One Love.

Admit it, the world needs more of it!

This piece of writing comes from a video I saw this morning on YouTube. It was beautifully crafted and the message was sent with grace. You can watch it here and also donate to a worthy cause as well. I write this blog, keeping two things in mind:

1. To promote love, one love. For everyone, it does not really matter who you are, where you come from and what you do, as long as you choose love, instead of violence, intolerance and hate.
2. To ensure that mental health of individuals gets looked after. Any individual, irrespective of who they choose to love, who they choose to be with and how they choose to express their love.

The world could do with more love and less hate, considering the current situation we are in. IF we do wish to avoid World War III, we need to make peace with the fact that each and everyone of us alive, breathing and kicking have free will. Free will to be in love with whoever we choose to be in love with, free will not dictated by fear, but one which comes from the place of acceptance, one that acts as a safety net, not one driven by fear, by hate and intolerance. We live in times where choosing someone to love and express who we are is frowned down upon.

It makes me wonder, when did we start getting so judgmental and not minding our business when it comes to other people? Who are we to determine which way someone swings? Who are we to ask about the choices someone makes regarding their love? Who are we to shame someone regarding their choices and their love that they consider taking their own lives because we chose not to accept them for who they?

Love is the one emotion that transcends time and space. Love, an emotion so strong, that lovers from past lives are reunited, family comes back to you in the face of someone else. That is how powerful love. We keep getting back the same people, recycled in different faces, different races and different descends . Love is meant to be celebrated and not berated or looked down on. It is an emotion everyone deserves to feel and one that each and everyone of us is capable of giving. Why not celebrate love, in its different forms? Why not love unconditionally? It does not matter who you decide to love, how you decide to love and why you choose to love the person you want to love and spend the rest of your life with?

We are all one in this world and as Dumbledore aptly put it, “while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one”. When We don’t have the right to make decisions for someone else who is does not swing the same way we do. We have to come to realise that it is okay for a boy to be in love with a boy, a girl to love a girl, a girl can love a boy and a girl and we have no right in making anyone feel guilty about their choices. They can choose whoever they wish to be with and as long as that someone keeps them happy, we still don’t get a say as to who they should choose.

Why not just accept people for who they are, instead of inciting violence as a call to action to “fix people?”. Even if doing something positive is as small as defending their choices will bring about a change, why not do it more and often? There is no harm in putting out good vibes and love in the universe.

The world becomes a slightly better place every time someone stands up and says who they are and fights for their rights. The world becomes a bit more interesting every time someone stands for promoting a little love, a little peace, a little more joy. One love. It is what keeps us human, what keeps us sane and in the end is what will set us free.

Energy Vampires-who they are and how to defend yourself against them.

Some people are like Count Dracula. They suck the living daylights out of you.

Have you ever had a conversation with a friend and by the end of it do you feel so drained that you don’t know what hit you? You, my friend, have just ended a talk with an energy vampire. Energy vampires look just like us, except they have a sense of entitlement that the world revolves around them. They are incapable of accepting that you have a life of your own. They are emotionally immature individuals, they never look at the world through another person’s perspective. Who they are and what they do is so important that they couldn’t care less about how you feel and what you have scheduled on your agenda.

Spending time with these people will drain you, leave you irritated and frustrated and most of all negative, because that is what they do. They talk the negative talk and eat into your space of peace and sanctity and expect you to be nice to them, cause why not? The world revolves around them. The minute you say anything that does not agree to their conscience, they make it look like it is all your fault and that YOU let them down. If you have ever felt any of the emotions around them such as dread, fear, guilt or even the feeling of wanting to run away just so they spot you and feed of off you, you are in the presence of an energy vampire. Here are some ways you can defend yourself against this energy sucking presence:

1. Know yourself: By this I mean, truly get in touch with yourself. Understand your emotional capacity, your resilience against such people and how best you can go about avoiding being drained by them. Now, this depends on how regularly you self reflect; this could be your regular walks, whether you practice meditation and how you choose you decompress at the end of the day.
   
