I Like This New Me

- BY PRIYANKA

Finally, after 34 years, I have found a reason to be proud of myself. Yay!!!!

I am content with myself and my life. Changes in my surroundings no longer bother me in a negative way. I can ignore all the noise around and focus only on the ‘controllables’. I never knew I was capable of that. I had been told I was good but I never believed it. I had been told several times that fortunate will be the man who marries me, but it never sounded true to me, or maybe it did but I simply ignored it. I had been told multiple times that I was talented, but I was always critical of my achievements.

20 Lessons I Have Learned

- BY NEHA

Life’s myriad experiences teach us all a diverse gamut of lessons. While some experiences in life are a bitter pill to swallow, in retrospect it is these ‘tough’ experiences that actually enable us to evolve the most.

Having lived in 5 different countries, I have had my share of pleasant and not-so pleasant experiences. In today’s blog post I want to briefly touch upon the 20 main lessons I have learned in my life till date. While I understood some of these lessons much earlier in life, some have been quite recent realizations and few are from just last year. I am sure that as life goes on I will keep adding to my list of lessons learned. In fact, the more the lessons I learn each year, the more I know I have evolved as a human being. It has now become a yardstick for me to ascertain my personal growth year after year. So here we go….

What Is Your Vision For Your Life?

- BY NEHA

"Create The Highest, Grandest Vision Possible For Your Life, Because You Become What You Believe" - Oprah Winfrey

The above quote was my Facebook status some weeks ago. I only share those quotes on my Facebook wall that I truly and deeply resonate with.

Oprah Winfrey is someone who I admire and idolize. To me, she is the epitome of success, grace and generosity. Those readers who are aware of her early background and growing-up years would know that Oprah had to overcome a myriad of challenges and barriers in her life to reach where she is today. She is not only America’s most loved woman but also an inspiration to many people across the world.

Oprah had a grand vision for her life. Even though she didn’t come from wealth and didn’t have the most stable upbringing, she believed in her vision for herself, with faith and conviction.

It’s All About Loving Your Parents

- BY NEHA

Some of you may have noticed that there were no posts on this blog during the months of June and July. As most of our readers are aware, I have recently relocated to a new country. Moving to a new place, whilst exciting and adventurous, is also quite unnerving and mentally taxing at times.

I started my house hunt here towards the end of April and by May was able to find a nice little home for myself. The only problem was – mortgage! I never realized how challenging it could be for a new immigrant, with almost zero credit history to get a decent mortgage. Fortunately enough, I was able to secure a mortgage and have happily moved into my new home.

I love my new place – not only do I feel proud of everything little thing in the house I own, I feel extremely blessed to not just have a good job but now a home, all within 5 months of moving to this country.

Whose Day Are You Going to Brighten Today?

- BY NEHA

“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody”

–      Unknown

We witness and experience immense beauty around us everyday - beautiful people, beautiful landscape, beautiful gestures, beautiful words, beautiful pictures. While expressing appreciation or paying someone a compliment comes naturally to some of us, certain people find it hard to do so – may be because they are shy, reserved, indifferent or envious.

WTF?

- BY NEHA

Seriously, what the f@$%? I mean, when and how did this word become such an integral part of today’s lingua franca? Doesn’t matter whether you are an Indian, a Russian, an Italian, French or a Spaniard, chances are you know this word. Perhaps what may have mass-popularized this word is the fact that more and more people (courtesy the Internet) now have access to uncensored versions of American TV shows & movies (where use of this word is rampant). And don’t most of us feel (or rather choose to feel) that ’The American way is the coolest way’ (*eye-rolling*)!

J.O.B. – Just On Board

- BY NEHA

I have recently made a bold and daring move in life in order to better my career prospects. In my home country, I was pretty much “stuck” professionally. While most other aspects of my life were moving along well there (lovely home, doting family, annoying yet adorable brother, awesome friends and by & large a comfortable existence), I was pretty dissatisfied with how my career was shaping up. This was primarily due to some overtly emotional and not well thought-out decisions I had taken a couple of years ago. Had I been patient and perseverant, my work could have catapulted me to great heights, because I had a lot of things working in my favor. However, I take full responsibility for my actions.

Being Childish Vs Being Child-Like

- BY NEHA

The idea behind my post today stems from the following quote by acclaimed author Paulo Coelho:

“A child can teach us three things: 1) To be happy for no reason 2) To always be curious 3) To fight tirelessly for something”

Most of us have fond memories associated with our childhood. I, for sure, happily reminisce about my growing up years. While I have come a long way in life since then (I live in a bigger house now, have more money at my disposal, a better lifestyle, own a car, etc), at times I can’t help but feel how much simpler life would have been if only I could have retained my childhood innocence and credulity.

To Dadaji with Love

- BY NEHA

Losing a loved one is an emotionally tormenting experience. Every individual has his or her own way of dealing with this loss. Some choose to stay aloof; some prefer to talk about their feelings; while some others simply put on a brave front just for the sake of family and friends. My family and me are currently dealing with the sudden demise of my grandfather. This blog post is a eulogy to the most inspirational, stoic and commendable man I have ever known.

Fortune Favors The Brave

- BY NEHA

Some of you may have read or heard about the book ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ (the book was also made into a Hollywood motion picture starring Julia Roberts). For those of you who haven’t read the book, it is a personal memoir of Elizabeth Gilbert, who embarked on a journey of self-discovery and travelled to Italy (eat), India (pray) and Indonesia (love). The book chronicles her experiences in each of the three countries and how this journey eventually leads her to finding true happiness and peace.

