2 important life’s lesson learnt in 2012

Lesson no 1: I’d always pray for long life for everyone one.

In 2013, I pray that it is okay to have a short life as long as it is healthy and happy

Lesson no 2: I could go to any extent to save people’s marriages. I had always believed that “Marriage is made in Heaven and ends with Death”.
In 2013, I’d rather advice that if your marriage isn’t working then probably you are with the wrong person, who does not appreciate your true value. Hence, Move On. You have one life to live and lead it with a person who appreciates and accepts you the way you are.

I conclude this post with an Attitude of Gratitude to the Universe for blessing us with a healthy and happy life and for making our marital paths meet with the right person for everlasting bliss.

Looking forward to 2013 for more of personal growth by unlearning false beliefs and learning the new.

Aren't There Enough Unpleasant, Rude People in the World? -Jim Fay

If there weren't enough pleasantness-challenged people in the world, there might be a good reason for creating more of them. But, as you've probably noticed, there seem to be plenty.

Mary is doing her part to increase the ratio of world niceness to nastiness. She also knows that nice kids are more likely to choose nice nursing homes for their elderly parents. As a result, she's careful to demonstrate niceness to the teller at the bank, to the mail carrier, to the grocery store checkout clerk, etc.

Mary has a secret: she doesn't always feel like being so pleasant to every one of these folks. Sometimes, she'd just as soon nod, grunt, or ignore them altogether. But Mary has her precious little daughter Shelby in tow as she goes to all these places and sees these individuals.

From my son's DVD, Painless Parenting for the Preschool Years, Mary was reminded that important values such as respect are "caught" by little ones through the powerful force of modeling. She could spend lots of time telling Shelby to be nice, but she has learned that it is far more effective to show Shelby exactly what it looks like.

Shelby has even learned to say nice things and smile as they progress through their day. And even at her young age, little Shelby has noticed that people seem to be happier around Mommy, and they often tend to be nice right back. Can you imagine the advantage Shelby might have when she's making friends or interviewing for jobs some day?

If only more moms and dads set out intentionally to model courtesy and respectfulness for their kids when they were driving, running errands, and interacting with other human beings. It just might work better than yelling, "Hey! You be nice!", when they are less-than-sweet.

Adding Life to LIFE

Why go through life as if it is a drudgery? From the time we wake to sleep, we need to add life to whatever we do. Whether it is about, doing routine such as brushing teeth, getting dressed up for the day or doing chores like watering plants, cooking or spending time with our loved ones such as playing with kids or talking with a family member and even in office while doing our work. Many a times we do things only b’cos we are expected to do things and the focus is on its completion. Rarely do we pay attention to the process.
The state of mind you are in most of your time during the day indicates the state of your life. If you are spending most of you day in anxiety or anger, that is what your life is about.
No matter how much you have, you always have something less than the other and something more than the other. So if there is something to complain about there will always be something to appreciate or if we have a reason to keep track of or worries, we have also a good reason to count our blessings too. Worrying makes us helpless and unenthusiastic towards life, however, counting our blessing helps us to appreciate life and gives us vigor to deal with life challenges.
Begin your day, counting your blessings. Give life to everything you do. Enjoy whatever you are doing. Stay in the moment and experience fully, that which you are doing. Eg. If you are watering your plant focus on the colors of the leaves today. When you are cooking smell the aroma of the spices. When you are drinking water feel the taste of it. When you are eating food, experience how it is nourishing your body. Maybe that is the reason they say not to talk while eating. If something is a drudery combine it with something you like. Eg. Listning to music while driving. Reading while waiting for someone or something etc.
This does not mean that we need to work in slow motion. It only means we need to be present in the moment. As mentioned earlier, the state of mind you are in most of the day indicates the state of your life. If you find yourself thinking about what you need to do next or what lies ahead, chances are good that there is an eagerness to finish what you are doing and hence some anxiety too about the future. Which means your state of mind is about eagerness or anxiety. Some of us do things constantly dwelling in our past. Thinking about what happened in the past and how it could have happened differently. Hence the experience would be of either sorrow or anger. And that is your life experience. And how will we be leading our life differently? When I am in the moment of the task I am doing, I give undivided attention to it. And when I do it, I learn something new about my task which I would not have otherwise. For eg. When I water my plants and am in the moment. Chances are good that I would be enjoying it, I feel relaxed among my plants. It would be a fulfilling experience because the reason I have a garden is for the beauty it adds to my surrounding and I am in the moment of beauty contributing to its growth. Similarly when I am in the moment with my kid or a family member, without being bothered about what is happening in the kitchen or TV. I would learn something new about my loved one, A reason to laugh. Probably a reason to reach out to the person. When you are dressing yourself up and are in the moment, you will realize how good you are looking in the dress you picked up and how well it suits you. You will find yourself happier and confident.


But it will not be easy changing to this way of living - i.e living in the moment, giving life to what you are doing. Simply because we have been
programmed as kids to do everything focusing on the end. We are meant to do everything fast. Before we do something we are told what we would have to do after that. Problem is not with planning. Problem is with speed and sending accuracy for a toss.
So it is time to reprogram ourselves and our kids. Lets be with the process of life. Lets experience every moment of life and that is when we add Life to LIFE

My ultimate favourite Quotes on Friendship

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.
-John Burrough

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
-Albert Camus

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,
"What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"
-C. S. Lewis

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.
-Charles Caleb Colton

When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do.
Think up something appropriate and do it.
-Edgar Watson Howe

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.
-Lee Iacocca

The real test of friendship is: Can you literally do nothing with the other person?
Can you enjoy together those moments of life that are utterly simple?
They are the moments people looks back on at the end of life and number as their most sacred experiences.
- Eugene Kennedy

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar,
but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
-Robert Brault

My favourite Quotes

Work like you don't need the money
dance like no one is watching
sing like no one is listening
love like you've never been hurt
and live life every day as if it were your last

I shall pass through this world but once.
Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show any human being, let me do it now.
Let me not deter or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Stephen Grellett

“Tell me and I'll forget;
show me and I'll remember;
involve me and I'll understand.”

"Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be."

Two roads diverged in a wood, and --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost

Along the Road
I walked a mile with Pleasure
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne'er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me.
-Robert Browning Hamilton

When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you're feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you've done your best.
Dare to be the best you can At all times, Dare to be!
-Steve Maraboli

The Serenity Prayer - by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)Complete, Unabridged, Original Version.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

On CHILDREN by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.