Nothing Happens Without a Reason

Let me tell you a story...

My Mom and her boyfriend are supposed to fly from Berlin to Paris on Friday 18th December. While just being on their way to Berlin, me sitting in my office in Paris I am checking, just in case, the status of their flight: it turns out it's cancelled! Catastrophy! What are we going to do? What are they going to do??!! They will drive here, it's as simple as that!
24 hours later they arrive in Paris, after a night in a hotel somewhere in Germany, and lost but found wallet in one of the Belgian gas stations.
On Sunday 20th December we are supposed to fly to Montreal, for our so awaited Christmas holidays to join my godmother Nadine there. We are almost late for the plane from CDG because after leaving the car at my company's parking lot, the taxi driver had problems finding the address of the company.
At the airport we are put on some "waiting list" for the flight. In general our flight is late 1 hour. In Geneva (where we had a transfer to Montreal) we miss actually our flight to Montreal. But we are not alone, there are around 20 people in the same situation like us. We feel "screwed" by the airlines, especially that there is no possibility for us to fly to Montreal before 24th December :( In the end, we agree to have such flight from Paris, so we wait for our flight Geneva-Paris the same day at 18:30. Happily at 18:00 somebody decides to close the Geneva airport. We start yelling at Air France again! They finally pay us a very nice hotel and food, and we are supposed to fly back to Paris the next day. And so we did!
Thanks to this missed flight, I could spend some quality time with my Mom, show her My Paris, and prepare ourselves even better for the big trip!


But this is not the end...

Before 20th and 24th December, Nadine's good friend dies. I would say - fortunately, thanks to the missed flight, she could fully participate in the last moments of the life of her friend and bring support to the family who has just lost a beloved person... Fortunately, she didn't have guests to take care of, because we missed our flight :)

24th December... Such a magic evening... To be spent with your family... Having nice and special food and sharing precious moments with your beloved...
This year our Christmas Eve was a bit different: in the plane, somewhere over the ocean, with a glass of champagne for "aperitif", but the important thing was: we are together, and as long as we are together, in a family - it's always a Christmas Eve, no matter where we are and in what conditions...

Finally arrived on 25th December, just after midnight Quebec time, when it was already 6 am in Europe, we were more happy than ever. I don't remember being so happy, or rather relieved, in my life before... And just when I was falling asleep that night, I thought: Everything Has a Reason in Our Life...

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Very Simple Truth

My very good friends, Neli & Ada, have been trying to convince me for some time already that I should watch the "Grey's Anatomy". Neli even promised to lend me her CDs with the series. However I was not very convinced and didn't believe that this series can be actually "so special".
And then yesterday, after a hard day at work, with the team dinner cancelled and bad mood spreading all around, I came back home, took a shower, had a dinner, and checked what's on tv tonight. "Grey's..." was there. I told myself - why not trying? Let's check what is so special about that series that girls were telling about.
Already after the first chapter I realized they were right. After 3 hours spent in front of the tv I was sure this time I didn't waste my time. The stories are nice, so true, full of love, passion, but also sadness and sorrow... But the most important - each chapter is trying to share some message with the audience. I will surely remember the one I heard yesterday: "We are spending so much time focusing on planning the future and looking forward, that we usually forget to look around and see what is going on now...".

Randomly found Happiness

Yesterday I had a funny experience. Just before going to sleep, I had an idea of a random google'ing, and the word I put in was: HAPPINESS. Then one of the options google proposed me was "happiness project". Without hesitating too long I grabbed this one. And so I found out there is a blog called that way, all about happiness, whose writer is actually publishing a book in December. Wow!

In the first moment I told myself: ok, it's probably another american website giving tips and advice on how to be happier in life, a "Yes We Can" kind of. But when I went through some of the posts I actually realized that woman had a brilliant idea of making this blog and sharing with others so very simple and true thoughts about happiness in our daily life. She is sometimes saying things which we all probably know, they seem so obvious, but probably not obvious enough until we really see them written "black on white". Sentences like: "achieving small things often gives you the energy to attempt a bigger thing". Or another one: "One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself." 


Gretchen (the author) also inspired me to make my Commandments, a few thoughts, phrases, which would be my guidelines through life. Seems that she spent a few months making hers, I hope it will not take me that much time and I will be able to share them with you pretty soon. She made 12 for herself, I'm wondering how much I will have. But 10 at least I think... 


Feel like checking out her blog? Hope so!
May all of you be happy! Just as I am right now! :)

One small step for me...

... but one big step for the people in need...

I finally did it! I finally made a donation of my blood! I've been thinking of it for a long time already, somehow never finding time or real opportunity. Or maybe I was actually scared a bit as well? I don't know... But the point is that I did it today, using the occasion of the special bus coming to the company I work in - with doctors, nurses, special armchairs and sweets and drinks to get afterwards as a dose of energy, which you need a lot after giving away almost 0,5l of this precious red liquid :)
I had a chance to talk to the nurse who was taking care of me, and she said that in the Paris region (Ile-de-France) they have very big needs for the blood every day, no matter the blood group. That is why they are obliged to request it to other regions of France. At that moment I thought: "I'm so happy, and so lucky I can help - I'm in good health, willing to do that - and my attitude today can actually maybe save somebody's life".
In the consequence, or rather as a positive result, I decided to continue and donate the blood regularly. For your information, women can do it 4 times a year and guys - 6 times, after fulfilling certain conditions of course.

In the end, those few minutes spent in the nice bus, with nice people and nice atmosphere, without mentioning the good cookie and orange juice I got afterwards - it all made my day! And I could even say that I realized another point from my Life To-Do list... Another small dream came true...