   Self reflections helps you understand yourself better and as a result you will develop a higher emotional capacity. When you get into self reflection practices, you will be kinder to yourself and will also learn to go within to understand that whatever has happened to you in your entire day is not of your doing and it helps you understand patterns when you unknowingly encounter such individuals.
   
   One more thing to consider once you have done all your homework, aka, self reflection, is what position does this individual hold over your life? Is this a colleague at work that you have to see everyday, is it a relative/friend that you probably see once a month or maybe once a week or is it someone who stays with you and shares your room? If it is your colleague and all you care about it work, then you have higher emotional capacity. But if it someone you stay AND have to work with but are too scared to openly voice out what you feel is wrong only because you know they will manipulate the situation to their own advantage, you are paying a high price for that kind of fear.
   
   
2. Assessing the energy vampire in your life: Your first glace at this person and you think,”okay, everything looks good here.” BEEP BEEP: Warning coming through; though energy vampires look like us, deep down they suck every last drop of emotional capacity from just by being near you. While it is true that you cannot really make a snap judgement about a person, maybe it is time to take a back seat and evaluate a person. Take extra help if needed from someone you trust, talk to them about this person and take an unbiased opinion of all their actions.
   
   Chances are if you feel mentally and emotionally lethargic or guilty after having spoken to this person, your unbiased third person opinion will come through. This is when you need to know that it is better to cut this person out of your life, slowly and eventually without them knowing about it. You see, energy vampires make you feel guilty with just about everything. Any discomfort or confrontation that happens with these kinds of individuals, it will be flung back in your face and trust me, it will not leave you feeling pretty. In fact, it will make you question your life choices and yourself.
   
   Best solution: create firm boundaries around yourself and protect yourself. Energy is precious, and that energy should be invested on you alone. Sure, people you love and care about deserve the kind of energy you keep for yourself, but if the assessment holds true, it is not selfish to want to protect your sanity and peace from this kind of person.
   
   
3. Visualize yourself protected: Now, I am a big advocate on visualizing anything and everything you need in life, including protective energy. Imagine a beautiful white light surrounding you encompassed in shimmering gold. You have now created an energetic force field which is neutral and therefore whatever these vampires say and do won’t harm you. Now obviously, this is like muscle memory. The more you do it, the more you feel protected. If at all you were to find yourself in the presence of this person, keep this barrier on and know that anything this person says or does will not affect you.
   
   If imagining a protective energetic field does not work for you, then it is time to reaffirm your boundaries with this person. Be gentle but firm in asking them to not clutter your space and whatever you do, do not feel guilty about saying no or not “living up to their expectations”. It is time you lived up to your expectations and not theirs.
   
   
4. Know your self worth: You are a star and deserve to be treated that way. Know it, believe it and affirm it.

These were just a few tips to protect and ground yourself against an energy vampire. If you do know any other life hacks to defend yourself against such individuals, please feel free to share them in the comments below. Also, do not forget to like and follow my page for much such content.

Thank you for taking time to read what I write. I do appreciate you taking your time out read. Until the next blog post!

Get uncomfortable. Here’s why.

Would you rather stay in a smaller circle or be brave enough to reach out and extend?

A comfort zone by definition is a safe haven, where nothing can go wrong. You are in your own world, everything is perfect. After all, you are comfortable, aren’t you? It IS your own world at the end of the day. What if someday, you are forced to extend your arm, nay, a finger even out of the zone? Would you panic or embrace the change? Knowing that most of us would switch to flight mode, it is safe to say, having your finger inside your circle is safer. But what if you decided to be brave and pop yourself out of small little world only to discover a whole new galaxy awaiting you? It is scary at first, but the unknown soon becomes known. What would you rather prefer? An exciting new adventure of growth or a life of being stagnant?

