Happiness is the result of inner maturity. It depends on us alone, and requires patient work, carried out from day to day. Happiness must be built, and this requires time and effort. In the long term, happiness and unhappiness are therefore a way of being, or a life skill. (Matthieu Ricard.)

Today is Monday morning, a new week starts  today and I decide to make the most out of it. It is a sunny day, my beloved are all in good health, I stretch out and fix breakfast. I am about to enter my office but then I decide to water my garden before it gets too hot, I pet my dogs and then  share a coffee with a relative.

 

I start work  with the usual routine, check mails for about an hour and when I was at this, I  find a mail from a long-lost friend in Germany. I feel my heart flooded with this warm feeling I have whenever I hear from a friend I have not heard of for quite a while. How good to know she is doing fine, she lives in a caravan surrounded by the wind, flowers and birds. She is happy!!!!

 

After answering mails, I start the serious staff: prepare the sections of the Pronunciation course I am going to teach soon and delight at the idea of imagining the teacher trainees doing the different activities and sharing a good laugh together. I am happy !!!!!!!!!

Last week was certainly memorable. Not only because I finished running the three-day sessions on CLIL I had been assigned and whose summary you can find at mumariatefl.blogspot.com but also because I received a phone call from a Head hunter-Michael Page company-trying to recruit me for a start-up British company and another from a University in the North of the country which I visited in the year 2010. They wanted me as a profesor in their School of Translation and Interpretation.

I did not accept any of the posts because I am in a special position in my life where I want to take things slowly and enjoy every bit of it. I have already had my share of struggles so felt happy to know that I am still competitive in the EFL world and am in a privileged position of choosing what I want to do with my time.

 

An additional reason to be happy was that my parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last week but my Mum has Alzheimer so she does not remember the date and my Dad died almost two years ago, so I paid homage to their wonderful lives together by lighting a candle and offering a prayer. However, if they had been with me they would have been really happy at this news and would probably felt that they had nothing to do with it disregarding that what I am now is because of them.

 

They did a terrific job raising us up, my brothers and I, considering that we were born in a shanty town, my Dad was a textile factory worker and my Mom could not even finish primary school. However, they were loving, dedicated and convinced that only education could take us wherever we wanted to be... and so it did. My brothers are American citizens, one works in education like me whereas the other works for a Stock Exchange company. We have all travelled extensively because of our Jobs. I have been in Europe, Asia, North America and have lived in Spain, England, Chile and the USA. We all have quiet but happy lives, keeping a low profile but enjoying the family and always taking care for each other.

 

Mum and Dad you certainly did an amazing job!!!. Love you lots.