Grateful By Ketaki S. Vaidya

Today's blog post is not a write up. I thought we should all do an exercise instead. We often get different experiences in our lives. We have many desires and expectations from life as well. Some desires are fulfilled and some expectations fail. During  this process, we forget to be grateful to the universe for the things we already have. Many times many things go wrong in our lives but I guess every one has at least few things to be grateful for.  One can easily see that when we look at the things we can be grateful for, gives us positive energy. Many philosophers, writers say that when we fill our mind with gratefulness, we attract good things in our lives.  Considering all this, I urge you to participate in this exercise with me. Starting from childhood, let's make a list of the things you are grateful for. Do not make a mental note of it just. Please take some time  and write the list somewhere. Please share if you think this was an useful exercise....

Once upon a time there was a complex structured mansion called mind. In that mansion there used to be two frequent visitors, Happiness and Sadness. They used to come and go in this mansion. The owner of the mansion did not really think much about their visits. Then one day that big event happened. After that event, Happiness visited the Mind and stayed there for few days. Though, it did not stay there for very long. After some period of time, another big event happened. Then, the Sadness visited the Mind. It stayed there for very very long! It came with a heavy baggage. This made the Mind very heavy and it was very difficult for the owner to move ahead in life. The owner started having difficulty with his work, family life, other relations and with his health. Fortunately he asked for help and nice people like family members, doctors and counselors helped him to drive the Sadness out of the Mind. During this process, the owner realized that he missed a lot! Many things were happe...

Lately you missed too many sunsets Yesterday the rain made beautiful music but you didn't hear a sound May be it's time to slow down The tree in your window had a purple blossom last week you also didn't notice it was all red when the youngsters on Valentine's Day painted the town May be it's time to slow down The smile on your young one's face was priceless when she won that trophy today but never mind, they have stopped missing your goodnight kisses  as they know you are lost in the darkness of routine, never to be found May be it's time to slow down Last month, your body said I am tired Your mind was almost ready to give up You do not bother to lend them an ear  while chasing never lasting goals, going round and round May be it's time to slow down The so called recreation is hardly relaxing The "weekend activities" to break the routine have become routine themselves Social networking and musi...

It was a nice long weekend afternoon and me and my family were driving on the road near our place. We were relaxed after a good weekend meal and since it was a long weekend there was no need to rush for anything. This was our usual road which we take often to go to work, grocery store, kids' school etc. My husband suddenly showed me a beautiful tree near the side walk. It was the season of Spring and the tree was completely covered with purple blossom. He asked. "How did this tree suddenly got so many flowers?" I laughed and said "I am sure it was not sudden. We did not notice it before." My husband replied, " Yes, it's true. Who has time on regular days to look around? Every day we are passing this tree but we are always looking at the clock instead of the tree." I was quiet surprised to realize this fact. It is the route we take every day. So many changes must have happened in this tree since Winter. The tree must have got sprouts first, then s...

Anger is one part of personality which we want to deny most of the times. It is that dark side of our own self which we try to hide from the world. While raising kids,  we try to teach them to give up the anger and solve conflicts with calm manners.   I think this is quiet right. Anger mostly makes things go worse. First and foremost it harms our own self. It causes many health related problems. It is a punishment which we give to our self for some one else's mistake most of the times.   Anger hurts people. Physically assaulting some one is not the only abusive act but the strong words as a by product of anger can be equally damaging. It affects relationships at times creating permanent gaps.   We also see many bad incidences happening in the world as a result of anger. Road rage causes so many accidents every day. The angry mob never has a compassionate heart. It causes damages without considering its fairness. Homicides, revenges and at times even sui...

Broadly speaking, Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.   From the moment we are born, we are constantly seeking freedom. Whatever status one has, he/she is always longing for the next level of freedom than his/her current status. Infants want the freedom from different discomforts caused by hunger, pain etc. Toddlers and school age kids want freedom to behave as per their will. In fact we all want that freedom to behave as per our will; it's just that as we grow older we understand consequences of at lest few of our actions and we try to regulate our free will with our responsibilities.   History and world politics are constantly showing us that in order to become a super power one country tries to take over the other country. The other country fights for it's freedom. Every country wants freedom of choosing their own leaders, laws and so on.   Whenever certain elem...

Mothers are special for every one. Also, being a mother is a very very special part of every one's life. Many people have already written and spoken about mothers over and over but it is never enough said. Mother is some one who brings you to this world, takes care of you, nourishes you, teaches you and prepares you to face the big bad world! Not only this but also mother is your special space. You are very sure most of the times that you can cry, laugh, throw tantrums, behave silly in that very special space but will never get judged. You might get scolded, disciplined but will never get judged here.  Also, being mother is a very special thing. It all starts even before the baby's birth. As soon as you come to know that you are going to be a mom, your whole life changes. Your focus from yourself shifts or at least gets shared from you to some one else. You start making small, small changes in yourself which you might not even have thought about in past. Changing food...