400 Posts, 15735 Page views: I Could GOAD MYSELF!

2 years, 400 posts and 15,735 page views on my blog; it is an overwhelming feeling to blog around these numbers. Being a writer, for the first time, numbers attracted me so much.

Last day of my birthday month and I am happy to share these numbers. I started to blog in 2010 and never imagined to write 400 posts on this blog. I completed a year with my second blog, dedicated to ‘Arthritis’. The page views are like my motivators to write better and worth reading.

All I could write to justify these numbers is ‘I could Goad Myself’. Few lines of Stephen Hawking at Paralympics 2012 opening ceremony that I can relate very well with this post and my feelings that prompted me, ‘Not To Give Up’ and ‘Move On’!!

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up!” - Stephen Hawking

US Magazine Featured My Story - 34 Letters to God!

It is a feeling of happiness, when your prayers are answered and you are closer to your dreams. I had lot of questions from God. They were never answered as GOD only answer prayers.

I am happy to share a link of one of my story that got featured in a US Magazine in their 2^nd Anniversary Issue, August 2012.

It is listed under the ‘Feature Story’ section of the magazine that makes me happy and contented.

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1xwcz/HOOKnows/resources/17.htm

I am enjoying the liberty of a writer, crossing the borders to reach more readers via print media and online publications. 

Thanks to www.bahamasfamily.com for featuring my story.

A writer lives through his/her writings. I am happy for being immortal J

Thanks to my publishers, readers and editors!!

Onam Special: What am I reading these days?

Happy Onam to my readers in India!!

At Bangalore Airport, we have a lovely bookshop. A delay of few minutes in my flight tempts me to enter the shop and pick a book. My forte is ‘self-help’ and my home library is a collection of many books around the same.

These days, I am reading ‘Life Changers Dreamers and Doers’ by Robert H. Schuller.

It is a collection of short stories to deliver a message. Every chapter leaves you in an anticipation for the next message through a new story. This book is like a daily dose of medicine for me. Each chapter has a message that helps me to sleep tight and open up new doors of life, every morning.

I have read his earlier book and somehow I enjoyed his writings –

The Inspirational Writings: Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do/Tough Minded Faith for Tender Hearted People.

As I write, the way my blog inspires people, I look for inspiration too. His writings are like an inspirational guide for me and it really works for meJ

To manage arthritis as a medical condition and bear the pain, you cannot be happy-go lucky all 365 days. There are days when you feel unbearable pain and you cannot brood about your condition, all the time.

Other than my pain, my readers might be facing many issues like a bad day at work, fight with your spouse or being cheated in life et al. Grab a copy of this book, if you want to indulge into a meditative mood and cleanse your thoughts to be at peace.

Happy Wednesday and CheerioJ

Amor Cuerdo no es Amor - Sane Love is Not Love!!

People will judge you keeping everything aside. No matter whom you are or to what situation you have been into, at many instances you will be judged. Wearing a swim wear and coaching a man was a big fight at my parent's place. Where my husband approved me of doing this, my father was the first one to object. He always emphasised, how will people react (the word is 'react' not 'act') to this and how will they explain why their daughter is doing all this?

As if the world will come to help their daughter when she was left alone all, broken and stumbled. The world will move with it is pace whether I am there or not. Indeed, we all just small pebbles or shells lying next to a stormy sea. We have significance till we are not drawn by the waves and then thrown back.

Life does not give you second chance. Even we expect, it will not give us a second chance. You have just one LIFE and you need a second chance to think about your dreams and desires. Jesus!

Live as per your terms and conditions, the way you want to live with a big smile and immense liberty. People have many times called me crazy for doing things that made no sense to them. My pleasure, as I did what made sense to me. A simple rule of thumb, I do not want to blame the world and my people for my actions. I should be accountable for my good actions and bad ones. Tomorrow, I do something to make others happy but behind the doors, I cry, then that is a waste. They all will be happy but I will live a suffocated, trapped life. No ways!

