happy days ~ 100 days or eternity?

If you would remember in this post I had mentioned about my 100happydays challenge. For the lack of a better topic & since this is my blog and I can write about what I want..yadayadayada…I thought of doing a round up of some favorite pics from my 100happydays journey!! Get excited ! 😛

These pictures aren’t overly great and neither are they extraordinary. Insignificant as they might seem however, they did make me happy. Could it be because I was on the look out for a lil joy? Is that how the process works? You seek happiness..lo and behold there it is! As I type these sentences I feel a deep sense of epiphany sinking in. Life could be so much more sunshiny & bright if we actually go looking for happiness everyday, rather than wait for it to fall on our laps. And if the concept is really this simple, then why aren’t we doing it enough? Happiness for eternity. Sounds so alluring! Could this be because we, at times, sometimes aren’t truly grateful enough ? *cringe* I realize how I have the same outlook at times. A lot of times. I stamp my feet in frustration at all that is going wrong. My designs for life that don’t necessarily work out in the order that I want. A plan that goes astray. I tend to get so caught up in my “issues” that sometimes forget to take account of all that I am blessed with. The most loving family. Friends. Health. Security. Independence. And so much more. Touchwood (I am that superstitious if you must know. We all have our quirks, don’t we? 😉 )

There are tons of people around me that take everyday, good or bad, in stride. I think these are the ones who truly employ the idiom “Live today to it’s fullest“. They remain unfazed as life throws them challenges, however big or small, often assuming that there is some learning that the situation would provide. A lesson that would turn out most useful for the future. Like me they could choose to think its bad luck or fate, but I see that their attitude is to be calm, patient, humble & hopeful that the tough days too would pass. These people brim with positivity and I am so blessed to have them around me – my father, my sister, my husband to name a few. And I have so much to learn from them & imbibe in my life.
But I am digressing from my original topic, aren’t I? I am sure you understand how the wayward mind works :-). So without further ado, here are my top favorite picks from the 100 happydays challenge. May the happy days continue, for me & for you!

bangalore evenings. so mellow.

Walk slowly, breathe deeply, savor the moment. #goa

some shadow play

a cliched click. overrated, yet magnificient.

an interesting, easy read. #booklove

a lazy holiday by the beachside. my favorite kinds. #varkala

funny poster sighting in the restroom of a local restaurant…and what is life without going through one of these days 😛

A beautiful view to look at everyday ~ and right at home! #ilovebangalore

i am back and happy days are here….apparently

Dear Reader,

Whoever you are….(being overly optimistic & hoping there is actually a reader? Urmm…nevermind)….I am sorry I have not been posting for so long. I could do the song & dance routine to explain my complete absence from blogging but it’s just going to be a bunch of excuses put together. So let’s not hash out the past but instead look at this as starting anew, sounds good? O-kay!

Over the last few days, if you are an active member of the online community (twitter/fb/tumblr/yadayada), you would have noticed a lot of users uploading pictures with the 100happydays hashtag. I was intrigued. What’s with the hashtag overload? And how did I not know about it ?? (I might not blog much but I am very much one with all the online “happenings” ;-)) I found out shortly that 100happydays is an online challenge to click a pic, everyday for 100 days, of something that makes you happy & share it. Sounds fun, I thought. And i love me a good challenge on pics (although I had miserably failed at the fatmumslim photo a day challenge :(), so i signed up!

To my absolute delight I have been having a lot of fun through this challenge. I was reminded that I did not need any occasion, say an anniversary or a birthday celebration; a promotion at work; or a holiday, to be happy ~ I found joys in the small things. Don’t get me wrong – the big things matter, oh do they not! But cherishing the lil spurts of happiness, a late night cup of coffee; freshly painted nails; witnessing an early mornin sunrise, makes you realize that being happy is entirely up to you . You could let it slide by, or treasure each seemingly insignificant one as your encounter them. I would think that the concept of capturing happy moments has always existed in the past, say making an entry in your personal diary or clicking a pic for a photo album, but now we have other means to do it ~ where words might fail, your pictures could do just the work. On some days I struggle to find the good in all things around me, and in the other days its easy enough – maybe that’s the balance of life? How else will you appreciate the good if something bad never happens? And that’s the philosophy I try to live by. I falter at times but thankfully I always pick myself up.

I can tell you that I have seen merit in the entire process. Its quite amusing to realize that I have a silly smile on my face as I scroll through my photo entries & feel excited about the days ahead ~ wonder what else I might encounter that would make me happy? Wondering & hoping.

Here are a few photos so far from my Instagram feed…I am thinking of making a post every week or so in the blog on the photos & get back to writing again! Maybe this is a happy sign too? 🙂