Lessons in Life

From  friendship day to teacher's day, there is a lot that has happened and changed in our lives. One thing is common, we learn every day and from people we least expect..we learn from situations, events and experiences.  All of these happenings around me has taught me lessons in a subtle but meaningful way…and I am thankful to that..

Meeting my school friends, taught me the joy of friendship. It's an irony, I say this after couple of decades -  True friendship was in school. There were no expectations and no requirements. Everybody was friends with everyone.

Learning to NOT live in the past is the best thing your friends can teach you. Friendship day to me - is a reminder to us - for those days, those  moments with friends we are not in touch.

 You don't have to be together all the time, you and your friends. Just create an assuring impression, which says you're always there for them, if and whenever they need you. Also, don't be disheartened if they don't, because sometimes, friends are only meant to create a few memories and not relive them. And I was not talking only about school friends now.

At the end of the day, you're grateful to those friends and family who stuck with you all the while, when in need – in joys and sorrows. We have had some lovely friends around. Every friend teaches you something worthwhile. Starting from the age when you're toddlers, you learn to play in the mud or pull each others' hair from a few friends, with few you learn to ride a bike, with few you learn to share secrets and keep them and with few, you learn to appreciate time. There are some whom you met for a brief time, then went away never to meet again. They are friends too. Friends need not be with you for ever, they are the ones who come in your life and make an impact. They are there with you when you need them, they give you strength, happiness and go away…without any expectations.

 At the age of seven, I had a best friend in the form of our nanny in school. She was the one with rugged old look who would sweep the corridors, dusted the checked windows, cleaned the toilets and also escorted little friends of mine when there had accidents in the classroom. I still remember her as the 'nanny' -  we would all wait for the school building gate to be and rush to our classrooms. We would see her back hurrying to finish mopping the floor as the streaming kids whizzed past her into the classrooms.

I may have been only six then ; curious as I was – I always wondered, if she worked in the school, why was she, not a teacher. One day, I went out on the porch during recess to talk with her. It didn't take long time to see that this old woman had an over sized heart crowded into that tiny body. She told me that she was not a school teacher but a staff and all of what she did was for a living to support her daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

She was not a teacher, but she taught me a life lesson that day :  We should face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity.

It's not only the teachers, it is about their profound messages in teaching that makes me feel ALIVE. :)

Still...with Me

Active Gardening can be profound. Especially.. when you pay attention, the hidden secrets in the continous chatter of your mind can have a whole different meaning. This happens to me and i guess to everyone when involved in an activity, an activity that you love and enjoy at that moment. Uninterrupted, Silently, on your own. In such situation, there is a state I believe when you are connected with God.

A bird flew by me, chirping and singing. It interrupted my thoughts. It landed on the bird feeder and began picking the grains as I watched. After a few minutes it flew away, and disappeared into the bushes.

I closed my eyes again. A gust of wind blew, which caused my wind chimes to dance. They made a joyful sound, but again I lost my concentration on God. I squirmed and wiggled on my knee and continued to fill in the pots. I looked up toward the blue sky and saw the clouds moving slowly toward the horizon. The wind died down. My wind chimes finally became quiet.

In a few minutes, I realized i Ias close to the fence and the neighbor's dog was sniffing me through the fence. I almost jumped out of my skin.I smiled, happy that he cared when there was someone around and guraded my house equally. I quickly tried once again to settle down, repeating the familiar song in my mind. I thought..Be still and know that YOU are around...

"I'm trying God. I really am," I whispered to the chatter in my brain.

The backdoor opened. My son walked outside. "What are you planting," he asked. "I was wondering where you were." I just chuckled... as he came over, stood around, observed me... turned around and went back inside to enjoy his TV time.

"Where's the quiet time?" I seemed to think to myself with these constant distractions, while still being completely involved in what I was doing. Then, I imagined my hearbeats as I picked up the heavy pot and positioned it closer to the door. There was no pain, only a beat that interrupted me yet again. This is impossible, I thought. There's no time to be STILL and to know that God is with me. There's too much going on in the world and entirely too much activity all around me.

I kept working on the annuals as my thoughts were churning. It continued as I saw the little red, orange,yellow, violet colored flowers adorning my pots and planted them in quick succession. "These little plants are going to be awake when I sleep", I thought. As I tuned behind,the neighbor passed by and waived his hand in acknowledgemnt.

I stood up, gazed at the finished assembly of my little pot pourri of annuals for my sweet heart, proud of myself...at that moment everything was STILL...That is when it suddenly flashed....to me.

God has been communicating with me this entire time...He sent the sparrows to enlighten me, thrill me,amaze me. He sent them over to be around us...when they built their nest in our little garden for their spring babies. He sent the Dog to remind me he is always guarding me from the evil, and provding me the security.

He sent that gentle breeze to remind me, that hope is on its way. Time is a healer and spring will bring new blooms, reminding me that HE exists. HE sent the neighbor to remind me I have friends....good friends, lovely friends...amazing friends.

