I WAIT EXPECTANTLY

It was day before yesterday when around 11:30 pm I saw Kuljeet online on Whatsapp and we just had a bit of chatting before we made our ways to our respective dream lands. But I thought of sharing a bit of what we discussed that night… They are as follows:

[11:36 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: Health and mood both good??
[11:37 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: Mood is not that great… life is kinda going rough… But I am trying to float well. Health is fine amongst all negativity.
[11:38 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: Oh… Yaar yeh rough weather kab khatam hoga (When will these storms come to an end?)
[11:38 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: Hmm… Kabhi nahi…(Never ever)… We just have to float well holding God’s hands… He is faithful…
[11:39 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: True that is…
[11:39 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: I am an witness… for last 42 years. Experienced with age and life events both…
[11:40 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: Yup.. I draw a lot of inspiration from you…
[11:40 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: Yeah… but I am faltering now…
[11:41 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: Arre… WHY?
[11:41 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: Not to fall down though… But to rise up… Will take time
[11:41 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: Good keep up the spirit..things will have to get normal.. Yaar, it’s natural to falter when we hit a roadblock…  Just don’t let yourself fall…
[11:42 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: No… I won’t… I am holding Him.
[11:43 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: 😊
[11:43 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: I admire the confidence you have in God..
[11:44 PM, 11/16/2017] Chiradeep: As I said I have been experiencing Him since my birth or since I had the knowledge of Him
[11:45 PM, 11/16/2017] Kuljeet: Good.. He will help you through this crisis also..

This is actually our routine topic whenever we get the time to chit chat with each other.  As you all can make out that the discussion was not a very pleasant one but we concluded in a positive note… We went back to sleep with a hope that the Creator will calm down the storms that we are facing in our everyday life soon.

I stumbled upon this video which is amazingly presented and might encourage all of us to hold fast to our Trust in the Lord.

What excited me in the above video is the scripture portion that has been quoted:

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

Friends! A hope and expectancy on the almighty will always make us to live a victorious life whatever situation that we come across in our lives.

Stay inspired and stay blessed!

A HAPPY HEART 😂

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. 

Proverbs 15:13

John and Nathan are two best friends came back from their schools to see the old teacher at his house. He had invited them to reward them with different gifts. They both were look very happy and cheerful. They spoke well to everybody, they helped every needy on the way to their teacher’s house. The expectation of receiving gifts made them happy and joyous. Finally when they reached, their teacher asked them to sit down and wait. The teacher came with two packets. They started opening their packs. John found an expensive watch inside his packet and Nathan found a canvas, and all different colours of crayons, water colours etc. Nathan was a great painter but he was unhappy and looked gloomy.

I have seen many faces changing colours from white-happiness to red-anger, yellow-panicky, and black-gloomy. I have even seen faces changing from yellow, red, and black to white. But holding a cheerful or white face is not always easy. We need practice to keep our heart happy to make our face cheerful. In my life I hate to stay gloomy, grumpy, angry etc. I have always tried to stay happy and cheerful. Only a satisfied heart or a heart of contentment can make your face cheerful/glow. When we are discontent about certain things we feel the poke/ache. Then we feel our spirit crushing with no-enthusiasm, disinterest etc.

Even if Nathan couldn’t have bought the painting materials by himself as he was not financially that well to do, but he was sad because he was discontent about the gift he got from his teacher. His eyes were greedy for his friend’s gift – an expensive watch.

How many times we do compare our gifts, blessings with others and feel sad? Let’s learn to stay happy and content. Then only we can have a cheerful face otherwise our discontentment/heartache will keep crushing our spirits everyday, every moment.

Stay Blessed!

FIGHT AGEING AND LOOK YOUNGER! WHY?

I strongly believe that people who hide their age or are upset about growing up are the ones who are not satisfied with their lives. These wrinkles and the signs of ageing are nothing but a sign of a life well lived. The fact that people want to get rid of these wrinkles really baffles me. I wonder what these cosmetic companies are trying to sell when they come up marketing lines like – “Fight 7 signs of ageing”, “Get rid of the wrinkles”, “Preserve that sculpted look of 20s”. First question that most people ask is “Is it really possible?” and I wonder why on earth someone would want to fight ageing anyway.

