The things we do for love

The things we do for love are often inexcusable, they cross the limits of sensibility and reason. 

The things we do in the name of love are best termed excesses, and, ironically, they are romanticized in fiction, in films, in poetry, in songs. 

The song "In the name of love..." (Bebe Rexha and Martin Garrix) goes: "If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn/ Would you walk in?/ Would you let me do it first?" 

Well, it doesn't matter whether there was a caveat in the first place or not. No one enjoys getting burnt. Even if one escapes death or being maimed, one often has to suffer from the Once Burnt, Twice Shy syndrome for life. 

PostScript: Have you seen a tall tree struck by lightning? I have. In my childhood, I was traumatized witnessing the top of a coconut tree catch fire when lightning struck. A common myth is to take shelter under a tree, to feel safe when it's raining and one's out on a field or by the roadside. Warning: it is NOT at all advisable to seek shelter under tall trees that attract lightning. 

The worst memory of mine was witnessing the tree die a slow death thereafter. 

then AND now

Me, then: I know, everything happens for a reason.... but, sometimes, I wish I knew what the reason was. I'm too desperate to know why it happened - the way it did.

However, now: I no longer want to find out what the reasons are/were/have been. Not anymore. It's too taxing, too exhausting to keep digging. No matter what's found, there can be no closure that would bring peace and calm. Rather, it's best for me to come to terms with the happenings; what has to happen - happens; I surrender to the grand design. I have also come to terms with the consequences, the reactions, even the spiralling effect and the recurrences; the rage and the agony, or the helplessness at the betrayals - they all are part of the bigger picture. So, I simply let them be. 

Life's struggles

Only a few people strive to enjoy each and every day to the fullest. 
Most think that they aren't luckier than the majority. They find themselves disadvantaged, and shortchanged. However, only when one assumes a neutral approach, ridding oneself of all the biases and prejudices that tend to make one feel gypped, that makes one feel trapped in a dysfunctional emotional space, can one truly appreciate life for what it is worth. 

As a new day begins each morning, and, opening one's eyes, there is a feeling of reassurance that one is alive, the petty struggles do not weigh heavy on one's mind. We take too many things for granted. We do not take into account the simple advantages that we enjoy, the simple but priceless gifts we are endowed with, and we do not as such appreciate the life that we live. 
Feeling grateful or thankful for the life that we have been gifted does not come easy, I agree. And it is primarily because of our feeling trapped within the very struggles that we have to engage ourselves in, often when we are extremely reluctant to do so. Some of our battles are themselves so huge, humongous, and hollowing, that they drain and deplete us, and keep us from valuing life itself. 
When I actually think about it, I realize how skewed my thinking has been, but it must also be said that one cannot afford to self-flagellate even if it comes to that, it is but natural - I tell myself - it had been charted for me that way, my life, my struggles, my battles within and without. Life's struggles end only when life does. 
Life would indeed have been too dull, too static, without the challenges, without the struggles; no?

Who is stress-free?

Stress, stress everywhere....... all around, all the time.
Who is stress-free in this world?

Well, the search may prove to be more stressful than bargained for.
However, I have come to realize that managing stress or dealing with it effectively is what should be our key concern.
With our hectic schedules, and umpteen pressures, stress becomes our biggest enemy.
It tires us out for anything productive in the long run. We are haggard just fighting stress all the time, and thus, in the process, we are always the losers, no matter what. The belly fat that the hormones triggered by stress induces is hard to hide, so is the overall worn out look of ours.
I like to tell my mind that I have just a manageable level of stress even when the reality might be quite opposite. But do I fool my body's system and get away with it? Mostly, yes. 
After all, I can't spend hours sitting on a pillow. 
I can't emulate the ideals of a yogi or an ascetic. 
I throw my hands up in the air even for the exercise regimen, and hope to be gymming only while I am asleep, in my dreams that is. 
All I have to depend on is an inner communication with my own self. 
Else, I have to wish my stress away, magically; 
I believe in magic, although I am devoid of magical powers.

I believe, I need to look within, a lot more, instead of trying to decipher the happy expressions on people all around - on the streets, on the sidewalks, in cars and buses, at places of work, pleasure or worship - and coming to terms with the possibility of them being more stress-free than I am. Well, I guess, I have to come to terms with merely being stress-adjusted. I better let go of the stress-free aspiration in life.

When life feels off-kilter.....

