Show your gratitude

We are nearing the end of a year and a new beginning is going to start soon for every one of us. A great way to give back something to life is by showing gratitude for all the things happened to you. Don’t forget to thank life for a smart you, for the courage it gave to speak out your opinion, the food and the good sleep, lovely folks at home and workplace, the ever recharged sun, the never ending love and the list goes on...

Always appreciate yourself even for the smallest achievements. Don’t expect others to give you a reward or a good review for your deed. Every time you do something remarkable, just pat yourself. Keep your mind happy and motivated for life’s biggest tasks and challenges.


Give attention to the people who makes your life worthwhile. Money and other materialistic possessions can be given by anyone. Don’t forget to give your time, yes, the irrevocable, precious and valuable time. Shower with your warm and care by being beside them.

Manage and spend your time responsibly. It’s a way of showing respect and gratitude to life for that intellectual property given to you. Time helps to earn loads of money, created billionaires, built spaceships and even empowered you to create a timeline by your children. But it never ever gave back that one second you spent in your life. So the value cannot be ascertained and it’s priceless.

Make everyday a thanksgiving day. Be grateful every morning for all the good and the bad things happened to you. Good things because it caused you happy moments, and bad things because it gave you a challenge to overcome and thank that you’re still alive! You will definitely feel a better day and a better life by showing your gratitude. Be inspired and have a great life!

An optimistic attitude

By nature, we all wanted to do something different in life. Every morning we wish the day to be good, occasionally we get thoughts that we should be a change agent and bring about a change in other’s life, bring liveliness in those gloomy moments and bring a smile in other’s face and touch the hearts of many.

Sometimes life just grants our wishes and makes us happy to the core. But there are other days where things just don’t get into the way we want. It creates a hyper tension moment or a mini tsunami sort of shakes inside the mind which irritates and disturbs the normal being.


These are quite typical in life. Like how you need both white and black keys in piano to create a wonderful music, you need “happy” and “not-so-happy” days to weave wonderful moments of life. You cannot truly cherish the happiness if you don’t know what challenges and sadness are!

In such hard times, don’t get panic or send those frightening signals to people around you. Stay optimistic and look for ways to recover to normalcy. Unfortunately our world is surrounded by lot of negative thoughts, displeasing events and stress. The important factor is not letting yourself dictated by such events.

It doesn’t matter what’s happening around you. If you can develop an optimistic attitude, you can take on any challenge and win the situation. Make an effort to replace any negative and pessimistic thoughts with optimistic ones. Optimism has cured cancer in the world. After all, our day-to-day silly problems can definitely be rectified by being optimistic.

If you feel low and want to recharge your optimism, go see the nature and get it for free. The morning sun rays are there to embrace you; the soothing breeze is waiting to kiss you; the clouds are looking to dance with you; the thunder lightning wants to take a snap of you and the stars keep winking at you. Look at those sea waves; every time when they fall, they never fail to rise again. Be inspired and stay optimistic!

It's a good life

There will always be a bit of dissatisfaction in everything we do and receive in life. We wonder it could’ve been better and things could’ve been more in abundance like more happy moments, lovely romances, sweet understandings, no fights, no grudges, more money, more comfort etc.

But before we demand too much or complain about anything, have we enjoyed everything that life has offered? Have we seen the positive side of all situations to make it look normal and good? We often tend to see one side of the situation and fish in shallow waters. Though we know that there’s other side to every situation and should think deep before coming to a conclusion and crib/whine about anything.

With the pressure in work side and in life, we say that peace of mind is lost and want to get it back. Remember, solutions always lie within the vicinity of the problem. You cannot find the key in the light when you’ve lost it in the dark! Have a serene walk by the beach, do an open talk with your close mate over a cuppa coffee, enjoy a child’s smile, smell a bunch of roses in the bouquet. And make sure you find time to enjoy such things in life.

Money and other materialistic things cannot determine your peace of mind and happiness quotient. If you feel that having less money or those physical possessions are the reason, you’re guiding your mind in a wrong direction.

With money, you can buy a bed but not sleep, buy music but not peace of mind, buy a pet but not a life. Learn to enjoy things that are given rather than cribbing about things that are not given to you. The best things in life are all around us and they are free - hugs, friends, smiles, family, sleep, love, laughter, memories etc. Devote attention to them and enjoy. It’s a good life!