Over the period that I have been uncomfortable, I have always found myself walking on eggshells and sometimes it just feels like a bad idea of getting out and expanding your circle. But here’s why getting uncomfortable can help:

1. Your brain gets rewired: When you decide to get out of your comfort zone, your brain gets rewired. You would be thinking,”why girl! You seem to be flipping! I do not want my brain rewired.” Just hear me out or in this case, read it. When your brain gets rewired, you are forcing yourself to stay in the moment. You want your brain to focus. When we get uncomfortable, we tend to shut down our thinking facility, but it serves well to remember that eventually when we do conquer our fears, we learn something new. Rewiring the brain is forcing ourselves to learn something new and unlearning the conditioning we were taught since childhood.
2. You learn to overcome fear: This one is easy. Every new thing that you start will begin with fear. It is human nature to fear that which we do not understand. I remember when I started off as a waitress. I was terrified of people judging me, but I eventually got over my fear and got uncomfortable. I learnt something out of the experience, I overcame my fear and rewired my brain into learning something new. Any skill that gets added is never a waste for getting uncomfortable.
3. It helps you grow: Getting uncomfortable is the probably the best way to grow and fast. You soon learn to overcome hurdles you never thought you could overcome and you grow so much more as a person. When you grow, you succeed.
4. It keeps you healthy: Let’s face it, have you even undergone so much stress that you ultimately resort to self-destructive behavior? This could be binge eating, excess alcohol consumption, maybe getting too friendly with a woman named Mary Jane? I know I have. I tend to indulge in food when I stress out and I can assure you, it is not a very healthy coping mechanism. I mean, it sure works for some time, but it does not make the problem go away. The sooner you learn to deal with stress, in a healthy manner, the better it is for you. I recently started with writing down my thoughts and feelings and it has helped me tremendously.
5. It helps you increase your Emotional Quotient: I know what you are probably thinking, “how?!”. Once you start recognizing that you are getting uncomfortable, you start noticing how you react and when you do, you start thinking of ways to reduce your reaction time and rather be proactive about the situation. When you are in tune with your own feelings, you now are capable enough of understanding other people as well. You understand their thought patterns, feeling their emotions comes naturally to you, because you have tuned in to yourself to understand where you come from.
6. Getting comfortable is dangerous: Picture this- you have a steady office job, you are settled there quite comfortably. I mean, it pays your bills, your life is good and then one day you realize that the people you used to work with have been promoted and are working for different companies with way better packages. You see the picture here? I am sure none of you think that it is an ideal situation for you, but this is what getting comfortable can do to you. You miss out on the opportunities that life has in store for you, just because you refused to get uncomfortable.

So, there you have it. What do you think works best for you? Getting comfortable or being uncomfortable, expanding your skill set and rewiring your brain?

Comment below and let me know what are some of your ways of getting uncomfortable? Is it a new skill to acquire, a new role within a new company? Or is it travelling to a new country to meet new people?

March 2019 Takeaways

One quarter of the year done, who could have known the first three months of 2019 would just go by? I have to be honest, ever since I started blogging about my lessons that the first two months of 2019, it has made me more self-aware and a little more open to learning and expanding my own comfort zone.

The first month left me complaning about certain issues, however, I soon realised that there is a silver lining to everything. The month of February taught me that there is a reason for everything that happens and no matter what, things somehow turn out okay, even if they are not the way you want them to be.

So, the month of March has given a few lessons in the following ways:

1. To be brave: Now, life will show you all sorts of emotions, being brave will be one of them. I had my own version of facing my fear and I did it by bungy jumping. Now, before you go, “the hell were you thinking?”, it made me realise that fear is all in the mind. The sooner you learn to embrace it, the easier life gets. All limits are within the mind and in case of being afraid, it does well to be scared, but you can do one better. Face it and be brave.
2. Indulge yourself: I had the pleasure of pamper myself for three days, starting my birthday and not onnce did I feel guilty about taking time off of work and just craving some time for myself. Work will always get done, but we do, every now and then need to create a vacuum where we do absolutely nothing, except eating our favorite foods, having a sip of our favorite cocktail and just freeing ourselves of schedule and routine. So go on, have fun. Indulge yourself. Take that vacation, buy that perfume you have been eyeing for six months, eat at the fancy restaurant where you would not dare step on an otherwise normal day.
3. Learn when to stop: You know the phase where we get so busy with work that we leave no time for ourselves and before we know it, we are headed for a burnout. Sometime you have to quit that job, even if it is a source of extra income for you. But, all said and done, no source of more money is worth the peace of your mind and your emotional well being if the work place is toxic, if your colleagues are bullies and if all the work you do is supposed to be done by more people and not just you. Money will find a way to you, the minute you stop stressing about it. I learnt it the hard way, no matter what I did or how many jobs I busted myself for, I always found myself complaining about the finances. Did the situation get better? It only got worse before I realised that I had to put an end and guess what? I chose to resign from one work place, the one that did not adhere to my ethics and principles.
4. You and only you are responsible for your happiness: I cannot place enough emphasis on this, you cannot go blaming other people for being the source of your misery. You alone are responsible for being happy. Period. Do not except people and anyone else around you to keep you happy. People, we, us, are just external circumstances to being happy but in the end, we create happiness for ourselves. No one else is responsible and the sooner we learn it, the better. Blaming someone else for our problems, if every time we had a dollar someone accused us, we’d all be rich by now, but we aren’t are we? In case we do have someone starting a storm (you know what I’d write here), well, just ask them, “what can I do to make it better?”.
5. Hard work pays off, always: Ever since relocating, I always felt as though my working hard was not being rewarded and boy, was I wrong. Hard work always gets rewarded, even if it’s in ways you don’t expect it to be. Never doubt that the work you put in today will go unnoticed for tomorrow. The universe always have a big plan, especially when you choose not to give up.

There you have it, my takeaways for the third month and boy, did this month make me feel all sorts of feels. Ranging from “I don’t wanna learn anything new” to “well, glad that was over.”

What are some of your takeaways for the month of March? There’s learnings from everywhere and everyone.

If you like what you read, like it, share it and make sure you stay happy.

Have we forgotten how to fill our emotional tanks?

Before we get into anything and you reach the bottom of the post without many takeaways, please do understand that we are all human and would love a little TLC every now and then. Yes, including the ones who have been fiercely independent and think they need no one to confide in or turn to. This post comes from a very raw place as I did find myself forgetting to fill the emotional tank. So, if you find yourself or someone you love and are close to, running low, do not hesitate to reach out and help.

Those of you who know me understand that I march forward and even though I am a big advocate on mental health, there have been times and one so recently that I forgot to check in with myself. The end result: a big emotional meltdown. This made me realize that we have been so busy pursuing life, money, luxury, success, fortune, and fame that more often than not, we forget what our core values are, what we battle against and in doing so, ironically, life, the universe ends up giving us the same lessons we dish out to others.

There are reasons why we neglect mental health. Mostly it is because of the stigma attached to mental health. No one really talks about depression, burnouts, emotional exhaustion because people think they will be branded as someone “loco”, someone was not fit enough for their organization and sadly, it is true. Many of us choose to keep it out because we fear losing friends, close relations and most importantly jobs. Something that keeps us going, we like seeing our bank account appreciating, without a job, that is not really possible, is it? So, we do what we have been told. Suppress it. Do not let it show. There are people watching every move. If they find you are exhausted, God forbid!

Social media is another reason why we forget to feed our souls. We are so busy comparing our bloopers reel to everyone else’s highlight reels, we forget that we too have wonderful movies unseen. Unseen by the same people who created it, us. It is really regretful when we start comparing our lives to everyone else’s. There is no point in doing that. Social media is increasingly making it more difficult to disconnect from the world and connect with ourselves. Unless we decide to use social media productively, and every other resource at our disposal correctly, news will always have a section of people in their early 20s and 30s committing suicide. Only because we many to connect to and yet no one to connect with.