I believe that every age has its own charm. The stress-free childhood, fun and complicated teenaged life, probably the best time of everybody’s life is the early adulthood, then the hard working mid age and beyond that the old age which is often connected with boredom. The lifetime till a person turns 25 is when he or she wants to grow up. Teenagers usually want to be considered adults. The lifetime beyond 25 is when a person wants to retain the same energy and the looks of the 25 year old self. I was watching a movie where woman in her late 30s tells her friend that she hates it when men of her age hit on the girls 15 years younger than her. That made me think that character in the movie already had her set of fun of getting attention from men when she was younger, why does she wants to retain it when she has passed that age?

Energy levels do go down with old age but it all depends how well your lifestyle is since the younger age. When I see people much older than me doing amazing social work, going for adventures and travelling the world, I look forward to that age too. Isn’t it amazing to have all that experience of life, nothing much to worry about and still have all that fun in life?

Anti-ageing techniques that millions of cosmetic companies and clinics are trying to sell to the world only work on single principle – make people hate themselves and when they do, offer them a solution perfectly wrapped in an expensive package. Fact is that all that they try to do is to make you hate yourself which not only makes you stressed out but makes you look even older. Mission accomplished!

Believe in yourself and your achievements in life. You have lived your life the best way you could. Whether it is about turning 30 or 40 or 80, remember life is only about being happy and satisfied. Being dis-satisfied about your looks not only damages you and your confidence but it is far more detrimental to your younger ones who look up to you. Don’t fall for this anti-ageing scam; it does nothing more than damaging your body image. Fighting ageing is like fighting time, and frankly would you really like a 40 year old woman to look half her age? Let a 40 year old you look like present you, not a younger you. Because younger you has lived her life perfectly.

One of my colleagues from Netherlands is an amazing photographer – Wim Corbijn Van Willenswaard. He has a great collection of portraits of senior people and every picture will make you think about it. Not only are those faces beautiful but they are also full wisdom and experience something that is always missing in the pictures of young people. Those eyes are still full of energy and curiosity not very different from a child’s, yet those eyes are a proof of a life well lived.

GENERATION GAP = COMPLICATED LIVES

What is the most common thing that we are habituated to listen to from our elders?

“Humare zamaane mein aisa Nahi hota tha” which translates to ” It never used to be like this in our times”.  Simply put they are hinting at the Generation Gap.  I am slowly making a place in that league though 😁.

What is the simplest explanation of “Generation Gap”?

Well, my ingenuity 😉 says Generation Gap is the difference between Nokia old model handset and I-Phone 8 ( don’t ask me specifications, I am a loser when it comes to that 😀).  Here is a glimpse of what I meant:

Source: Google

Source: Google

Now let’s imagine the older Nokia model be the generation preceding us and the I-Phone being our generation (how stylish!).

Just like the features of a basic phone the thoughts and the lives of previous generations used to be simple yet with strong ideologies.  In comparison ours is smart generation with razor sharp ideas but shallow thoughts. Intrusion of technology, quest for logics, paced up lives, virtual connectivity, widening distances (emotionally) are few traits that stand to explain our generation.

Talking about this particular issue reminds me  that few days back me and my school friends were having a chat on WhatsApp.  We were discussing about the serious environmental issue, pollution to be precise, Delhi is facing.  Discussions lead to one after another issues to crop up to be discussed.  One of my friend then quoted how bizarre our lives have become.  From buying groceries to payment of different expenditures; from sending gifts to wishes – we do everything online.  The underlying reason being “an attempt to save time”.  But the irony is 24 hours seem to be less.  We are always busy and time is always a scarce commodity.  All I could do is to stamp her statement with an agreement.

On contrary our parents never had access to all the luxuries (read technology) we are bestowed with.  It never mattered what’s the purpose – be it buying groceries or payment of electricity bill, a personal visit to every place is the only option they had.  Yet they balanced their work-life-relationships beautifully. How? Well that’s a mystery it seems 😀.

Our over indulgence with technology which includes internet have left us paralyzed to the extent of not imagining our life without it.  Flip the picture, the generation preceding us still happy and accommodating enough in the absence of things what we call necessities.  They still believe in building  and maintaining relationships on personal level.  Don’t believe me?  Ask your parents about their neighbours, they might be still in touch and we are not even aware who is our neighbour.  Who is better connected then?

A generation who doesn’t believe in Repair and Reuse:  Well words like Repair & Reuse are used in connection with or as synonyms for Miser. If phone is not working chuck it, so is the case for relationships as well. “Move on” comes comparatively easy than “Repair” or “Give it one more try”.  Increasing peer pressure, undue importance attached to show-off and depleting patience levels can safely be accredited to the imbalance in our lives – be it an imbalance between income and expenditures or brittle relationships.