This was originally published at KHOJ as my guest post for SUB.

The art of forgiving

Misunderstanding and silly fights are very common in our life. But the most important thing is the tenacity of the fight, its longevity and the aftermath effects in our mind. Initially it may seem to be a war of words, just between the lips and eyes. But later, hatred creeps in and makes it a fight between the hearts.

To avoid it and find an amicable end, we have this wonderful thing called ‘forgiveness’. But many people don’t know the art of forgiving. They tend to fight back with full force thinking that they are getting close to victory for the heart. But actually they never know they are hurting themselves with feelings.


We are going to get nothing good by holding on to anger. It will only burden the heart and obsess the mind with negative thoughts about the other person. But just think of forgiveness; it means getting back to normalcy, getting back to being together, a peaceful rest for the mind, a feast for heart by happiness and tranquil for the soul by forgiving.

It does a good thing not just for you; it also heals the other heart. It’s a commitment to navigate to a good state of being. It’s about caring for yourself and your inner spirit. It’s like putting your heart into the ocean of peace.

Weigh the situation and your corresponding reaction to it. Analyse the effects on your life and actively decide the course of action - that’s either forgiving or moving on. Don’t wear that victim tag.

You cannot describe your life by how many times you are hurt, but how many times you have pardoned. Care about yourself and for others. Forgiving can heal you, heal others, heal the society and the world.

Live "your" life

We often say we enjoy our life and we are happy for the way life leads us. But deep inside the heart, there are small questions that nag us every time. Is this really that you wanted to be? Is this the thing that you wanted to do in life?


During our younger days, most of our decisions are influenced by our parents, friends or other external forces. It may sound safe or promising at that moment but years later, the heart will yearn that you could’ve done something different in the past, if you had taken your own decision.

This is where passion steps in. We tend to develop our long overdue desires into a passion. Had we done that before, it could’ve given a great livelihood and fame (not to forget happiness and satisfaction) but time play a spoilsport and rule over the heart. And we may not have been in a position to take decisions on our own because of the age factor.

But after grown up, never miss an opportunity to do what you like. Your heart will lead you to new explorations and ideas. Just have some ears on it and move on in that direction. Who knows, you may be lucky enough to discover a new paradise in life.

Never get influenced by others when it comes to life. They have no say on how you should be or what you should be doing. Also never live a life for other’s sake and compromise your desires. It will be like letting yourself out of you to satisfy others. It may please the other person for a brief period but it will definitely hurt you at some point of time. Life is just too precious to be wasted!

Versatile Blogger - The awardees

I received this award from Ashwini last Sunday and as per the rules, I've listed 7 things about myself in my last post. Now to fulfill the process, let me pass this award to the most deserving bloggers. Its celebration time people. Let's put our hands together and welcome the winners!!


* KrishnaPriya aka KP of Scribbling Pad!!!. She blogs on various topics like fiction, poems, real life incidents etc. It will be a delight to read her short fictions and my favorite is "A Monsoon Coffee". That would be my recommendation to all fiction lovers.

* Nasnin Nasser of Scribblings... Her poems are wonderfully weaved and her command over the language is too good. She can turn gloomy topics to a wonderful post. My favorite post of hers is "Slip of Fingers!"

* Fiona of The Princess Passions. Though I know about her blog only for a brief period of time, it was a delight to read her poems. She dishes out contents so well and it will sure to make an impact once you read. My favorite is "In your eyes".

*Saru Singhal of Words. She is truly an evolved writer and her poems are a delight to read. I would call her the princess of poems. I mean it. Her blog title is so apt that words just dance to the tunes in her poems. My favorite post is All over again.

* Sahana of Ahamkaara. She blogs about her personal experiences in life and definitely there would be a lesson to learn. She is a great story teller and the way she narrates the situation in her post, you would simply fall in love with that. My favorite post is "Ooops.. ! Arguments"

* Prayukth of "Humor Unplugged". He takes a humorous route of current affairs and its sure to make you laugh out loud. After a hard day at work, visiting his blog will help you to end the day with a smile (laugh I would say). My favorite is "Apple accidently sues itself"

Am privileged to pass on this award and I would be honored if you accept and pass on the same. Thanks a lot for the contribution and making blogging a wonderful experience!!

A recognition - My first blog award!!

A first step towards a long journey and during the course of action, a motivation, a recognition will take your heart to the greatest of happiness, like you've discovered a paradise...