HE sent my son, to remind me he has given me such a lovely family. HE let me imagine my 'heartbeats' to remind me the life he has given me..and here I am trying to find out if he was STILL around...while HE was busy reminding me that he is with me ALL the time.

Bird Feeder

Jet lags can be very productive. As I sit awake in the middle of the night, it gives me the time to hit the key board and produce this entry. It is the time when produtive thoughts occupy - the otherwise chattering and distracted mind. I want desperately for those twitters of my mind to be birds, to kiss the clouds, fly up to heaven and sing a song for those who endured such pain, for those who lived and died and changed the world forever around us. What intrigues me is when, I see people celebrating less the memory of happier times, but continuing to carry the painful events longer.....

As I keep staring, the golden rays of the sun slowly engulfed the back yard. It is spring again and I am loving it. The leaves were turning yellow, reflecting the sun and the crisp drops of dew were ready to let go the perch of the leaves. Birds were chattering away in the background.

Few of them fly down and circl the bird feeder, before settling around it. Pecking at the grains, fighting with each other..they made the patio a busy place. It did not last long, when a fawn colored squirrel came down the fence and hurried into the company of birds. The birds flew away even faster. Tail up and beady eyes, the squirrel feasted on few grains, dashed to the fence and went away. The birds came back again to continue... after the pause.

I kept watching the bird feeder, standing still and nurturing the birds...creating families around it. Birds seemed to love the feeder, and fearlessly circled around it..being together..being a family. Like we 'cultivate' friends - families have to be 'nurtured'..selflessly like the feeder. The only difference is we feed Time, Effort and Imagination to the near and dear around us....to create families. Families are the link to our past and the future....

Wind Chimes

There comes a time in our lives when we stop..... to Think. Who am I and Where am I going? Pause for Introspection..we all go through it. Especially after life changing events. Graduation, Death, Accidents, Marriage are all life changing events. Life changing event...moves us, impacts us and changes us.

As humans, we always struggle to hold on to our dreams. At times like these, we close our eyes and blink. We see the world through our new vision. Actually, the world is the same, but it is us who tend to look at it differently after events that change our lives.

We do not have the power to alter or change time, our brains only offer us the opportunity to chose the destiny that we witness. We pick and chose every moment and the dimension we head down in our finite lives.

Remember, that we are not altering the universe in any way, we are not changing what will occur, we are merely chosing between the events 'we wish' to witness in this life. Because every senario has has a different ending, and every moment leads to a different dimension.

We will go through this life again, following a different path, and expect a different ending. Infact we will do this same tedious shit for eternity, and forget we were here each time we arrive back, because time is infinite and the soul is eternal.

Again, Time is infinite and always repeating, similarly our lives are infinite and always repeating. Death is an illusion of the linearity of time travel, but in our universe, such linearities do not exisit, and therefore death does not exisit other than in the constructs of our mind.

Life changing events are like the music of the Wind Chimes. A reminder for us . The wind blows constantly, we just don't acknowledge it. Similarly, in life everyday, we just don't notice ourselves as we go about our lives. But then, at some point, we are made to notice. The wind envelops us with a certain purpose in mind, and it rocks us. The wind brings out everything that's inside. That is when we hear the chimes. We take them in, we survive, and deepen.

Thoughts to Myself - 1

“If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write.” - Hugh Prather

One writer who inspired me to write was "Hugh Prather". I will never forget his quote. The day I read this quote, it changed my life. I started carrying a small LIC diary and started jotting down my thoughts and my little learnings from life.

For several years I vented, I released, I enjoyed, when I wrote. It helped me observe, reflect, synthesize and appreciate little things and situations around me. Perspectives were different. I disagreed, I opposed, I denied, I rebelled....thorugh my writings. It helped me grow, mature and appreciate others perspectives

Soon, I realised, reading is good, but writing is better. It helps you reflect, introspect and appreciate your thoughts. Thoughts that come to you are your own. You need 'not' follow a writer's thought, like the way you do when you read.

Here is the first edition of ... My Experiences, My Thoughts, My Expressions, My Notes.

It is amazing when I realize that : Even today, I don't 'even' know what I don't know..until some one tells me about it.

Kids have it too easy these days , it took years of perseverence to see Pride and Happiness in my father's eyes...

Pay attention to 'attention'. Life is many small variations in attention over time

Life is really just different types of feelings; even when you think you are in a period when you’re not feeling anything, you really, are feeling something. "Feelings" are "Thoughts" that you cannot identify.

Once you know what is causing an emotion, its no longer an emotion - It is a "thought"

Knowledge Talks....Wisdom Listens

Some people just talk so much that..they forget to use their brain

Small hunches when incubated ...become great ideas. Don't dismiss them.

Inspite the Cost of Living...we will Die for Living

"What you do" is not important, but How you do "What you do" is what matters..

Remember your "thoughts" hidden deep inside you, at the very core of your being, is most important...keep it sharpened like you keep the "lead" of a pencil