I observe that the ones who are medically of sound body and mind, take being healthy to be such a given, a constant, that they do not spare a thought for the eventuality of being sick, being dependent on others, and realize how preciously gifted one is to remain healthy.
I have to admit that, when one compares one's life to the lives of people who have to struggle under the yoke of disability, ailment or infirmity, and then all of one's petty cares and concerns almost vanish into the thin air.
I certainly want to stress that a lot of our so-called petty cares and concerns grow from selfish exaggerations and false expectations. We need to streamline our wants and desires, and should attempt to declutter our minds. An assertive behaviour helps us gain the most. We should remember that we unless we take care of the overstuffed minds, we shall not be able to give adequate weightage to our relationships. Gratitude, humility, integrity and honesty must be emulated not just because these are virtues that have been celebrated over the ages, these are in-fact time-tested ingredients for a better life.
We should not take the privileges that we enjoy for granted. We should get in touch with our heart's desire, and prevent loneliness, or the feeling of being left out, to grab us all of a sudden. Being alone, being lonesome, becoming a loner - these aren't all the same. We need to rather fasten our grip on life itself, by improving on our stimulation and by nurturing our passion for life! We should initiate by just dealing with all the unresolved emotions, profitably.
If any part of your life feels off-kilter, just think about the ways in which you can restore its natural equilibrium.

RUNNING........

♥║aM i RuNnIng fRom LiFe....?║♥

BuT
It'S iMpOsSiBle To gEt aWay.......!!!!!
♥║SoMeTimEs I wIsH I coUlD jUsT cLoSe mY eyEs,║♥
AnD tHeN tHInGs wOuLd bE diFFeReNt.
♥║I jUsT wAnT tO bE sOmEbOdY.║♥
I DoN't kNoW if I cAn, BuT I'll tRy.
♥╠I'Ve MeSseD up in My lIfE mOrE ThAn oNce.╣♥
BuT at leAsT I'm sTill aLIve.
BuT do I WaNt to be?
♥║Yes . . . I do.... mayBE║♥
PeOpLe meSS uP aLL tHe tImE.....
♥⌠It'S no ReaSoN to jUsT RuN aWaY.⌡♥
If I do, mY pRoBleMs wiLL wAiT foR mE.
I JuSt goTTa mOvE on.....
♥╠OnE hAs to aCcePT wHaT onE hAs dOnE.╣♥

JuSt cAn't SiT aNd fEEl SoRRy fOr mYsElF.
LifE's noT tHaT bAd..... iS iT?
♥║It'S wHaT wE MaKe iT oUt tO bE.║♥
ThErE wiLL be gOOd aNd bAd TimEs.
♥║SOmeTiMes mOrE bAd tHaN gOOd.║♥
EitHer WaY it's LiFe.
♥⌠I WoUld nEvEr wAnT to cHaNge mY lIfE.⌡♥
EVen thOuGh I've meSSed up In tHe pAst.
♥╠I tHiNk it hAs MaDe me a sTrOnGer pErSon.╣♥
So iNsTeAd of ruNNiNg,
♥║I'll sTaY and tAkE lIfE aS iT Is║♥

If Lemons Were Melons......

Dost thou love life?
Then do not squander time,
for that is the stuff life is made of.
- Benjamin Franklin

We all feel some time or the other that only some insanely lucky people are blessed with endless good fortune, tons of money, good looks and, more than anything else, an ability to overcome every problem. It often seems like nothing can touch them; they navigate through life's waters with ease and always bounce back from every knockdown. They are the ones who can recover quickly from their financial losses and setbacks, quickly gaining control, they are the ones who happen to tackle even the most difficult problems and emerge victorious.

Having though all that we should also ponder on our line of thoughts, it seems to have a strange paradox: the so-called 'lucky ones' are not thoroughly devoid of problems after all, they just manage to turn their weaknesses to strengths, their insecurities to opportunities! That means it must be something innate, something that is integral to their very thought processes, and to their stream of conscious actions.

Let's face it -- life is full of 'little things' that zap our energy. They are no match for the powers of the self that can help one tower above the humongous barriers, in the uphill battle of life. With one's energy in tact, one can surely forget about life's little annoyances, and build a defence mechanism or an immunity to face larger and still larger challenges. With one's spirit unbroken, with one's fabric of resilience pores-free, one can expect to have some of that energy at hand, so that the odds can even be bypassed altogether.

I am always that naive student who observes keenly, and hence I have noticed that in life, there always seems to be at least one pest! The key to keep oneself protected from the troublemakers that stand between an individual and success lies in one's attitude in life. We all need extra energy to cope when struggles arise in matters of the heart. We can reclaim our personal power even when we feel impoverished by recalling the simple analogy of lemons being perceived as melons - if one starts spelling them so, by a mere shift of the letters of alphabet.

I have seen the successful individuals master the art, and I have just summed up their involuntary mechanism; I am just a learner, a wee beginner.


For myself, I am an optimist -
It does not seem to be much use
being anything else.
- Winston Churchill