Yes, I received my first blog award and am honored to get this. Thank you very much Ashwini. It means a lot!! A push to go that extra mile, a smile to realize the outcome of the efforts put in. Thank you very much to every one who stopped by my blog and expressed your kind words to each post. Every comment is very special indeed.


And as per the rule, let me list out 7 things about myself and pass it on.

1. I tend to take life easily. Of course there are many times where my heart puts pressure to take it seriously, but that's a momentary thing for me and I move on.

2. I have a lot of faith and belief in me. Even if I have the greatest challenge, somehow things will change the way I want. May be because of the belief system and positivity I guess :)

3. I take inspirations from day-to-day life and from others. Sometimes book can't teach you practical things you know.

4. I always think twice and measure my words before letting it out.

5. I just can't take betrayal. My heart becomes a villain to such people and can never accept them.

6. I like to meet new people and bring them on board in my life.

7. Last, Writing was never my passion before. This was a hobby I pursued and turned out to be good and now I developed a passion for it :)

I will soon update the post as to whom this award goes to.

Thanks a lot!!

PS: Post updated on 08-10-11 and see the list of awardees here

Move on

Life, for all of us has been given to move on in a constant pace, to progress and not to stay stationary. We may often tend to rest and stay for a while and our heart yearn for it. But the mind always tends to push ourselves to a great limit and help us achieve those wonders.

When life tosses you with too many struggles and obstacles, neither break nor stay put in one place. There will be a lot of things waiting to be uncovered so keep moving. Don’t ponder the same thing that caused you a worry, a defeat or a set-back. Look for solutions rather than thinking about that problem.

Our heart has an unusual habit of keeping the problem, getting stuck and making us feel bad rather than searching for a solution to fix it. Use your mind and be rational to move on from the current situation. This could just be a passing cloud blocking you to see the sunshine.


You have the potential to decide your state of mind and don’t let that bad feeling stay in your heart. It will block the happiness entering the mind. It’s like blocking the blood entering the heart. Better save yourself from that mind attack!

The more you stay put on a problem, the more that could pile up in front of you to fix. So just walk on to search for the key to happiness and add some spice to life. Every time you can’t be nice to everyone. When something is nagging you, just ignore or stamp on it and move on. There’s nothing to feel bad about it.

Wake up the child

We all would have enjoyed our childhood days with so much of cherished moments, abundant of happiness for small things, silly fights that wouldn’t last for more than a couple of hours and not knowing the meaning of ego. All we were doing is to eat, study, sleep nicely and have just a couple of friends to talk things that were beyond our knowledge. Being ignorant had its own advantages at this age.

We felt so secure, with our parents there to bag us from any sort of trouble, covering us with the warmth of love and care, day and night. We tend to get satisfied easily and get rid of angst with a small grin. There were literally no responsibilities and things to fight for. Everything wished had come our way along with tons of happiness.


But responsibilities and trouble started to grow as we grow and move away from childhood. Things start to get different and our mind and heart never gets satisfied easily. Our perception towards everything has changed and we always have a doubt and insecurity. That simple faith seem to be vanished somewhere in the process. We feel that we’re grown up and know everything and we are always correct, until that simple lesson life teaches us.

Every person will have a child inside him/her. There’s nothing wrong in unleashing the character and be your childself (don’t google it, the word doesn’t exist!). Jump in joy for small happiness in life; have a silly talk with your dear ones; if something hurts you badly, cry it out and throw away from your heart. You don’t even have to let others know about this but let your heart inculcate the habit of a child.

We had never taken anything serious under the sun when we were a kid. So why do we want to be serious after grown-up? Actually growing-up meant to be growing wiser day after day. But it seems to be completely the other way (in the context of life). We were so good when we were a kid, but as we grow up, that good and wise things had gone down gradually and all other unwanted things started occupying our mind and soul and corrupted the system.

So let’s not just stick to this adulthood, grown-up mentality, and be a child-like person whenever possible. Be like a kid when you are with your loved ones; shower that unadulterated care, take everything in an easy way, don’t let worry enter your heart, shoo it away; we will never get hurt or tend to feel bad towards life’s challenges. Being like this will help us to have a corrupt-free and happy mind :)

Don’t haste in life

Humanity has evolved over time and so are the cultures and the civilizations. Life has always been there watching these events unfold in a gradual evolution of time. But why we always haste when we want certain things to be done in life?


