2011, I Will Love You Forever

As this epic year draws to a close, I just cannot not afford to take note of what it has left me with. It would be unfair for me to not record just how I feel standing at the edge of 2011.

2011, the year that will forever be remembered as my favoritest, for bestowing me with mommyhood. The journey that started at the beginning of the year, when I discovered I was expecting, to delivering, bringing him home, settling in with him, has not been as smooth as we would have liked it to be, but five months down the line, as I hold my baby in my arms, I cannot thank God enough for showering me with such joy.

2011, the year I discovered three words that have helped me at every step of the way and that I hope to keep with me for life: All For Good. There is so much power in these words, it is unbelievable. Give them a try the next time you run out of strength and see how you emerge stronger.

These lines from Paulo Coelho beautifully sum up the year for me: "Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant."

I hope the year ends on a brilliant note for each one of you too and 2012 brings with it lots of strength, grace, faith, gratitude and happiness to our lives.

A Discussion on Destiny & Free Will

The subject of destiny and free will has often intrigued me. While everyone has their own way to look at it, for me, one thing is clear, that a destiny has been written for us. But what I have always been confused about is free will. Does it exist?

My question was beautifully answered recently: the relationship between destiny and free will is akin to a game of cards: you could make a game with the worst of cards or break a game with the best. It’s how you play what has been dealt to you.

Free will exists in how you respond to what life throws your way, and in there we can either present ourselves with peace of mind through positive beliefs or misery with negative emotions. The choice is ours.

The Trusting Thought

When the boat rocks, the going gets tough, you have to learn to trust life to have your best interest at heart. This may not always be what you want, but with time, you will see, you only got better than what you wanted :-)

2010: The Year That Was

It’s that special time of the year once again, a time to reflect at the 12 months gone by. As I look back at the beginning of 2010 or a little before that, I had set out to make this year the year where I will try and do a lot of things I had been putting on the back burner. Now, sitting at the edge of the year, it gives me immense joy to realise that I have accomplished at least some of them.

2010 has been a year of change – not just the kind that takes you by surprise, but change that has come as a result of taking some conscious decisions. As I step into 2011, I hope to take the learnings of the year with me.

• It’s not wrong in any way to ask the universe for what you want. As said, so beautifully in these lines, it is more than ok, in fact essential, to let the universe know what your desires are and let the fulfillment of these desires be left in bigger hands than your own
• It’s ok to not know what you want out of life sometimes – when you leave it this way, life kinda figures it out by itself beautifully :)
• You must do what you can do, to the best of your ability to achieve something and let go of the results – when you don’t hang on to the results, they tend to come your way :)
• What you fear, generally comes to life, so let go of ‘em fears :)
• The more you learn, the more you explore, the happier you are :)
• Don’t underestimate the peace in your life, don’t take it for granted – when your world rocks for a bit, all you wish for, is that peace to return
• Opportunities have their own time and way to arrive, so all you need to do is keep hope and some patience when they don’t :)
• People change, relationships change, and that’s ok, after all change is the only constant thing in life, right? :)

What was it about 2010 that you loved the most? What are the lessons you’re taking with yourself into the New Year? Lets discuss in the comments :)

And on that note, wish you a Merry Christmas & a Lifealiciously Delicious New Year! :)

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A Strictly Morning Only Thought

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These words are a lovely reminder to start this new day afresh – as if life had given us a white, brand new canvas – to let us paint a new something, in bright and vibrant colors,  something better, something different to what we painted yesterday –  a picture of today that can be hung in the walls of our memory and looked back upon as a special one.

Happy Tuesday :)

Hell Yeah!

Two tiny words but two completely different ways they impact the heart, the mind and our approach.

Just say it out aloud now and feel the positive energy surge :)

Yes, it is the time for the yeahs in our lives - yeahs to the challenging, yeahs to explore the unknown, yeahs to those who need some help, yeahs to our own, yeahs to inspire, yeahs alll the way :)

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Of Breaks & Hesitations

Having returned to work life for a very brief moment after a relatively longish break, I am often asked how the experience of ‘sitting at home’ was by a lot of women. And the men.. if you must know how they react on the subject… almost always unanimously go.. ‘Oh, I wish I was a woman’ or ‘I wish I could do that’.. :)

The reason I’m writing this post today is the learning that there are so many women out there and perhaps men who have been wanting to take that much needed break from work but haven’t been able to muster the courage to do so. The fear of how life outside of work will be - if they’ll be bored, if they’ll survive, if they’ll be ok.. :)

My two cents of advice for you from my experience is, if you can, you must. A break can do you so much good. Just getting away from the usual, the mundane, focusing on your life, relationships, on what You want to do with Your 24 hours of time is a treasure that work life does not endow you with.

