And we’re already into the second month of the year. The way time flies, it won’t be long before I’m saying hello to 2023.

But that’s still 11 months away so let me concentrate on the present.

Mindfulness or living in the present is a much practiced Mantra of the times. It is quite similar to previous mantras that advocated living in the NOW or being rooted in the PRESENT. The only difference I suppose would be in the intensity and awareness with which one lives in each moment. So when you actually live mindfully, you are more conscious of what you are doing.

That said, I think I lived more in the now in the month of January rather than more mindfully because it was a pretty intense month. It began with more family and friends with several family members coming home from overseas. This time round there was another little one who had grown bigger which made our meetings all the more interesting. How our Little Ones cope with their Little Ones never ceases to amaze me because these new parents seem to have everything under control: their jobs, their children and their lives.

But the joys of gatherings quickly faded with a bout of CoVid that struck our household. The silver lining was that since all of us were affected at the same time, our quarantine was consolidated rather than stretched out to weeks, had we fallen sick one after the other

But January had its moments that made me smile : the two really wonderful meetings with friends. The Pandemic has made us all realise how tenuous and unpredictable life can be. It has made us appreciate life more and count every little blessing that comes our way.

Lunching in the dappled sunlight of the Yacht Club was an afternoon of pure relaxation . And the tea the following afternoon in another Club verandah made me appreciate how blessed I was to have dear friends to spend time with .

So thank you January for the fun times!

How has you January been ?

Ciao