Neverthless, we are proud of our competencies and strongly believe that we have come a long way in making our lives better and comfortable.  At the same time we are constantly under an impression that the generation before ours is rigid enough not to accept the good points we have to offer or have offered.  In that case we have no right to expect our successors to think differently.  This friction is endless.

As I said “Friction is endless”, because view points change from generation to generation.  Truth is our lives are complicated in contrast to what we believe.  Availability of processed / readymade foods or ability to do online transactions don’t define simple life.  Rather emotionally we are entangled and health is anyways screwed up.  What else then we can boast of?

How to mend the Gap? Acceptance of follies and seeking a little guidance always helps.  It’s not about just learning how to manage time but how to build and maintain relationships that could ease out the complications we are witnessing.  And who knows we can pass on few tips too 😀.  So next time when you want a recipe ask your mother or mother-in-law rather than quickly turning Google pages.  Communication helps to mend the differences and you would see that experience speaks.

Have a good day.

WHAT AILS THE HUMAN PSYCHE

As I write this, I am trying to come to terms with the recent CBI revelation that a student of grade 11 of a reputed school ended up slitting the throat of a 7-year old of the same school simply because he wanted the upcoming examination to be stalled! As the truth comes to light after a series of investigations, my heart saddens at the whole episode.

A tender life lost! A youth staring blankly at a gloomy future as a juvenile convict. One set of parents scarred for life by the loss of their little bud. Another set of parents left to battle with the stigma of a ‘murderer son’ – faced with the dilemma whether to be with their son at this tough time and to face the wrath of the society or turn cold towards their son for his heinous crime.

Some of us would be quick to comment – ‘What a depraved mind the teenager had!’, ‘This shows how poor his upbringing might have been!’, ‘He ought to be given a really strong sentence’, ‘Speaks of the times we are living in’, ‘How unsafe the world has become!’ and the like.

Before getting started with the business of shaking our heads in despair and pooling together this and other such incidents happening around the world, lets remember that human depravity has been an age-old phenomenon. Right from the time man fell in sin, there has been no turning back. Human fallenness raises its ugly head every now and then breeding unhappiness, uncertainty and distrust.

A quick scan of world history over the civilizations would give us ample to ponder about in this regard. So, no, its not simply that the digital generation has its mind tweaked to sheer perversion. Only that people have increasingly developed an attitude of ‘fearlessness’. Fearless to commit errors of omission and commission without a care for the consequences.

Well, a sure cure to the moral turpitude of mankind is to live in the fear of an Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient God all the days of one’s life. It is also essential to expand our latitude of acceptance and understanding for the people around us. Even if a child is not able to perform well, even if a person gets laid off his/her job, even if the yearly yield shows a downward arrow, the person in question should be able to run to the comforting arms of his/her loved ones and not scheme for alternatives.

How open are we to seek help before resigning from the bleak situation before us? How alert are we to observe and attend to the signs of distress in the people around us? How accommodating are we to allow people to grow and develop amidst their mountain and valley life experiences, rather than pushing them to perform?

These indeed are questions that we ought to ask ourselves!

 

TRUST… A FEELING I EMBRACED TO LIVE

TRUST ME !!!

TRUST ME !!

He kept on saying .. I will never leave your hand.

Just be strong, I want to be a part of your life.

She struggled, a lot to keep up her spirits. As she dreamt a life with him. Even though it was merely impossible. She just believed that he would be the one holding her life safely. He cared for her, fought for her, stood for her, but yet there was something missing in him. She kept trying to believe in him. Yet there was mist covered feeling as if she is lost. She struggled with her thoughts – She believed the fact that she trusted him, yet…

Doubts prevailed in her heart.

One day the news arrived that he had walked away from her life. Fulfilling his life promises, breaking her heart like never before. She wept, cried a lot, unable to convince her heart. The thought sweeping in her mind about him was painful. She had sacrificed every thought and gave up on her heart. There was nothing that could protrude into her heart and keep her happy, yet she smiled and pretended to be happy.

Years passed, She went again Trusting people who hurt her every possible way they could. She kept expectations, and they broke it like a stick. She was wounded, yet she believed everyone she met. She never felt that someone could cheat on her, even when she was broke numerous times.

Some shocked her

Some broke her

Some took away everything from her

Some robbed her happiness

Yet she never hated anyone

She prayed hard for all those who hurt her…

It is mostly impossible to bestow trust on someone. Yet we humans have a tendency to trust people blindly.