And when you get back into it all, the same mundane seems exciting, getting up in the mornings is no longer a drag, gossiping about the load of work is no longer something you wish to bask in – it’s a new you – recharged, motivated, raring to go, to taste that sweet success that comes with deadlines, meetings, stress, unbearable work load, late nights followed by the results of all that effort.

I guess this was the reason holidays were invented but every once in a while that one month for every 11 months of work is somehow not enough. Sometimes you just need to think of a hiatus as a longer than usual holiday that you must take to find yourself and those dear to you. And if you are in a situation where you can afford to, just do it :)

Of Finding & Loosing & Finding Again

An interesting thought came to me in a conversation, something that needs to be written just so I can go back and read it and find my way should I get lost, again.

That sometimes you just need space to mend broken/misunderstood relationships -  space to understand what happened, space to think what went wrong, space to analyse, space to see not just your perspective, space to face the reality, space to forgive, space to forget, space to heal, space to let go, space to learn that this space isn’t a bad thing, space to realise that it was all perhaps so petty, that after all it was a beautiful relationship that shouldn’t just be forgotten, space to clear that space that is no longer needed :)

Right & Wrong Thought

I’m sure there exist people like me – those who think a lot, think a lot about everything, even the minutest things that don’t deserve to be thought about :)

And I often wonder about the right and wrong - if this would be the right way to do it, the right thing to say, the right action to take, the right decision to make, being careful not to hurt, not to assume, not to analyse and above all not to fault.

When I was younger, I would hope for someone to tell me this is right and this is wrong, but I guess it can never be so easy. We all just need to discover this for ourselves as we tread on life’s path - sometimes by making mistakes and learning and sometimes by getting it bang on :)

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step,
step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.

- Dr Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go

Words I’m Loving

We may, indeed, say that the hour of death is uncertain, but when we say this we think of that hour as situated in a vague and remote expanse of time; it does not occur to us that it can have any connection with the day that has already dawned and can mean that death may occur this very afternoon, so far from uncertain, this afternoon whose timetable, hour by hour, has been settled in advance.

One insists on one’s daily outing, so that in a month’s time one will have had the necessary ration of fresh air; one has hesitated over which coat to take, which cabman to call; one is in the cab, the whole day lies before one; short because one must be back home early, as a friend is come to see one; one hopes it will be as fine again tomorrow; and has no suspicion that death, which has been advancing within one on another plane, has chosen precisely this particular day to make its appearance in a few minutes’ time…

- Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff

I was goose bumped reading these lines in Spiritual Link this morning. At first they kind of saddened me, but they are also very enlightening and true words. If we live thinking that the most certain thing about our life can come to us anytime, we’d be such different individuals. Our approach to people and life will be so different.

Every Day Thought

Every day the question arises
Every day I think of a solution
Then, every day I give up and look up for answers
And every day the answer is to keep hope
Every day it asks to keep faith
And every day peace sets in, by trusting the bigger hand up there

Sliding Doors

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I wonder if life would be so kind enough to show us, just before the end of our term, what the various consequences of our decisions would have been, how different life would have been had we said yes to something we didn’t, no to something we did, been on time somewhere we weren’t, been late somewhere else, taken the decision to go some place, did not take the decision to go to that place and chosen another one instead.

Yeah, I’m highly inspired by the movie Sliding Doors in this post as you can see :)  How one train made all the difference in the protagonist’s life. I’m sure it’s happening in our lives too.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see, just before we bid adieu, how different life could have been? I guess if the current life we are living was the best of all shown, you’d go in peace and if it wasn’t – oh boy, God bless you ;)

But what’s interesting to note is, in the movie at least, sooner or later what is destined to come your way comes your way. Your choice/decision will only delay or prepone its happening. I would like to believe that that applies to real life too and thus there ain’t no need to disturb our already disturbed peace of mind as we make the journey back home. Or where ever it is we are going.

Enlightening Thought

A thought’s been seeping its way through my mind very often lately – that sometimes we really aren’t so right to perceive someone’s action, their choices, as incorrect. 