Work stress is another factor we tend to forget to look after ourselves. We are so involved in wanting to make money, we forget to make time. Time to bond, time to laugh, time to check in and see whether we are getting by fine or are we pretending to be okay? In fooling the world, we end up fooling ourselves the most. After all, we are who we reflect the world. If the world thinks we are fine, we are fine. The biggest lie ever told is, “I am okay.” While work is important, it is imperative to carve out a schedule where you do absolutely nothing. Just kick back and relax. Watch Netflix without guilt, eat all the chocolate you want and like. It is not so bad, really. But then again, we are conditioned to think and believe that if we do not utilize all the 24 hours appropriately, we are nothing but lazy, sloth-like and lethargic. I call bullsh*t on that. If anything, I have learned is to take time out and relax and not feel bad about it.

It is safe to say that we have forgotten to fill our emotional tanks, as a result of which, there are episodes of crying, lashing out, being irritable and not wanting to do anything about it. It is okay to cry, but even better is seeking out help, talking to someone, checking in with yourself, understanding yourself and know when to stop pushing yourself. Take a break, come back stronger and fight on. It is always good to take a break and live to fight another day rather than going into battle and getting yourself killed like a fool. Your needs matter too. So do mine and so does everybody else’s. Emotional and mental breaks are necessary. Lesson learned. This post was a reminder for me to take a deep breathe, a break and live to conquer another mountain. One day at a time.

January 2019 Takeaways

To sum up 2018, it took me out of my comfort zone, made me realize that if I choose to work hard and have the firm belief that I am strong enough, I am strong enough. Emotionally, mentally and spiritually to deal with the curveballs that life throws. With that in mind, I decided to welcome 2019 just as I did with 2018, with arms wide open. Keeping all that in mind, I wanted to keep a journal for my thoughts and to pen them down so that when I feel weak, I can revisit the musings and let myself know that I am capable enough to handle whatever life has to offer. Here are my learnings for the first month of 2019.

I have to admit that the first month of the year has left me a little bit wiser, in terms of my lessons and I hope the Universe has been happy with my learnings so far. But who is to say, this is just one month over out of the 12. To sum up, my January 2019 thus far, would be something like this:

1. Learning to set boundaries: We all know or we have all heard or read somewhere that it is important to set boundaries with people, including the ones we love. I always thought I was clear in the way I drew the line and ensured that everyone I interact with knows that I have my own limits and would prefer to keep it that way. Boy oh boy! This month proved my feeling and thoughts about my boundaries all wrong. It turns out that my line is not as clear to some people and would rather insist on stepping over the line to get me uncomfortable. This made me think. I know I have my line engraved on stone, but perhaps for some, it would appear to have drawn on sand. Therefore, I would have to be more vocal in having these in the first place. There would be no point in me establishing set boundaries if people think they can just run over and rub them off, would it? Therefore my first take away would be to be LOUD and CLEAR to everyone trying to establish a rapport to respect the line that I draw for my sanity at the end of the day.
2. Saying NO: This is connected to the first point. Setting boundaries, it comes with learning how to say to NO, in an assertive manner. In case people choose to have selective hearing and ignore your no, time to get the microphone out and yell into their ears until they decide to back off and hear your no. As a child, I always had problems saying no, which is why I always ended up being stretched too thin and not keeping everyone happy. I did not know at the time that saying no will not decrease my worth, neither did I realize that being a people pleaser will always attract toxic people, who by the way are not good for your own happiness. Learning how to say no has been a difficult lesson and as proved, I had to be really vocal about my no, otherwise, just like your boundaries being erased, your no will go unheard or will get tested time and again.
3. Understanding toxic people: We all read about toxic relations, it could be your closest family, your best friend, someone you just met online or your significant other. The thing with toxic people is that they just cannot stand you being happy or working hard. They are energy vampires who feed off of you. You do not realize where your energy is going but just feel so depleted. You know you are supposed to be happy when they message, cause they are your friends, are they not? Instead, you dread sending a reply, because somewhere, you know they are like the black hole, crushing anything or anyone who gets so close. The best thing you can do it cut off ties as soon as possible and I know heartbreak can feel like it is the worst feeling in the world, but what would you rather have? Peace of mind where you know that you are being supported by people who love you and the hard work you put in or being stuck in a relationship where support systems just bring you down for working so hard? The choice is yours.
4. Be happy: Biggest takeaway of this month? Be happy wherever you are and whatever you choose to do. Work hard, put your heart and soul into the work that you are doing, life will reward you. Most importantly, happiness is an inside job. No one can gift wrap a package full of happiness and say, “here, go be happy”. Unless you decide to be happy yourself, nothing and no one can help you.