Trust is something people quite easily bring on someone’s mind. It can be through many things :

1. A thoughtful gesture.
2. A lovable care
3. A kindness
4. Friendship
5. Support
6. Leniency etc.

Yet how easily people get cheated by these?  Yes, There are several incidents happening around us, which are truly unimaginable, undigestable thoughts. The ones who we trust the most breaks us easily.

Be it professional or be it a family relation, Trust plays a vital role. I was… no, I am one of those who is easily fooled by people, since I trust people easily.

But I just believe it is my strength, there were days when I felt weak and vulnerable. Now, I feel that I have it as the greatest power in me. In this busy world, people forget to give time and trusting care to anyone. All are in the rat race, hence I just feel am someone who might be lagging behind in all, yet the one who can be a good friend I affirm.

“I truly believe that everything that we do and everyone that we meet is put in our path for a purpose. There are no accidents; we’re all teachers – if we’re willing to pay attention to the lessons we learn, trust our positive instincts and not be afraid to take risks or wait for some miracle to come knocking at our door. “

– Marla Gibbs

The above quote states what I learned from “Trusting people”. I learned many lessons, the lessons that made me who I am now. I learned not to blame anyone for the same – even if they had hurt me. I realized for anyone to live in this world, they need someone to love, blame, share, express or even hurt.

To conclude I can quote…

You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.

Frank Crane

 

KEEP INSPIRING AS LONG AS YOU CAN – A SUMMARY

It was a superb 14 days journey for all of us, the authors and the readers. I personally enjoyed these two weeks reading and commenting. My co-authors have come out with such fabulous articles that we received a lot of feedback as well.

Let’s revisit all the articles one by one as I evaluate all with the little wisdom that I possess. 😉

Aastha – How do we perceive ourselves? Do we really know the real we? Knowing our own selves is really very important for us to live a purposeful life. And Aastha wrote it beautifully. A truly inspiring piece it was.

Kalpana – The policies formulated by any government of any country would only be successful if it is ably supported and accepted by the citizens of that country.  She also gave two very apt illustrations as witnessed by her in real to support her motivational call for all of us.

Prabhjot – “Think big and choose bigger problems.” What an eye opener it was? It changed my perspective as it did change others as well.

Rajnandini – Trust me, it’s a joy to rediscover the child within you.  And she was right. Actually it is so important to find the child in us to have a fruitful and meaningful life.

Ruth – Her introspection throws a light in the darkness of this world when she said, “The spiritual gifts of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, KINDNESS, PATIENCE, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL is what God wanted me to cultivate.”

Saakshi – “I can proudly say I am Shopping Free.” Her confession of how she got rid of the shopping addiction was hilarious and quite interesting.

Thaddeus – His conclusion speaks everything about what he intended to convey: “May each reader be inspired to value their loved ones enough to share the truth and to discern when to withhold it.” Unless we discern and distinguish between the falsehood and the truth and understand the skill to present the truth then we will fail in our avenues.

Preeta – “Inspirations are everywhere around us, we just need to come out of our shells.” Somehow this has become my favourite line for complimenting beauties around me… 😉 But she made her presence felt on the stats of this site. It was one of the most inspiring articles of the week. 

Aparna – “Go beyond what is expected of you and create the difference.” She suggested to leave the self-centeredness and go the extra mile helping people. 

Sony – Hers was quite similar to Preeta’s. She said, “I hope this world extracts positivity of all kinds and minimize the effect of negativity.” It was her hope to bring the positivity from all negatives. 

Kuljeet – Her green eyes literally shook everybody, not in fear but with lots of fun and the readers relating to the experience she shared. “Let it be a small achievement, I try to celebrate it. I don’t need to prove anything to the world.” These lines made me realize that I am on the right track because I never think my achievements are small even if its negligible. I celebrate and enjoy everything that I do. And we all need to do the same to stay away from the “GREEN EYED JEALOUSY AND ENVY”. 

Avinash – “Shall we put a full stop to hypocrisy? Is it not possible for us to LOVE others with pious heart?” This article again quite similar to Kalpana’s. He urged his fellow citizens of his beloved country India on the occasion of 68th Republic Day.  

Chiradeep – “Susceptibility follows deprivation, temptation follows vulnerability and devastation follows the temptation.” Looking at the present scenarios around me and within me I thought of writing this article about how our hearts go through deprivation and how important it is for us to counter it to safe guard ourselves.  

I hope you all enjoyed reading all these articles and learning from them. Get inspired and keep inspiring…

Stay Blessed!!!