We all live for ourselves and we should live the way we want with our people keeping their happiness in mind and majorly, our. A basic rule be happy and you will keep others happy. Live and let live. Love yourself and you will love everyone around you :).

Just follow your heart.

Amor Cuerdo no es Amor!

Google it and this is not being referred to 'romantic love' here. It is referred as 'loving yourself'. This blog is about 'So You Think You Are Living', not 'So You Think You Are Loving'.

Cheerio!

Living is ‘loving’ yourself!

A Quote: My Real Life Around This!!

I start this post with a quote and why?

You have to read this post around my real life accident that changed many things in my life.

Ajuda-nos a compreender que o medo do sofrimento é pior do que o sofrimento em si

Help us to understand that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself!!

Sept 2006, Bal Nagar Flyover, Hyderabad:

It was a usual day, when I got into my office bus and met my gang of friends. The bus started and we all were chatting like always. From politics to films, what all we wanted to discuss, the forum was openJ.

I was the one who was sitting in the right posture and position, when the bus went over the flyover and hit the railing on the left side. Unfortunately, I was sitting on the same side of the bus and just could not realised, what has happened?

Before I could respond to the situation, my hand got stuck between the two front seats as I fell down. I suffered from finger ligament injury for my middle and ring finger of my right hand. I landed to PIVD (that I do not intend to discuss in this post).

From September 2006 to April 2007, I was either on pain relieving sprays or splinting treatment that worsened my condition as my fingers got completely immobile. My performance at work was affected and my household work (from cooking to bathing) was into mess.

We showed to a number of doctors in Hyderabad and Delhi but all gave negative remarks like ‘there is no treatment’, ‘you have to live with it’ or ‘it may be fine with time or may be not’.

Phew!

I know, how hard it was for me to live with two fingers of my right hand bent in a right angle position and if something used to hit me, it was like, ‘I used to yell, OMG!!!!’....

But there was a hope that a day will come and my hand will be fine. I will be able to work like always. Then a day came, when I met my present orthopaedic in Hyderabad and he suggested a treatment with a positive attitude that in four months, I will be able to write and use my hand, like always.

Lol, treatment was more difficult than to bear the pain. The first day, when I entered the ‘Rehabilitation Ward’, I was like very happy. I thought, it would be something like ultrasuoni or TENS or IFT until I was taken to a big tub or I must say a tank of capacity of 20 litres of molten wax called as ‘Paraffin Wax Treatment’. Trust me this was not as easy as your paraffin wax salon and spa services.

My hand used to be forcibly dipped into the big container containing hot wax to get a thick coating over my fingers. It was hard to bear during hot summers and heat of Hyderabad. The worst part starts after the wax coating, when they used to lift my bent fingers with a wooden stick and erect them, until I shout or cry or give up!

From two weeks to two months, my finger showed little results. I did not stop crying for four months during the treatment. It used to be breath in - breathe out while the procedure was being done on me. BUT I DID NOT STOP THE TREATMENT. I accepted all the pains as I wanted my hand to be at least normal. I will not say that my finger is perfectly fine but I can type better now. Though, my typing speed has definitely reduced.

I used to go to my office after the treatment with my burnt and baked fingers as ‘life should not stop’!

There was just one thing (a quote) that I can relate to my courage to go through this treatment and get back to my normal life. A quote, that drives me ‘not to give up’ at any time, being in any situation. A quote, I read every morning, before I start my day with pain in my jointsJ.

Ajuda-nos a compreender que o medo do sofrimento é pior do que o sofrimento em si

Help us to understand that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself!!

Happy Week!!

The World is not conclusion....Emily Dickinson!!

This World is not Conclusion. by Emily Dickinson

This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond --
Invisible, as Music --
But positive, as Sound --
It beckons, and it baffles --
Philosophy -- don't know --
And through a Riddle, at the last --
Sagacity, must go --
To guess it, puzzles scholars --
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown --
Faith slips -- and laughs, and rallies --
Blushes, if any see --
Plucks at a twig of Evidence --
And asks a Vane, the way --
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit --
Strong Hallelujahs roll --
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul --

Ganesha....A New Start!