This is what I have learnt so far since the month began. What I would like to know is what are your biggest learnings this month. Comment below and let know, we can learn and grow together.

A Letter to the Universe

Dear Universe,

Just wanting to say hi because I know you respond to the smallest of conversations without me realising it. I talk to you like a friend I have known forever only because I am that comfortable with you. I know you won’t judge, you will just sit there and smile silently because you know that there’s a plan for me. Of course, that is a plan that I have no insight into, but you always manage to surprise me. Mind you, some of the surprises am not too fond of, but those turn out to be the best sorts. People say that life isn’t fair, but maybe what they do not realise is that you mirror everything and that is something I have learnt the hard way. I still continue learning from you. You are a good teacher and maybe I am just a willing student.

Though there are times where I know I have resisted your pushes and urges because let’s be real, change is scary. Being uncomfortable is something humans are not really good at, I am sure you are well aware of that fact. But I gotta admit, the changes turn out to be good, better even at times. But sometimes I wish I knew what your next move is going to be. Will it be pushing me into a chasm just so I hit rock bottom and climb up again or are you going to embrace me and protect me and keep me safe in your arms like Source does? What will it be? Are you the Source/God, the creator of life as we know it? Oh boy, so many questions unanswered about you, your existence. Are you friendly, are you hostile, or are you both depending on how we choose to treat you?

But I do know one thing for a fact. I know that you choose to talk to me, you choose to respond to my requests and for that, I am forever grateful. I know that one day if no one decides to have my back, you will. I do want to thank you for letting me establish a connection with you and constantly responding to my silly requests and letting me know that you are watching over me. I appreciate it, I do.

This is me saying, thank you. For all the times you let me know that I am loved and watched over, even when I thought I was not being supported and guided. I almost wrote a post where I ranted about betrayal and disloyalty, but somewhere I know you would not want me to lower my vibration for people who do not care. There is a life purpose that you have entrusted me with, I wish to fulfil it and I know you have heard my prayer. Maybe not now, but I know you will guide me like you always have.

Yours sincerely,
A faithful communicator.

The Dilemma.

She looked at the hooded figure standing next to her and sighed. Somehow what they were about to do did not sit right with her, but she chose not to interfere with his work just as he had done while they worked together. She even lost track of time of how long they had known each other, was it months, years or maybe even centuries that she had been with him and working with him hand in hand.

“Do not give me that look, it is just a way of restoring balance”,  he said noticing the forlorn look on her face.  Somehow she had not grown accustomed to the fact that even after so long, all beautiful things come to an end, maybe because she was the one who birthed them, the one to watch every step all the creations took only to have it all taken away by the cloaked figure next to her, sometimes too soon and sometimes watching her handiwork suffer for an uncertain period of time. There were times she was thankful that he did indeed bring a full stop to a life she had created only to see that it was drowned in sinful karma, to put a stop to atrocities and pain her invention would bring to mankind. Other times, like this one, she would feel helpless in not able to stop him taking away every breath. This one particularly because she was proud of her work, of the creation she had borne with love.

