion. But people can surprise us. And that is part of the beauty of this world. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

New Year’s theme, a way of life

Every year is a fresh start for me to pick a theme as my New Year’s resolution. In 2011 it was “coming home”, in 2012 I chose the theme “happiness”, and  last year it was all about “financial balance”.

I find out that choosing just one simple theme to describe how I want to feel or act or focus throughout the year, I accomplish more. Rather than New Year’s resolutions that I intend to keep, but fail the first week of February. And instead of forcing myself into unrealistic resolutions, my theme is kinder to me, for it is not a goal, but a means to the life I want to live, to the person I want to be. It is OK if every now and then I go astray. My theme is more a guru, something that will guide me in the choices I make, in the goals I set and in my plans. It’s a way of life.

A vital spark initiates your life. That spark stays with you until it fades away at life’s end. Your job is to use that spark of vitality to make your life fabulous.

(Reellifewisdom.com)

This year my New Year’s theme will be “Bringing back my Spark of Vitality”. No, it’s not about losing weight, although that would be a bonus. It’s just that a few weeks ago someone mentioned to me that her first impression of me was that I was not so energetic as she thought I would be. And another person thought I was way older than my real age. Harsh? Maybe, but it’s the cold hard truth, and I thank both persons for being honest and for opening my eyes. Apparently I don’t look as energetic as I want to be. And to be honest, a lot of times I feel as old as time itself. The last few years I kept promising myself that I will make time to do the things that I love to do, but most of the time, when I came home from work, I felt so tired and quenched that all I wanted to do was mindlessly surfing on internet or watching tv, even commercials.

The background of the poster above is something I’ve created myself. I chose words that are synonyms of Vitality and that I like, and put it in Wordle.net.

I want to get my vital spark back to life, so I’d do the things I’d like to do with energy and passion. Vitality will be my word for 2014, to become active and strong physically as well as mentally. Vitality, gaining energy and getting a vigorous appearance. A certain spark. And maybe, just maybe, I will take on the world 🙂 (and actually create something).

Happy New Year – Happy Memories

Hello world,

Photo: Sebastian Müller – Blurred Lines via unsplash.com

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you a very happy new year. As I always say: ‘life is about creating yourself’. So let’s make some happy memories.

I know we will be faced with a lot of challenges and difficulties in life. Disappointments, setbacks, frustrations and maybe lost. Sadly, that’s life. And as a wise man once said to me:

“Success is getting what you want, but happiness is wanting what you get in life”

That’s why I count my blessings. And so I create this jar with happy memories in 2014. Every time an event, experience or a person makes me smile or truly happy, I will write it on a piece of paper and put this in a jar. Hopefully, at the end of 2014, this jar will be filled with a lot of happy memories. I’ve written the first note already: spending New Year’s eve with my PIL and friends.

It is a simple jar where once coffee was stored. With a cake coaster, ribbons and other frillies I decorated the jar. I know this idea is not new. I’ve seen lots of these jars in Pinterest and bloglands everywhere, but it is now new to me, worth to try. So what kind of memories to put in?

• goal achievements;
• an activity of a bucket list done;
• blessings;
• the beauty of life;
• the name of a person that you’ve known better this year;
• happy tears-moments

And to end that, I want to quote Neil Gaiman, as I intend to live its words.

Picture is from creativeeveryday.com via Pinterest.

My life reflected in a quote – #2

Dear world,

Do you know that each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage?

With love from Ima’s World

My life reflected in a quote – #1

Life reflected in a quote

• A quote is words of wisdom.
• A quote is the essence of a poem caught in a single line.
• A quote is a reflection of a moment, a breath, a dream, life, or a time.
• A quote is the legacy of great authors and great minds from the past, the present and the future.
• A quote is an inspiration, and an explanation of the modern world.
• A good quote is timeless.

No wonder I love quotes.