Relationship is a beautiful bond that life has given us to enjoy and embark every day. It takes time to understand and make it grow. Hasty decisions and expectations can only lead to confusions and inconclusive doubts. Give time for a bud to blossom, give attention to understand life’s nuances. Every activity needs time to grow to the threshold level for enjoying that comfort factor.

Every decision taken for betterment in life is a turning point and it deserves time to dwell upon the consequences to make that perfect move. Hasty choice may create a mess and disturb the peaceful living. You might regret for that action and it takes time to get back to normalcy.

Success doesn’t come overnight. It takes constant efforts and perseverance to overcome the current state and go to the next level. They say failures are the stepping stone of success; but don’t expect that to happen all of a sudden. Flaws can’t be turned into fabulous achievements quickly. A lot of planning is involved to move from down under to the top. And time does play a great role in molding you for the pinnacle.

So let’s not rush for things in life. The sun doesn’t shine bright at one go, it rises slowly to reach the peak. The rain doesn’t pour all of a sudden; it drizzles and then reaches the crescendo. Certain things can be enjoyed only when started in a slow pace. So why haste in life? It’s just one chance out there. Let’s have a slow pace, peace and bliss!!


PS: This post was selected as Blog Junta's Editor Choice on October 4, 2011

It’s time to understand YOU – Part2

Part2 of duology

Continued from here…

So you know that self-discovery will be an enlightening experience and the reason why you should understand yourself. It will throw so much light on your inner side which may not have been explored till date. It will help you to understand the purpose of your life existence. If you have never felt connected to yourself, then you will have to find what makes you YOU.

Here are few activities which may lead you to self-discovery and know yourself better. The initial step will always be difficult but once you start moving, the momentum will take you forward; and in future, you will cherish this new beginning.

Record your life journey:
List down your thoughts, ideas, experiences, beliefs and feelings in a place. It may be in a diary or in your computer; but make sure only you access it. It’s like documenting and summarizing yourself over a period of time. You may not have to do it everyday. Just do whenever you feel like writing; let it eventually grow on time. But do write it sincerely. Going through the document will make you understand the new realizations in your life.

Analyze the people around you:
There may be umpteen numbers of people in your life but you would like to keep only few of them closer. Find out a reason as to why you like being with them. What influence do they make in your life and how they lead you in your journey. This will help you to understand what kind of a social person you are.

Pursue new hobbies:
You can discover new interests & talents and divert yourself from doing routine activities. Find your new passion and get insights on yourself.

Study your state of mind:
Are you uber cool by nature, usually happy or sad and grouchy, often stressed or just go with the flow? What would be the reason behind the mood? Can it be pursued everyday or avoided?

Bring new people on board:
Take a leap to find new people in your life. They may bring fresh perspective and experience. Look for positive, like-minded people who will support and inspire you. Who knows, you may lease a new life with that person.

Find what pleases you the most:
Eating? a sip of a coffee? a serene walk? or an easy talk? Find out what pleases you the most so that when you are depressed or feel bad, you can do these activities to move on.

Evaluate your goals:
Consider the cause behind the current goal in your life. What is the fundamental motivation behind it and what would be your state-of-mind if you travel in other direction from your goal? If you find hard to uncover the motivation, re-evaluating the goal will help you to proceed in a right direction.

These are only few activities; a tip of an iceberg in the ocean of self-discovery. Some may work for few people and some may not, after all that’s what makes us unique from everyone else. Should you have more ideas on this? Please do share in the comment section :-)

It’s time to understand YOU – Part1

Part1 of duology

Self discovery is an enlightening experience to lead a wonderful life. We strive hard to understand others in our life; our friend, our companion, our fellow worker, our boss, our client et. al. But did we try to understand ourselves at least for the heck of it?

We may know our strengths, weaknesses, abilities etc., thanks to the corporate world for making us know that. But there is something beyond this level that has to be discovered. Do you know what makes you happy? What’s your tolerance level? What’s your decision making capabilities? What it takes to change your mood? What’s your life purpose? What kind of a person are you? The list is long here…

Many a time we won’t give much importance for our inner-self and focus more on our outer appearance. We go to gym, use make-ups, take up diets, and wear the finest attires to look our best to the external world. But what activities we take to see our inner-self? Anyone can be like you / look like you in external appearance. All they need is to pursue similar actions to look their best. But your uniqueness is because of your inner-self and its time to look into it.

