Raw. Real. Unfiltered. Daily blogs. Often, less than 100 words
One, is of course, losing the weight – emotional and physical.
Two, is to remember you are the light.
Three, quite relevant, is to politely decline. Nothing, absolutely nothing would give you as much energy as not doing what you know you shouldn’t be doing.
If there is pressure in your life, and you are worried about it, here is the healer:
This is how life should be.
This ain’t compromise, this ain’t adjusting on life, this is the truth.
And truth shall set you free. If you learn how to live with the truth, instead of letting it kill you.
Do you feel hurt by people?
You did good to them however they didn’t respond?
What if they didn’t hurt you?
What if they hurt your idea of how you should be treated?
No one, absolutely no one owes you anything. If they’re good, you’re lucky. If they aren’t good, you get stronger.
I see a lot of parents of my generation who still teach their kids what to do and what not to do.
That’s the saddest thing to happen.
Because we are creating another version of ourselves.
And we won’t be doing it in the first place if we were proud of what we have become.
Our parents’ generation did not have as many privileges as we have.
Not using the privileges that we have, is probably worse than not having privileges.
Learn, instead of repenting.
Neither too excited.
Nor too indifferent.
Just being. And listening as if we are wrong.
That would bring about the biggest changes in each conversation.
If you choose to show your authentic self, it is amazing how many people would offer themselves to help you.
Society has taught us to show only goodness and beauty, and that is what brings respect from others.
The real thing, if surfaced to the top, would bring in reality from everyone else as well.
Collectively, we will take things forward, by showing where we lag.
Otherwise, false impressions will create false realities, which will serve no true purpose.
Do you feel intimidated by more successful people?
It’s good to, as long as that is where you want to be.
It’s not good, if you’re taking that from relatives who don’t know where they are going.
Choices we get to make.
Back in my school days, rather for the entire time of my formal education, I was a top scoring student.
Off late, when exams were dismissed by education boards in India, it still came as a pleasant respite to me.
Someone in my family, who passed their exams 20+ years back, wasn’t though.
When I told them I was quite happy with it, they were rather upset.
“How could YOU be happy?”
“What would happen to students like you, whose life depended on school marks?”
“Won’t it be unfair for students like you?”
Though I could sense they were not in a position to understand, it made me think:
Of course, formal education is important. However the pressure we put on it to take us to the other end is unbelievable.
What really matters beyond formal education, is:
Closing statement: Formal education isn’t dead yet. However, the authority it had to dominate our lives never existed. You get to decide how your life will be, not your formal education.
When you know who you are, you will always be undefeated.
When you know each of your thoughts have a spiral effect, you will always be undefeated.
When you know everything you want is waiting for you, you just need to be the recipient to receive it, you shall be undefeated.
We create a heaven and a hell in ourselves. Not because of what we do, rather because of what we allow ourselves to think about.
Think about.
Think about it.
If you’re alone and you don’t like it, somewhere you have done something to deserve it.
If you’re alone and you do like it, somewhere you have done something to deserve it.
Part I: Giving Help
If you want to help someone else, make sure you’ve helped yourself.
If you think you are still doing them a favour, you are not.
People love to know they’re loved, only if they could feel you loving yourself.
Part II: Asking for Help
If you are asking for someone else’s help out of their obligation to do it for you and out of their inability to not do it willingly, probably you need to rethink your choices.
Conclusion:
The only way to have everything aligned on the outside is to align yourself from within. Nothing changes before that.
Today I turned 29.
Damn! The number is so big! Yet why do I feel so young?
Or in other words, how did I get so lucky to be feeling so amazing while the world is conditioned to making us think that we should start with “settling”?
The answer is that I got insanely lucky to make some wonderful decisions. To choose to get out of company of people like whom I didn’t want to become, and to choose the company of rebels, oddballs and misfits — with a strange combination of my core values guard me daily.
However, the last one year had been a strange (and a blessed) one, with loads of mistakes and loads of learning coming along — which I have made an effort to summarize in 29 points below:
6. Kindness is superpower. Especially when it’s difficult to display it.
7. Gossiping will do more harm than goodness could do peace.
8. Working out with a personal trainer is game changing — in terms of your discipline, diet, follow-up, and of course how you look and feel within.
9. If you decide to walk at least 10,000 steps a day, you will!
10. Meditation is not a trick only for monks in the Himalayas. It is rather the only vaccination against depression.
11. A small hack for those on diet and travelling: Plain rice with curd and papad is a perfect meal. Saves from oily food of restaurants and provides all micro and macro nutrients.
12. In my former job, we went from our respective cities to the HO. In an evening, we went for a get-together to a Chinese restaurant; however I do not consume onion and garlic. So, we finally went to an Indian restaurant where I ordered khichdi, while others continued with having other oily food. Lesson: it’s okay to stand by your dharma in a matter of crisis. The only thing you will get is immense support.
13. When you’re misunderstood, you need to humbly stand for yourself.
14. Law of attraction works like magic. With a caveat — only if you’ve done the hard work. If I have never jumped into a pool and I wish to win a gold medal in Olympics next month, the only thing I deserve is a headache.