People at times reach at a crossroad in their lives and do not know where to go or which path to take. A seemingly ‘balanced’ and ‘normal’ life at times just falls apart giving way to misgivings, confusion, doubts and fear.

GUEST BLOG

Dear Readers – BY NEHA

Today I am extremely pleased to introduce our first guest blogger, my dear friend, Shashi. Yaay!!!

Projected Strong Could be Innately Weak

Here’s wishing all our readers a very very happy 2015!

The busyness of the holiday season kept us away from the blog last month. We sincerely hope this won’t happen again.

So without much ado, here is 2015’s first blog post BY PRIYANKA:

Remember all those faces you may have written off as EGOISTIC, STUBBORN, SELF-CENTERED, RUDE, DIFFICULT or INACCESSIBLE! Ever wondered how these people actually are in their personal lives, say, with their family or friends (that is if they have any)?

Swachh Banegaa Toh Aur Bhi Badegaa India

- BY NEHA

Lack of sanitation and cleanliness in India adversely affects the vast majority of the populace much more than issues such as corruption and improper governance. The reason being that we Indians are grappling with unsanitary conditions on an almost everyday basis – whether it is the squalid living conditions of our neighborhood slum or the open heaps of piled garbage that line our city roads.

Being Extra...

- BY NEHA

This is in continuation to one of my earlier posts, titled ‘Because You Are Worth It’ (go and first read this post in case you haven’t done so already…seriously, do it NOW!). After uploading that post and receiving some really positive feedback from some readers, I realized there was this one thing that I forgot to mention in that post (happens all the time when anything I write is appreciated...I go back and re-read my work and then realize there is something I missed). I do not know how it slipped out of my mind to talk about this in my earlier post because this one thing is another major peeve of mine. But on second thoughts, am glad that I missed mentioning this because now I can write an entire post on it and really drive the point home!

Resistance To Change

 - BY PRIYANKA

What is your first instinct when someone suggests a change in your routine or habits, and may I say these changes could be as small as replacing one cup of regular tea with green tea, reducing your sugar intake, moving your gas stove by 90 degrees so it becomes more convenient to use, placing your dustbin away from your living room so that your little ones do not find their play way in and around it, starting to use planners in office to daily update your sales record (despite you always having excelled on your targets), conducting weekly team meetings (although there have been no client complaints in the last 5 years), changing your doctor, and so on and so forth?

Because You are Worth It

- BY NEHA

Have you ever thought, ‘If only I could get this job, I would be happy’ or ‘I will be happy when I get married to my sweetheart’ or ‘I will be happy if I clear the entrance exam this year’ or ‘I can’t tell you how happy I will be if I get the opportunity to work in New York’?

It is great to have dreams and goals in life. In fact, we all must have one, if not several. Something that makes us look forward to the future with excited anticipation and stokes the fire within us to work towards what we desire.

If I Were Him

 - BY PRIYANKA

Countless times we have said or heard someone say, “If I were in his place, I would have done this.” How many times have we judged people or offered opinions on their actions without really being part of the situation? It is probably norm of the day to say, “He/she shouldn’t have done this” or “If I were him, I would have moved mountains” (well, that’s to say he/she couldn’t even move a spec). Myriad times I have seen others and, to be honest, I too have said this several times in the past while watching a TV show or a movie, “Who does this?” or “What was the director/writer thinking while scripting this?” or “Isn’t it freaking obvious who the culprit is?” or “Don’t they trust each other even a bit, how can she be so stupid to risk her marriage for this?”

Banish Anger – Forgive!

- BY NEHA

We all have been hurt by other people’s actions and/or inactions at some point in our lives. For some the pain has been so deep that they have been unable to forgive the person concerned even after years have passed. The resentment people harbor in their hearts and thoughts is at times so intense that it impinges upon every aspect of their lives, so much so that these people suffer from severe bouts of depression and anger from time to time.

Buddha said: “Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” This according to me is perhaps the most insightful quote that underscores the importance of forgiveness and letting go.

Sail Along And Have Faith

- BY PRIYANKA

Oh my God! It seems the co-owner of this blog and my little friend (5 feet and 5 inches) is racing ahead of me in posting on this blog. I am afraid that if I do not write my next post soon, there will be a mutiny and I will be dethroned from the ownership of this blog and perhaps, rightly so! Having said that, my friend Neha is worth a million. Thank you for keeping the blog updated and running. 

Life it seems has its own little way of testing your patience. It constantly tests your wits and pushes us to the wildest possible extent, till we either give up or surprisingly discover that we can still stretch even further. Life constantly wants us to discover the new heights of our endurance that lay latent inside us until challenged.

I still remember the difficult times during my early childhood that we, as a family, went through when we had to move out of our shelter in Kashmir overnight to Jammu

Let Go Of Fear And Do What You Love

- BY NEHA

I am sure most of you have succumbed to the ‘What will people say?’ mental bug. For me this phrase is akin to a ‘bug’ that resides and thrives in several people’s subconscious and acts insidiously on all their dreams and desires.

This age-old threadbare cliché has become more and more ludicrous with time. The ‘What will people say?’ self-sabotaging mindset (essentially rooted in fear) has been responsible for nipping in the bud so many dreams, hopes, wishes and desires in this world, that I am staggered at the fact that people in today’s day and age still harbor in their belief system this rather antiquated and false thinking.