Some reasons why you should understand yourself:

• It helps you to discover what is troubling you; instead of feeling bad without a reason. This will lead you to the door of happiness.

• You will know when to move on from the situation to avoid making a mess or creating a trouble for yourself.

• You will know where to go or whom to speak to in times of depression.

• You won’t feel like you are lost somewhere because this will help you to fit in the most appropriate place; be it at work or in relationship.

• It helps you to understand your true potential for facing challenges and finding solutions.

• It helps you to identify the deviation and puts you back on track rather than just going on with the flow

• It will show you what exactly you want from life.

• You will see the path of your life and your actual destiny.

You can’t taste the wholesome success without understanding yourself. You can smell the everlasting happiness after achieving life purpose; and that life purpose lies within you. Explore yourself and begin the search to that ultimate discovery.

Read the part-2 here...

A life that could’ve been…

Naah, this is not a serious post that analyzes life’s various elements, dissect and give an anatomy report. It’s an imagination of life that could’ve been a way which is completely different from the current one.

Holidays are really important to do various things in life. How about having 3 days weekend all through the year? You don’t have to wake up early for 3 days, so much time to fight with your loved ones and also time to understand them much better.

You work so well, putting your heart and mind during work hours; but in after hours your brain may just resist to think and cooperate further. How about having two brains? If one gets tired, let’s hibernate it and use the other!

Naturally, we are constrained on moving freely in this world. Unlike birds which fly over continents, fishes which swim across the oceans, we humans always get stuck with these traffic woes. How about having wings along with the hands? We can travel as and when we wish and bid adieu to the everlasting traffic chaos. (Not sure of the air traffic that might surge if everyone starts flying!)

You may like some moments very much in life and wish you could get back them again. Let’s consider college days, or the first day you spent time with your soul mate, or any everlasting memorable incident in life. How about having a live record button and experience them again and again!

Sometimes life surprises you with two important events at the same time. It may be hard to sacrifice one for the other. How about having two YOU so that one can work diligently at office giving reports to your boss and the other can lend roses to your loved ones sipping a hot cuppa :)

But life is truly interesting only without these things. The moments we long to get back those wonderful days, the little unpredictable surprises, sailing through tough times thinking this too shall pass, having great confusions on sacrificing one for the other etc., life is just truly worth it.

The new beginnings

Beginnings are always good. We may not remember few of them and in few cases we may not even know how it all got started. But definitely there would have been a hesitation, a little fear, a little not sure factor, a little ‘should I do this now’ thoughts. However every experience will sure to give you some cherished moments and learnings in life.

At a later stage, we may think either one of this; ‘glad I did that’, or ‘I shouldn’t have done that before’. If it’s a former one, well and good that you’ve started something new in life and the determination paid you; but the latter one is a troublesome thing.



Whatever happened is happened. It’s all been done and you can only let it be. In this roller coaster ride of life, you should strive to realize your full potential. You may be much stronger and mightier than you think. There’s an opportunity waiting everyday for you to discover. It may help you to undo/overwrite things from the past.

If you truly believe in something, and your instinct supports you, just go for it and begin it; even if the whole world is against it. When your instinct fails you, don’t collapse or feel bad. It’s just a part of life and can happen to anyone. Think all over again and get started. Do it and remember to do it well.

Don’t hesitate to face the change. Every challenge gives you myriad opportunities to discover a new you. Surpass the obstacle with a smile. If the world doesn’t accept you now, you rather be patient and wait for your turn. There will be a time where the world will just accept you as you are; but at that time, you should remain the same without changing your ideology.

Coffee - The ultimateness

No, this post is not about the benefits of coffee and what good it’s gonna do for you. This is about the lighter side of life, exploring coffee’s role in our day-to-day activities and how it helps making some major breakthroughs in life. This indeed plays a great role than we can imagine. You may think what is there in this single cuppa coffee? Often small things are overlooked in life, but this one plays a crucial part in everything.

Great ideas, great conversations, romantic intuitions, friendly hearts, sibling loves and many, many other things are happened in this world just over a cuppa coffee.

For students, this is a great companion to make them stay awake for studies. It will help them kill the sleep and win over studies for the next advancement in life.
And for all those young adults, this is a great conversation starter, be it with your friend or a lover.

