Nadiah Alwi

I need to grumble.

I dreamed of my grandma last night and it was kinda painful bcoz, again, we had to be separated. We both cried. And, I miss her so much now. You know what, an Indonesian psychic, Mama Lauren, just passed away. And she did look like my grandma. Well, I don’t know what seems to be the connection between the two facts that I wrote just now. But, I just happened to watched on TV the news about her passing.

And, I just did what I always hate to do. I had to teach my daughter a lesson that buying snacks, of which you don’t know the ingredients, from the hawkers might be dangerous. I wished I didn’t have to be that angry, but it was for her own good. Yet, before she went to school, I kissed her all over and she hugged me.

And, I’m reading this wonderful classic book translated to Indonesian by a good friend and published by Orange Books — of which my other good friend is the CEO — titled Pollyanna. I’m glad that they decided to translate and publish this book.

The main character, Pollyanna — of course it’s her, otherwise the title would be someone else’s name — has this wonderful game, the Glad Game. About being happy and grateful about your life even if there are some misfortunes ahead of you.

Frankly speaking, there are things that I’m not grateful about. And, now I learn a lot from that girl, Pollyanna. I’ll be trying to play the Glad Game so my morning posts at this blog won’t be all about me grumbling. But, hey, I’d rather spill it out, than carry them all out like the kid on the picture.

Oh, I miss my grandma and daughter now. *sigh*

[Picture by: Asif Akbar]

Some say that money can’t buy happiness. Some other say, if you have money, your life will be easier — and as the result, you will be happy.

As for me, I’d rather not connect money with happiness. Because, even if you have all the money in the universe, it doesn’t mean that you’re gonna be happy.

Many people work damn hard for money. But, what’s the point of having it all if you can’t be happy. I mean, money is not the key to happiness.

I once talked to a friend. She handles like 5 jobs and gets stressed because of those. I told her to quit one or two of them because now she doesn’t have time for her kids. Yet, she said that she did it all for the kids, for their future.

But, hey…future is not all about money. The kids won’t be great people even if you put them in the best school or have all the fancy stuff unless you pay attention to their life. Plus, this friend of mine is not losing herself from working too much.

Is that what you call happiness?

I don’t know.

But, it’s all her decision. It’s her life. I only see it from outside. And, she’s the one dealing with the life she chooses every single day. Not me. So, I’ve made my point. She listened. Whether she does what I suggested or not, it’s none of my business. Right?

Back to money and happiness.

Somehow, I agree that life is easier when you have enough money. ENOUGH. Not much. So, work smart to get enough money, and make sure you’re happy. It’s my motto now.

What about you? Got enough money? Are you happy?

[Pictures by: Claudio Jule (Money) and Billy Alexander (Happy Puzzle)]