They approached the hospital ward, unseen. It almost pained her to see a young mother in labour, surrounded by family, praying she would make it. As he gazed at the tired, but hard at work mother giving it her best to ensure the safe delivery of her child, his expression softened.

He looked at his stopwatch, the mother did not have very long and neither did the baby. She watched his expression and understood what he meant to do. She clicked her fingers only to have the stopwatch in the bony hand show more time in his hands. They stood there patiently by the glass window as the mother gave it her all. The family rejoiced to see their mum fight back only to have their victory short-lived. Though the baby was born healthy, the mother did not have much time left. The husband now grasping his wife’s hand with tears streaming down his face, unsure of whether to cry with joy that his child was healthy or to moan the loss of his beloved wife.

The duo standing at the window saw a butterfly flit by, landing on her hand before settling on his head as if thanking them to extend her life. The soul collected, the job done, the two decided to head back.

“No matter how long we have been at work, incidents like these always leave a bitter aftertaste”, she sighed. He simply looked straight ahead, trying not to cry, only to have his attempts fail.

“We can be so cruel, just to complete our work and yet people prefer you over me”, he lamented.

“That is because I am a lie, a beautiful lie that people live in their heads. I am preferred over you for the very reason that I am an illusion. People are terrified of you because you shatter their illusion of a perfect life”, she said quietly as they walked back to the twilight zone.

Emotions and People

People are indeed strange. No matter how hard we try to move on, there is always something that brings us back to the very situation we try to run from. Is there a learning from it? There always is a learning from everything that we undergo as humans. Such is life for us human beings. There are always lessons to be learnt with every phase of life that we’re in.

Emotions are weird too. As long we keep them suppressed, it’s all okay. But there is always a trigger with such feelings. The feelings we try to keep a lid on will end up coming undone in the most comical ways (not always). The very same emotions that we braid tend to come apart, no longer looking like a school girl’s pigtails, rather like a mature woman who slept in late on fine Saturday morning. Messy, unkempt and needing attention.

This is why I state, people are strange. Emotions are weird. Both if not looked after, tend to fall apart, sooner or later. Emotions like humans are fragile. They need to be handled with care. One wrong move, a miscalculated step, it all comes crashing down. Emotions like pride, ego, greed, rage, jealousy and so much more are like a glass that crack under pressure, for some a balloon that deflates easily. These need to be nurtured, not to be mistaken with mollycoddling, but just taken care of. Everyone harbours such feelings, sometimes so intense that they tend to lose their sense of identity to it. This should be avoided. It’s healthy to have such tendencies in the right measures, not to be overcooked.

People are strange indeed. They surround their lives with these negatives. It’s alright to have pride, it comes from a sense of accomplishment, it’s okay to have an ego, it is a byproduct of doing well for yourself, rage comes as a result of being misunderstood and mistreated, jealousy comes with a sense of competitiveness, it is all acceptable in healthy doses. It shouldn’t go overboard, it tends to impact our lives negatively, we lose relationships in seconds only because we weren’t able to tame such monsters.

Pride when unchecked manifests into arrogance, ego when left unsupervised turns into tyranny, rage when left unleashed can turn fatal and jealousy if given a free reign can scream bloody murder. People come in such forms if left unchecked, a lot of them fester and rot. Of course, not everyone is like these raw emotions. However, even the kindest and most amazing people can harbour maggots in the form of their demons. Therefore, always nurture people. Always be kind, spread joy and cheer wherever you choose to be. Whatever you choose to do, choose kindness first, wherever you have to be, spread love there, whom so ever you want to connect with, be a rainbow to their cloud, the yin to their yang. Do not let people feed their dark sides, instead choose be their silver lining, be the reason for someone’s happiness, a reason for them to smile. Do not underestimate the magnitude of a small act of kindness.

You can be all this and so much more, why be a reason for someone’s hate and anger? Why be the source for someone’s isolation, when you can be the hand that comforts them, a hand that when offered, cannot be refused. Have kindness in your eyes, support in your arms, character in your spine, compassion in your heart and brights in your brain.