You may just ring up your friend when you feel down due to various other things in life, and your friend will ask you to meet-up at a coffee place for a chat, just to pull you back to normalcy. The soothing words, the consoling talks, the reliable shoulder which all will help you feel normal, but all this would have happened over a cuppa coffee!

You would have seen a huge gang of pals meet at a place to chit-chat and discuss life’s best things over this coffee. Of course they wouldn’t have realized the time gone by.

From great business strategy meeting, corporate acquisitions, multinational expansions to sales review meeting and marketing way-forward, this coffee stays everywhere to make all those office breakthroughs happen successfully.

When you’re engaged, you may take your soulmate to have this cuppa coffee to understand her better for the rest of your life. When you fight with your better-half, you will make some special coffee for her with all your love, to end your fight and bring a smile on his/her face.

So next time, when life stops you with something, you know what to have to move forward!

Wash your mind and thoughts

Your mind is a generator of thoughts and you have to keep it clean to have a good output. Bad/ill stated mind will only generate negative thoughts that will manifest to bring more sadness to life. We all take bath everyday to clean our external body, have washing machines to clean our wardrobes etc. But how do we clean our mind and soul?

Unfortunately, you can’t clean them like the way you clean your body, dress and everything. Given a chance, we all might take our mind out, soak it in a detergent to remove all the dirt, dry it and put it back to have a refreshed start. Who knows, people might even put a conditioner which will make the mind stay fresh all through the day! But none of them is possible.

There are few ways which can help in cleaning our mind and soul. We will have to streamline the thoughts to facilitate our mind to stay clean.

Throw that rubbish:
Just like how you’ll never let the garbage stay inside your house, the same way you should never accumulate the rubbish in your mind. They could be anything like negative thoughts, being pessimistic, doubtful, obsessive, depression etc. If your mind is occupied by so many other rubbish things, there won’t be any room for positive thoughts and inspirations which will lift you mood and bring happiness.

Change the surrounding:
Your external environment may influence your mind and thoughts. If you feel like you are surrounded by too many rubbish things, just move out of your current environment to a new place. It could be a next room or balcony or any new environment. Your thought process may change and old pattern might diminish.

Don’t hold on to resentment:
Grudge will eat up most of your mind’s valuable resources, never allowing any good things to come out. The person whom we hold the resentment may not even know about this or care about it. It is only going to affect your peace of mind. Practice the art of forgiveness. It will help thrash away those unwanted feelings from your mind.

Find your happiness factor:
This could be anything that will make your mind shift its focus and give happiness and positive affirmations about life. It can be any of your passion, a sport, a friend, a calm moonlit walk, a social service, a musical relaxation, a spiritual connection, a meditation or anything that will help you strike that happiness chord.

Remember, a clean mind is a gateway for a beautiful soul…!

Life satisfaction

Having a satisfying life is equally or more important than job satisfaction. You can switch jobs if don’t like ‘em but what about life? We all have only one life and no options bagged behind to switch over. But when you feel that life’s journey is not satisfying and it leads nowhere, its time to look around and make some overhaul. Yes am talking here about life only…

When you try to make a meaningful life, don’t just include yourself and your immediate dependents. Try to see people and things beyond that zone and bring them on to your life. Expand your horizon and discover the boundless source of joy and satisfaction.



Fix that physical possession in mind
Nothing gives much satisfaction like the physical possession that you have. Be it a house, car, computer, mobile phone or even the miniscule things. If you want a particular thing to posses; which will give you satisfaction in life, fix it as a goal in your mind and think about it everyday. Work towards it and when the day you buy that, it will give such a big happiness and satisfaction to all your senses. But that’s not the end of it. You will soon get bored with the physical possession. There are so many other things to do.

Turn on that music
It is seriously an inevitable thing in the source of a happy mind. Have a good collection of music which you love, doesn’t matter which genre you listen into. Just a good collection that will soothe your mind. Carry it with you always, in your car, mp3 player, mobile phone etc. When you feel sad or grudged, turn this on and divert your attention.

Have some ego
Having this within limits will help in self-belief and push you to new boundaries. It will reinforce the belief in you to perform better in relationship, job and everywhere. Self-esteem is always important to keep your mind and heart happy. If you’re not happy about yourself, how will the satisfaction come in? But remember, over dosage of this ego factor will spoil everything, literally.

