S - Smile!

I missed a day of IComLeavWe, which means I will have to double my comments for tomorrow (15 minutes to midnight is not enough quality time for commenting!)!  But I am trying to smile (thanks to today's A to Z challenge prompt!), not fret over it and and simply moved on.  This sounds simple in a general sense but for me it is still an effort not to obsess with accepting I can only do what I can, be happy over the accomplished and not give myself a hard time over the things I am not able to attend to.

Sleep was the order of the day, resting, rejuvenating, and I spent it with indulgent time under the shower, and turning the bathroom to a spa for some self-pampering.

Today is Good Friday, and I grew up in the Philippines observing it solemnly.  Since I have lived in Europe though, observing the season of Lent has changed.  There were years I did not even feel the solemness I grew up with.  It seemed I only realise it was the Holy Week because of the Easter celebration, which I have observed is highly commercialised in Germany.  Here in the Netherlands, I have not had a keen observation due to being focused with adjusting to the basic needs we had to attend to.

Slowly, I am going back to my roots.  When I was a little girl, I would occasionally spend Holy Week at my aunt's with my cousins.  They had a lovely collection of children's bible, and because we had to be quiet during the observation of the Holy week, and were not allowed to play until Easer, there was not much to do to pass the time but read.  From reading illustrated books, I have come to read the bible.

I am not religious in the tradition of my grandmother, and mother.  Though, I am very grateful that they passed on their beliefs to me because it has helped me in times of great need to have faith to hold onto. I have made their religion my own and incorporated what I have learned in life in practising it.

I did not plan to write what I just wrote  because I never write about politics and religion as a rule.

Mostly, when I have literally a last minute blog, specially for this year where I am combining 365 days of blogging together with 365 of self-portraits, I tend to use "photo-blog", i.e. letting the picture speak for itself when there is no more time to compose text to go along with it.

There was this urge to mark with words my gratefulness for my faith, though.  It made me smile being where I am now in life, knowing with strong conviction, no matter what comes in one's way in different forms of challenges and hurdles to overcome, there is a promise of redemption, and unequivocal hope, no matter what faith we all believe in.

What made you smile today? 

Don't forget: inspire and be inspired!