Daddy's Alarm

Dear baby girl,


It's been a long time hasn't it? I do apologize. Life has been hectic but it has also been wonderful. So many new things have been happening. I got my residency visa! HURRAH. And we recently moved into a wonderful little apartment! What a little delight our new home is!

Also summer has finally arrived and I no longer hobble around Finland shivering my butt off. The sun is shining and the leaves are green and the air smells of flowers and freshness! It's been a long wait for this wonderful season, which brings me to my letter for you.

One of the differences between daddy and I (yes, one of the many!) is that he can sleep for hours through a thunderstorm without making a grunt and I awaken at the crack of dawn and then can't go back to sleep. This is a problem for me during the weekends because I feel like one of those little children who wake up at 6am on a Saturday morning and wait ever so eagerly for a sign of life from their parents bedroom. In other words, I'm totally bored. So I impatiently wait for the sound of daddy's alarm. Unlike most people, the sound of that alarm brings me incredible joy because that means....I have someone to play hang out with. One day this will probably be you. But oh the joy! Because now daddy wakes up!

It sounds ridiculous, I know. Spending my whole morning waiting for the sound of that alarm? But I thought that's how most of us spend our lives. Waiting for an alarm. Always waiting for the next big event in life. Waiting for something good to happen. Counting down days. We are basically always living in the past or waiting for the future. How many of us really live in the....now?

When walking down the street do we notice the crispy sound of the leaves we trample? Do we listen to the wind rustling through the trees? Did we thank God for the lunch we just ate? Do we really listen to people when they talk to us or are we so distracted by our own thoughts? Do we take time to hum a small tune as we do our work? Do we take time to say thank you to someone? When we are being kissed, do we feel every emotion, every sensation? Do we notice the worried frowns on the strangers we pass by on the street? Do we taste the food we eat or just gobble it down in a minute?

I am guilty of always looking to the future and not enjoying the now. But a few days back, I have been making a concious effort to enjoy the now. It doesn't mean I never look forward to anything in life. It means that I make 'now' a bigger priority than what may happen in 2 weeks. Life has become so much more meaningful and exciting for me! And what's even better is I have stopped worrying less. Yay!

So enjoy the now, it's all you really have.

Love always,
Mummy