Lend a helping hand
It’s always beautiful to bring a change in other’s life. Contribute to a child to get rid of the poverty, teach a kid who cannot afford to go to a school, lend your shoulder to your friend to show that you’re there in difficult times. The joy of giving will always bring you satisfaction.

These are only few things to have a satisfying life. Understand yourself better and assess you from a third person’s point of view to put yourself in satisfying situations. Remember, a book held so close is always difficult to read and understand.

Life isn’t always a walk in the park

Life may not always be a cake walk. There will be unexpected or rather unwanted surprises, challenges, painful moments which you wish wouldn’t have come your way. But that’s the part of life and you have to accept it the way it is and no escaping. The deal is how you handle them effectively without disturbing yourself and your happiness quotient.

You may have a tough day at work or a tough time in your relationship which will make you go cranky on everything and you start showing your grumpiness to everyone around you. But think for a while, you are not going to get anything good by venting out your anger; in fact you only create a bad image of yourself by doing it.

In such moments, just don’t be a numb and look for inspirational points in your life. It could be your friends, family, co-workers or even your inner-self. Of course you can be your own inspiration; for all the obstacles you’ve cleared in life, the upgrade you’ve brought-in to your lifestyle, and for the way you’ve paved your future.

Always remember that when you give happiness to others, it will come back to you in the same quantum. But when you vent out your anger, it will come back twice or worse even thrice. So nothing is gonna happen with your anger and upset mood.

Just try to divert your mind and stay away purposely from the situation which may have caused you pain. You will eventually tend to forget the sad part and move on in life. But remember to spread the happiness vibrancy around you. The more you spread, the more you get! After all, its just one life to cherish :)

Real beauty in Life's little moments

It was in the 10th Grade, during an evening sunset walk along a calm highway road that it struck me as to was how open and frank my friend and I were to each other.We spoke about everything and just about anything from life to friendship, future plans to past fights and so on. Some how I enjoyed the beauty in his character. It was so real with zero false pretense.

Days later, I bought 2 litres of ice-cream (thanks to buy-1-get-1 free) from a month-long savings money. All of us met at my friend's house, sat together and gobbled up all the ice cream. Felt the real beauty of sharing and caring just among friends.



At school, there will be morbid science classes and super boring leisure classes. Bunking is such an awesome thing when its done stealthily and of course when its done along with your super-friends. Gang of friends going to a mate's home and having such a good time, talking non-stop and playing your favorite music and pulling each others leg. Enjoyed the true beauty of being together.

Canteen & restaurants in college are the most frequented place, a religious place in a way, yes more than classrooms even. Pooling money for an evening chat or celebrating a birthday treat will create life's amazing moments. Relished the beauty of food and a new kind of friendship - mature/grown-up friendship.

Presentations and seminar can be a mind-boggling activity at graduation. Hasty preparations and perfect team work help to garner as much info as possible in a short time. You feel the adrenaline pumping when you come across or overhear other group's preparation for the seminar. As you compete with each other, the push you give to the whole team for an outstanding performance will eventually help to grab the same. It was indeed a welcome to the beauty of knowledge and applause.

During the college years paying for food or entertainment can always be a huge thing because you always run out of pocket money and can't keep asking your parents for it. You would've bargained for each and every item you buy just to fit it in your budget. But the huge party or treat you give to your friends with your first salary will give you such a proud feeling, almost like an achievement. Those were the times I enjoyed the beauty of financial freedom.

After taking money from your parents for so many years for so many reasons like books, food, tours, bikes, fuel, movies etc. etc., the first time when you give them your first salary, that moment will make them feel like they have achieved everything in the world. The happy tear that runs down your mom's cheek will make you realize the beauty of a mother's love.

So much time I had in life to bask everything. To enjoy the nature, my friends, to chit-chat non-stop, to listen to music, to watch my favorite shows, to travel, to sleep, to fight, to read, to worship, to love, to eat, to ride, to walk, to run, to play, to take in the beauty of life in every breath.

I ask myself, where did everything go? And what I realize is that everything is still there waiting for me, my attention. But with every passing moment, life seems to be moving along so swiftly that I don't find the time to find beauty, real beauty in these moments.


