Is there really a wrong side of the bed? You have heard that expression before. We use it to describe someone in a bad mood.
They say that the ancient Romans had a superstition that getting out of bed with the left foot would bring misfortune, ill temper, even illness or all of the above; the lesser evil being a foul mood.
People of that time were extremely careful, to the point of having someone watch them, to make sure they stepped out with the right foot. Interesting!
I sleep on the left side of a California King. (Sounds almost naughty!) No, this does not make me a queen. It just makes me comfy and cozy. I guess I step out with my left foot.
But I am not superstitious. And I don’t think I’m a grouch. Well, not all the time.
I don’t worry about how I wake up or on which side of the bed I happen to be. To be quite honest, my biggest thrill is to wake up at all.
We are told that each day arrives bearing many gifts. I can hardly wait to untie the ribbons.
This does not mean that I leap out of bed every morning ready to face the day. Even in the good old days, I never did any actual leaping. Oh, but my heart did. And glory of glories, it still does.
How long has it been since you got out of bed raring to do battle? Don’t you sometimes wish you could just stay under the covers for a little more snoozing?
Come on. For those who still respond to the 9-to-5 routine of the real world, the alarm probably rings a bit before 7. You hit “snooze” and it gives you another ten minutes. How many times did you negotiate with your clock today?
You will soon discover, like I have, that life does not have a snooze button. Ready or not, here comes the sun! So, get up and seize the day!
I have a friend who can’t wait to be one with the chirping birds. I have never been an early riser myself, but every day at whatever time my curtains are drawn, I look forward to this: a passage from Psalms, a page from Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Begins Each Morning,” and a cup of steaming coffee.
No one could ask for a better start!
Dull, confusing
But does it stay wonderful? Do you let anything steal your joy? What gets you in a bad mood, never mind the side of the bed?
In my casita, television time is normally at night. I watch the news, a couple of telenovelas (“Walang Hanggan” is a gem!), and very late at night I look forward to that brief segment on Bandila, “Ikaw Na” with Boy Abunda. Somewhere in between I may watch CNN or BBC.
Lately however, there are hearings (again!) in the Senate. Very reluctantly I tune in, hoping to understand, wanting to believe. I watch because I need to know that justice is not just an idle word. I want to see if just this once, someone, somewhere, somehow gets his (or hers).
So far the trial has been all I thought it would be. Dull. Confusing. Confused. It is like being in law school, but learning nothing. I wonder what the man in the street thinks of this whole palabas.”
I don’t know about you, but I cringe when I hear someone say “honorable.” Do we even remember what the word means? By definition, it means worthy of honor, of high respect, ready to do what is morally right. Should I go on?
On CNN I caught the State of the Nation address of US President Barack Obama. I thought it was pretty good. Knowing the man is up for re-election did not color my reaction to his eloquence. He is charming, to say the least.
I turned the TV off when the critiques started. All these holier than thou, know-it-all commentators ruin my day.
No matter which side of the bed you wake up in, if you are out in traffic, I venture to guess that your blood pressure is higher by a few notches. Nowhere else is the absence of discipline so painfully noted.
On the home front, I lose it (quietly) when I realize that people have come and gone without so much as a hello or goodbye. These are common courtesies. The family dog at least gets a pat on the head. It makes me wish I had a tail to wag.
Shortly after breakfast, I visit my desk to check for responses to invitations I have e-mailed. Very few seem to understand the concept of RSVP.
My meeting scheduled for 2 o’clock starts at 3 p.m. After all these years of Filipino time, I still can’t imagine people not caring to be punctual. Back in the day, I used to pace the floor and prepare to berate whoever was tardy.
Good teacher
But time is a good teacher, merciless in its inexorable journey but always accurate and wise.
I have learned that it is so much easier to be in a good mood than to be upset.
Not that punctuality is unimportant. But the outlook of my day no longer changes with anyone’s lack of consideration. I do not dwell on someone else’s character flaws, always conscious of how I would fare if she looked into mine.
If I feel slighted and it is important enough, I will say so. If it is petty nonsense, then I wait. I know it will pass. It always does.
I keep in mind what a wise man once said: Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you will never get back.
I do not face my day with dread. I begin my day with anticipation, expecting good and wonderful things.
And even when nothing spectacular happens, I embrace that day. I retire to my bedroom at night grateful as I climb the stairs, thinking of those who cannot walk. I watch the evening news and no matter how bleak the reports are, I rejoice that I have sight and I can hear. I check my messages and my children have said goodnight. Well, almost all of them.
I turn off the lights and say a prayer of thanks and whisper, okay God I know that tomorrow you will surprise me.
They say that there are three things you need to be happy: something to do, someone to love and something to hope for.
It’s three out of three for me. God is good!