15. Not judging your family is the biggest gift to them. They are fighting a tough battle which we aren’t aware of.
16. Sleeping and waking up on time (and no screen time for 1 hour prior and after) will solve almost all your problems.
17. You’re becoming successful when outer success is coupled with smaller and lesser need to seek validation from others.
18. The intuition you have about people is stronger (and always truthful) than the image they’re trying to project. To rephrase, “Empathy cannot be taught. You’re either born with it or you aren’t.” — Ankur Warikoo
19. Like almost all other families, mine is also a dysfunctional one. Yet, their presence is the biggest therapy.
20. It’s okay to have a few or no friends than to have many who laugh at your progress.
21. I live a healthy lifestyle however I was hospitalized twice in last two years. Lying on that hospital bed, I realized this is simply my life shouting out loud to make a change.
22. Patience majnu, patience!
23. Consistent content creation will make you survive when everything else won’t. Even when you’re applying for a position with no qualification, experience of your content will take you to places.
24. Taking time to witness the sunrise is the best way to protect your (in)sanity.
25. In the last year I have been denied chances and been (almost) cursed by people who used to “treat me as their daughter” just because I followed an unconventional path being a female. However, I have also got respect and great work because of the same reason. External or internal validation. We get to choose either every single day.
26. No. No. Absolutely no. With kindness, bro!
27. People do what they know is the best. In 90% cases they aren’t intentional about it.
28. The world inside you needs to get out — through writing, creating videos, making drawings, dancing, singing — anything! It will keep you sane and the world will silently learn from your example.
29. The journey of going within will always settle things on the outside. Always.
That’s it, folks! 29 years, 29 lessons, loads of love from family — such an amazing time to be alive in!
Even if a single word made sense to you, I’ve done my job well! We are, after all, the stories we tell ourselves. Keep rocking folks, and I’ll see you tomorrow!
I’m sure there must be some people whom we have kept out of viewing our Instagram and WhatsApp stories. The reason could be any – whether we don’t want them to know about our life, or we simply don’t want them to be in our life at all!
Think about it for a second: what if someone has already kept you out of their stories?
It’s natural to have a FOMO and feel bad as well.
However, what if that could be one of the best things to happen to you today?
Why do we want to know everything about everyone?
What will be the consequences if we don’t know that? Simple – we would be at more peace. And that’s elusive. Lack of indulgence is greatest power.
What if there is no one who loves me?
This is a scary question.
However the answer is a simple one.
No one actually loves you.
If you feel love is coming to you from someone, it’s because they are so full of love that they radiate it.
If you feel you are loved, that’s because you believe yourself to be worthy of love.
Love – is never to be experienced from others.
You can just fill yourself with so much love that you are radiating and receiving it all the time.
That is your true nature.
It removes all doubts of not being loved.
The question is, what will you do to get back to you?
No prescriptions, just the truth that you deserve needs to be the answer.
It makes it very clear that love is what you are made up of.
I was having a conversation with someone yesterday, who was justifying their anger.
When I told them you always have the option to choose love, they said where do I get so much love from?
Very valid question.
With a simple answer: connect with God because He is the ocean.
Like every relationship, it requires commitment.
Like every deep relationship, it will nurture deeply.
Someone in my circle, is going through a tough time in their life.
They have been going through a lot of tough decisions that they want to take.
Last couple of days, we got to spend some time together.
I spoke with them on some days, and they were okay the next day.
Today they’re back to square one, wishing and wanting the world to change.
Here’s the secret about the world: It will change the moment we change.
In order for us to change, it will:
a. initially require focussed effort
b. an effort to leave your bad habits
c. the belief that in order to change your life, you need to change your life.
The dependency on people is short lived. You get to spend your entire life with yourself. What you choose to do when no one is watching, is what you get to become when everyone is watching.
What is the place your thoughts wander towards, during meditation?
That is the place you need to address.
Most certainly it’s going to be difficult because that’s where the mind is seeking pleasure among productivity.
However, you don’t have any to be thinking of someone’s break up pics during meditation. Don’t you?
Today I received a LinkedIn DM from an old school mate.
Nothing real, just very small talk to strike a conversation.
And I decided to ignore it.
Not because I had some expectations of him and he had shattered them.
Rather because how long?
How long will we keep basing our dopamine on random DMs from strangers?
How long will we keep wasting our time in pursuits that cumulatively waste days from our years?
How long will we allow someone else to decide when will we be available on social and they steer the conversation?
The best people live on the edge of saying no. That’s where everything happens.
To listen to “yes’s” saying hundreds of “no’s” is the most important thing. Sometimes even in a day.
It is a strange world, of course.
And in this whole process of being open and sharing your thoughts with others, are we really safe and secure there?
Most people today are carrying an emotional load.
And if we choose to share ourselves with them, the advice that is going to come isn’t necessarily going to be useful, rather the opposite.
So how do we be open in the first place?
Simple. Communicate everything to God. I personally write a letter to God every single night before going to bed, and the way he helps is miraculous.
As weird as it may sound, it is the reason that strong people persist and are able to be the lighthouse.
Will you, starting today?
PS: No one will see it, you’ll be happy!