These are my real life incidents I penned down for "Yahoo Dove Real Beauty Contest" on Indiblogger. If you like my post, please "FB-like" it and vote for me in Indiblogger. (http://www.indiblogger.in/indipost.php?post=60229) Thanks for reading. To know more about the contest, visit http://realbeauty.yahoo.com

Mentor your mind & stay happy

Mentoring your mind could be an astounding task as most of the time your mind mentors you rather than you mentoring the mind. By and large, every one will be at the receiving end, doing what your mind tells you to do. It may not be hard to control your mind and mentor it from wiggling.

Staying alert all the time will be helpful in monitoring mind’s commandments. You may wonder why you should control your mind. It will give you guts to face failure and success in a same way, it will give you courage to accept being defeated, helps you to manage failures/bad attempts with a gentle smile. Everyone will come across such situations in life. Don’t get carried away or don’t get scattered. Just accept everything in a normal way with gentle smile.

Needless to say, on a very tightly packed day, chasing one deadline after the other, our mood will be up and roaring, trying to be cranky to as many people as possible. Mentor your mind to stay cool and have that gentle smile always. Yes, even on the busiest day in your life. Your happy face is not just to your friends, it’s even to strangers, colleagues, boss, pet and everyone around your life.

Be an inspiring face to everyone around you and lift the mood of your environment. Yes it can be done just with a smile and that comes if you have a control on your mind. Remember, it’s the heart that tells you to smile and brain that makes you to whine. Be the mentor of your mind and stay happy.

Hope: The way of life

An anonymous quote says; “When the world says “Give up”, Hope whispers “Try it one more time”

It is this hope that makes life worthwhile and enable us to run the show in this world’s stage. A mother’s hope will make the baby strong, a student’s hope will boost him to succeed in exams, a candidate’s hope will help him outperform in the interview. There are so many examples in life where hope plays a pivotal role or actually be a major influencer.

There’s a great companion to this hope and often most of us entwine both the factors. It’s the faith that am mentioning about. As you awake every morning, the day ahead of you may be full of surprises, possibilities, pitfalls, success etc. and only faith will keep you intact and make you optimistic throughout the day.

If your hope and faith start to diminish, the fear factor will creep in and may destroy your beliefs and happiness. It’s normal that many people go through this phase because of some pre-conceived notions. You may have strong hope and faith but things may not happen the way we want. Hope for the best but at the same time be prepared for the worst as well. So you will develop a mindset to digest the unexpected outcomes.

If you see yourself too down, you can actually find your hopes and faith in your support system. It can be your family or your best friends and don’t hesitate to ask for help or support. After all, they are there to lift you up. Life can be tough but your faith can identify the hope and take you through a smooth ride and show you the light at the end of a tunnel.

“Sorrow looks back, worry looks around but faith looks up!”

Umpteen reasons to be thankful

There are literally umpteen situations in day-to-day life to be thankful for. The delicious coffee you have in the morning, the sun shine when you step out for the day, the breeze that kisses you on road trips, the ever charming smiles from school children, the greenly plant that sets your mood when you enter your home/work place, the music that solaces you from pressure, the nicer people who always make your day happy, the food that makes your appetite, the unconditional love from pets, the sea shore that lifts your mood when you are down, call from a long distance friend, stranger’s smile, unexpected help, school and college day memories and the list goes on.. And remember to thank your parents who brought you to this world and of course thank yourself for making others happy.

Imagine if half of the above mentioned is not available; bad weather, grumpy people, dried plants, horrible food, no pets and no music… huh, you will curse the life for sure. These are small things that make your day and life more cheerful; but often overlooked. Spare time to stop and smell the rose. Just relish those moments!

Change the world; change your mind

Challenges are always a part of life; be it at work, life, relationship wherever it is. The tenacity to face the challenge and to cope up with other’s expectations will decide your destiny. It can be easily said, but the pain to go through the turbulence will make people cranky.

But imagine the life of physically challenged people. Every day, every minute and every second is a challenge. We all might have challenges amidst life but for them life is amidst challenges. In spite of that, they will never consider it as a hurdle to exceed in life. I think the perfect motivation can be garnered from such people. Helen Keller wrote 12 books, lectured classes, overcoming all her challenges. But we might have come across people with all God gifted abilities, and still whine about life and get cranky for no reasons.

So let’s look at the positive side of life. Next time if life challenges you for something, spank it by your determination and win the situation instead of whining about life and getting lost in crowd. Be a change agent and inculcate the positivism among others. A change in individual’s mindset can change the world. It should begin with YOU, and remember, tiny drops make a mighty ocean.