life lived in gratitude

Gratitude: Spending a Friday evening with good pals over a simple meal.Sometimes, I can feel my heart aglow with happiness when my mind fills with thoughts about how beautiful Life is. Life is many things and means different things to different people. But being able to look back your life and savour the journey is something that everyone can relate to. Blessed are the ones who could, with their friends, look back their lives and laugh together at pockets of memories that have stood out despite the passage of time. The poignancy lies in not just the memories and experiences that have accumulated and made us who we are today; it is also the fact that these recollections accompany our journey of growing old till we arrive at the end. Sometimes, it's important to take a step back and appreciate the past and the present, the little journeys that we make as we grow old. It allows you to appreciate the magic that weaves life's little moments and journeys together. Such contemplations can give us a sense of contentment and teach us about gratitude in life.

I was reminded of this when I met Jon and YB yesterday for dinner. Our running plans were laid to rest earlier in the day because Jon had been nursing a cold. Though we ended up having dinner only, it was fun in the way that is possible because we've been through a good part of our life together and therefore have a lot to chat about (and laugh). As with most other friends of our age, we've reached a stage where we are all quite comfortable in our own skin, living a life away from the limelight, preferring the less exciting but cozier cafe to the head-spinning pubs. It's a telltale sign of getting older, which often becomes fodder for self-deprecating jokes that spawn much laughter.

As usual, I was armed with my camera and we took some pictures. I joked that we should take more pictures while we are still reasonably youthful. After all, nobody wants to look at pictures of old men, and I am quite sure we would not be so enthusiastic about taking photos when we have undeniably crossed into the realm of uncles and ah-peks. The restaurant has a kodak printing machine; in a spontaneous moment, we printed out three photos that were taken in a continuous shot.

At the end of the night, I felt genuinely happy and thankful for spending an uneventful Friday evening with my good friends, one of them a die-hard cheesecake fan of the cafe who has such an irrepressible grin (when he thinks about and eats the cheesecake) it makes me smile just thinking about it. :)