You may be wondering, what will I get out of it? Will it pay my bills? Will it satisfy my hunger? Will it change the economy? To you, I ask, why do you stand and stare at the stars at night? Does looking up at them fix the economy? Does staring long enough pay all your bills? Does seeing them up close fill your stomach? If you are smart enough, you’d probably realise by now that the answer to all these questions is NO. Just as simple as the questions asked.

Yet the stars fascinate you. Why hesitate in being kind when you can dream of the stars all night? Why not start somewhere close to planet earth, the very life you are living, instead of sitting star-struck by something so far off in the galaxy?

Therefore, when you first wake up in the morning, choose to be a kind human being, it costs nothing. You might be the very reason someone decides against taking that plunge from the bridge, you might be the reason a father gets to see his daughter, a mother her son, a lover his wife, a friend their confidant. In fact, you should be the reason someone smiles, be the reason that someone walks up to you and says “because of you I did not give up”.

Fireworks and August

‘The fireworks look so lonely’, she sighed to herself as she looked up at the sky.
‘Even though they burn so brightly’, her chain of thoughts continued.

Giving the fireworks one last glimpse, she moved from her spot and decided to carry on. She sighed as walked. Umbrella in one hand, her fists warm in her blue mittens and her neck covered with a matching muffler.

‘What would have happened if I hadn’t said it on that day? Would we still be in talking terms? Would the relation be the same?’, she mused as she walked back home. Out of the corner of her eye, she could still catch glimpses of the fireworks reflection in the river.
She was tempted to stop once more just to keep looking at them. The winter night got to her, she decided against it.

Her mind churned with so many thoughts she didn’t know existed. Some went further away than where she was present, yet her mind always focused on the fireworks. She had always been fascinated by them as a child. All her musings always ended with her thinking that the fireworks always looked lonely in the night sky. For some reason, that night sky for her was always in the month of August. Even on cold winter nights, she always went back to the month of August and the first thing that ever popped into her head was the fireworks. There was no significance in the month of August for her nor the fireworks. She was drawn to them like a moth to a flame.

Remember the day you asked me to walk home with you,
That was the happiest I’ve ever been,
No, really, it’s the happiest I’ve felt,
Reliving that day makes my heart smile.

Wondering if you still think about me as often as I think of you,
I ask my racing mind to slow down,
Just as the thought of not talking to you deepens the sorrows of my heart,
I tell my racing mind to quieten and my heart to be still,
That’s all I can do for now.

I look up at the fireworks and can’t help but wonder,
Even though they dazzle so brilliantly,
They look so lonely.

Her pen over paper, she pondered how she would start the next line. ‘Ugh, it doesn’t even rhyme.’

The month of August makes my heart flutter,
It takes me back to a time where I was happier,
Lesser heartbreak, more smiles,
The fireworks still dazzle so brightly in my memory.
I wonder if you look up at the sky and see what I see,

The heart is a fickle thing, even though it beats the same,
The heart feels too much and then too little,
Leaving me confused.
Is this what the fireworks feel?
Is this what the month of August looks like?

Now that I look back on it,
The memory so fleeting,
It’s fading away,
It’s time for me to move on,

Just like the cherry blossom petals fall five centimetres per second
I’ll be happier with just a faded memory,
There’s nothing much left to say,
Except for just a goodbye,

It’s time I move on,
Just like you have,
Consider this, you have been a happy memory,
Nothing more, nothing less.

Now I understand why the fireworks look so lonely,
Even though they dazzle so brilliantly,
The brightest must shine alone,
And so, I bid my adieu to you,
Taking nothing more than just a memory of you.

She stood up and looked at the night sky. The fireworks were still on. ‘Shine on’, she thought.

Finally free, her heart uncaged, she decided to let go.

‘The best is yet to come, bring it on.’