Overheard with a group of friends nearing the “senior citizen” level:

“I don’t want to grow old yet, if only I can turn back the clock, I would have lived a healthier lifestyle, enjoyed bonding with my children when they were still young and did things I would regret not doing now that I can’t do these anymore.”

When one is at a stage in their lives that they feel they should have done more things when they were still able to, you know it is a wake-up call for you too. I remember reading something about “when you are young you are too busy making money that you tend to forget about taking care of your health and when you have enough money, you spend it to help yourself live longer and be healthy”. Not the exact gist but something like it.

I know for some, they’d rather be healthy even if they are not young anymore so they can still choose about whether to spend swimming or hiking during weekend without having to think about reading the latest novatest review.

I found this article offering good tips on how to enjoy life when one is younger. For me though, these life lessons can still be applied no matter what age. I wrote several topics on how to be better in terms of:

• Spend Time Wisely
• Be Thankful
• Life Lessons for my Children
• Time Management
• Reflections
• Hug Your Child
• Go Slow

Easier said than done, I know, but if we don’t want to have regrets in life later on, we should start doing what is right and what is proper when we are still young

I thought about updating this blog with ABC’s of special education and as it is I am late because it is the 6th day of December and I only have A is for Autism written. Thank goodness for the geniuses over at WordPress who thought about having that time-stamped button and I can post whenever I can. I know, it feels like cheating.

Exams are coming up and there are so many projects and activities that need to be accomplished. I still have to do the reviewers for the children.I also have some a lot of house chores to do and I hope I would not have to resort to having weight loss pills due to all the cooking I will do to be able to wear Christmas-y clothes. I have not done the tree yet as of today.

I am, however, optimistic that I can do this. Writing new posts about special education is long overdue and it is time I update.

And now on to do the dishes first! LOL.

I have been listening to the radio a while ago and the guest, a doctor, was talking about “Serotonin as the Happy Hormone” and setting limits on happiness. (Post was started on October 12. The rest of the article below this written only today)

Serotonin is said to be the happy hormone that helps to regulate moods, relieve depression and anxiety. It also helps you have a regular sleep pattern, among other things.

Food rich in trytophan help increase serotonin production in the body. Some of these food are: different kinds of cheeses (Swiss, cottage, provolone), bananas, yogurt, soybeans and soy products and seafood like tuna, clams and oysters.

Egg white, cheddar cheese, pork chops, lamb and potatoes on the other hand help you increase trytophan intake.

Anyway, back to the subject of happiness and setting limits, I agree and disagree with the speaker about setting limits on happiness.

When we set limits on happiness, we tend to be more comfortable with what we have and have no real nor immediate desire to have “things” just so we can be happy. There’s more to living a simple life than working too hard and too much to get that expensive bag or a car that’s not within the budget and not necessarily a need at the moment, are two examples I can give for this.

Sure, we may feel complacent if we don’t work harder to be able to afford little comforts (like those ann gish bed linens for your home’s beds) and luxuries (a cuppa of your favorite coffee) but if these wants are the end-all and be-all of what we work for, I don’t think we would be happy nor content at all.

On the other hand, why would we set limits on happiness based on these worldly things? There are so many things we can get our happiness pills from: being with family (of course, this is a source of great stress too), doing a stop-and-smell-the-roses actions, doing random acts of kindness and just being content and not wanting for more than you can bite are just a few suggestions.

One more thing, alcohol and excess caffeine interferes with your body’s ability to produce serotonin. So, there goes your “Happy Hour”

September has a been a very busy month in terms of activities in the children’s school as well as with my teaching load.

September was also a month that I missed a lot of deadlines and I know my ever patient editor must be clenching her teeth and slowly losing her patience with me (huwag naman please, ).

I even promised a dear friend an article about sun showers but I failed to deliver. I just visited one of the  blogs I own and saw that for last month, I only got 6 entries because the posts are still in the drafts. IN the drafts for several weeks already.

I still have the passion to write but after all these weeks, the writing muse is still nowhere to be found as of this moment. Or maybe there is hope because I was able to sit down to write this piece because the article before this was in the drafts for almost three weeks. Egad!

For the month of September( please don’t ask what happened to the daily gratitude journal, let’s not get into that, haha), I am grateful for:

• my family’s love, support, hugs and kisses

• mini-struggles that keep me on my toes day in and day out

• friends who make me smile and who give encouraging words whenever I feel the need to share my “load” of emo moments (if only I can afford to give you gold necklaces with pendants engraved: “I am a Patient Friend” I will do so)

• I am grateful to moms/readers of this blog who sent me emails about their children, trusting that I will help them in any way I can. I am deeply sorry for not answering your inquiries because it was only the other night that I got to read emails as far back as 2009. With that, thank you hubby for finally figuring out what was wrong why I can open these web mails: our ISP servers.

• I am forever grateful to my Papa’s cousin, Auntie Angie, for giving my parents a place to stay because our home’s roof has damage from previous typhoons. The roof is now completely damaged after Pedring came and went. I worry about how to help them financially but I know we will be able to find a solution to this.

There are so many things to be grateful for and I know just counting my blessings make me feel even more blessed. Now excuse me while I wipe away my tears first.

Someone once asked me why I am not posting new blog posts about special ed. I’ve temporarily lost my writing muse. Even with the online publication I currently send articles too, I’ve been missing deadlines.

I’ve so many plans but I don’t know where to start. I’m afraid these plans would “rust” if I don’t do something. I’ll not be surprised if the best metal detectors will go ga-ga when these are used to scan me, haha.

I know I’ll get back “to the groove” in time.

I just need to curtail a bad habit that I have developed these past few weeks.

I’m slowly getting things in their proper perspective and I hope this will stay as such until I got enough self-control to do the things I need to do first before doing the less important things.

Procrastination is not something I am proud of. ‘Nuff said.

More challenges ahead. For me.

I feel that I have somehow lost sight of what I do best but I will just keep silent about what this is. I am focused on other things, mundane things that somehow make me feel “shallow” and at the same time happy. Accomplished? A bit but not really.

Earlier this year, I started picking up my needles, colorful threads and a white  linen fabric. After few Xs, I stopped. I told myself earlier on that I will finish this piece before the year ends. Well, we are into the end of the third quarter but I still have not picked up where I left off. This was a plan to take me away from being online

I started to write a plan for something I want to do in the near future but I lost inspiration. The plan is still “mentally embedded” in me (and hopefully will not be muddled, even if I have a mud mask on my fez, toinks) if there is such a thing.

I know if I don’t put these plans in writing, I will definitely forget. I usually sometimes forget what I’m supposed to remember because I have a lot of things going on that need my attention.

Last Saturday I got a call that somehow gave me a mental boost of energy and inspiration. Even if this proposal will not push through, I gained confidence that I need to start thinking about the mentally embedded plans.

Organized thoughts + well-thought of plans = success.

So, where is that notebook where I can write down my plans/notes and have these checked as they happen?