Because sometimes there is no right or wrong. Sometimes it's just a matter of perspective. Sometimes it’s just about seeing the bigger picture to be able to comprehend. Sometimes it’s just about seeing it the way they see it, to understand.

Sometimes just thinking like that brings you peace. And sometimes that’s all you really want.

The Heart & Its Ways

I am and have always been puzzled with the way my heart functions. At first, its kinda apprehensive and then you don’t even know where these fears disappear, when the fun begins, how memories are being created, timeless bonds cherished and now it’s time to go.

Words I’m Loving – From Eat, Pray, Love

When it comes to asking things from God, I have always believed that we must trust his judgment and let him decide what is best for us. After all, we have a limited understanding and he knows the complete picture.

And therefore, in my prayers, usually (yeah, not always) instead of asking him for something, I simply ask for courage and faith to live my life as he’s chalked it out.

I came across this exact belief being discussed in a lovely book I’m currently reading, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m still only at the first few chapters of the book but loved the discussion in the lines below:

“I explained to Iva my personal opinion about prayer. Namely, that I don’t feel comfortable petitioning for specific things from God, because that feels to me like a kind of weakness in faith. I don’t like asking, “Will you change this or that thing in my life that’s difficult for me"? Because-who knows?- God might want me to be facing that particular challenge for a reason. Instead, I feel more comfortable praying for the courage to face whatever occurs in my life with equanimity, no matter how things turn out.”

To this her friend Iva replies:

“Where did you get the idea you weren’t allowed to petition the universe with prayer? You are part of this universe. You’re a constituent-you have every entitlement to participate in the actions of the universe, and to let your feelings be known. So put your opinion out there. Make your case. Believe me-it will at least be taken into consideration.”

What is your belief ?– Do you ask or live in His Will or do you ask and then leave it up to to him to give should it be in your best interest or simply do neither.

Before You Wander, Ponder

When the heart feels heavy and the tears start pouring, I ask myself – really, do you need to shed these? What’s so bad? What’s so wrong? And, as if there is some kind of a brake mechanism in your body, they stop, to a screeching halt.

We give our heart and mind too much liberty sometimes, to let them just take us where they want to – without a discussion, without any questions, without any reflection.

While it may be perfectly harmless sometimes, it can cost us a lot at other times.

Keep Imperfections Close But Perfections Closer

I can’t remember growing up thinking perfection does not exist in this world. Perfection in people. Perfection in life. Of course it did. My best friend had perfect parents coz they let her be out till the wee hours of the morning. The guy I had a crush on was perfect boyfriend material coz he was so charming, girls swore by his looks and personality. My friends who had the opportunity to study abroad had and were preparing to have a perfect life. Alas, how wrong was I!

The realisation that nothing is perfect in this world has not dawned on me just yet but what has is that we all have so many perfections and imperfections within us. One can be a bloody good looking individual with a great career but perhaps be grossly impatient and have a bad temper.  We all have so much good in us but it doesn’t come alone, it’s always accompanied with a little bad too.

The key to living our lives in harmony with those we ‘love’, those who matter is to always keep their perfections/ the things they do so well/ things we love about them/ things that make us so proud of them, very close to us, so in times when their imperfections are screaming out aloud, their perfections will help us stay calm and not hurt each other in the process.

For it is such a sad irony of life that it is just these very people who mean the world to us that we hurt the most or who hurt us the most. And what’s even worse is the uncertainty of life –here today, gone tomorrow – so why waste precious moments, precious bonds brooding over the imperfections or actions caused as a result of those, when there’s so much more to rejoice and celebrate.

Words I’m Loving – From The Alchemist

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“Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.’

Every search begins with the beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.”

The Alchemist

Words I’m Loving

 

 

 

Kids, you never know when you’re about to meet someone really important, it’s not like life gives you a warning, you just look up and there they are.

- Ted Mosby
How I Met Your Mother

From Adversity, With Love

One of the only good things that come out of adversity is Strength.

Strength in every possible way.

Strength in yourself, from going through the brutal process and having survived it.
Strength in the Almighty, that He stood besides you, helping you at each and every step.
Strength in the relationships with your near and dear ones and those you re-discovered in the process.
Strength in the universe, as it brings together its resources so you can survive adversity as comfortably as you possibly can given the situation.
Strength in humanity, for there are such Godly people around in this world that you’ve never known, ready to guide and assist you.

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