Day next to your birthday is a day of dreams and new plans. Dreams might come true or not but one should not stop dreamingJ

I want to start a new year and a new day with lot of dreams and plans for this yearJ. What all I want to learn and do in this year? Where I want to see myself after a year maybe the same date as today? Who all I want to have in my life and who all I think do not need me or vice versa?

I want this year to be clear like a sunny sky and calm like the light of the moon.

I want to thank my friends who wished me on FB and calls. At the same time, I start the new day of my new year with the blessings of Ganesha gifted to me by my friend.

CheerioJ

32: Twice Sweeter Now - My Last Birthday Gift!!

Hey!!

My readers can wish me now...:)

After minutes from now, I will be twice sweeter. Are you jealous? If you are sweet sixteen then I will turn twice of sweet sixteen.

J

Hmmm….32 sounds good but comes with lot of responsibilities and challenges.

Moreover, when you start writing and you see your published work in the form of a book, your life is changed. Your commitments are no more limited to yourself as you are responsible for your work and wordsJ.

Fame and success has a price and it comes with a higher responsibility to be attended. As a writer or author, your life belongs to your readers and critics.

I have gifted my readers and myself three gifts as the links appear below. If you missed reading them please click and enjoy.

My Fourth Gift
My Third Birthday Gift
My Second Birthday Gift
My First Birthday Gift

My last gift to myself on my birthday will be few quotes by José Martí that I want to involve in my day to day life from tomorrow. To look at the brighter side of my lifeJ.

The first three are my favourite as I could relate to them in all the ways. Maybe, I will start my new year (post 25th August) blogging around these three quotes and my personal inputs. Until then enjoy my last gift to you on my birthday. If posible, try to incúlcate some of these for a better and happy lifeJ.

“Amor cuerdo, no es amor”

("Love sane, not love")

“Hay tres cosas que cada persona debería hacer durante su vida: plantar un árbol, tener un hijo y escribir un libro”

("There are three things that everyone should do during his life: plant a tree, have a child and write a book.")

“Hacer es la mejor manera de decir”

("Doing is the best way to tell.")

“El arma es para herir, y la palabra para curar las heridas”

("The weapon is to strike, and the word to heal wounds”)

“El único autógrafo digno de un hombre es el que deja escrito con sus obras”

("The only autograph worth a man is leaving his works written.")

“La ignorancia mata a los pueblos”

("The ignorance kills people. ")

“La muerte no es verdad cuando se ha cumplido bien la obra de la vida”

("The death is not true when the work has done well in life. ")

“Para ir adelante de los demás, se necesita ver más que ellos”

("To go ahead of others, you need to see more than they.")

Love you all and thanks for being in my life.  A special thanks to my readers who access this blog from different countries and have made it reach good stats since 2010

Time to cut the cake:).....CHEERIO!!

Initiated My Second Book : Arthritis D' Catalyst

This is my fourth birthday gift to meJ

On my 31^st birthday, I started my second blog - http://livelifearthritisstyle.blogspot.in/. Firstly, I am happy to celebrate my anniversary of my second blog and thanks to all those who read it. A special thanks to those who came forward in support of this blog and my idea.

On my 32^nd birthday, I share good news with all my readers. I have decided the name of my second book as ‘Arthritis D’ Catalyst’ with subtitle as ‘Made for Each Other’.

I have completed the very first chapter and still have many more to be written. I plan to dedicate next few months to my book and will submit my manuscript by 5^th December 2012, if all goes well.

Or maybe the beginning of next year, I will look for a publisherJ.

Look forward to a better start and an exciting journey with this book. It is a concept very special to me. Please wish me luck.

Cheerio!

My Third Birthday Gift - Maybe Love!

Buongiorno!!

Hey!

I just got up at 3:30 AM and had a weird thought. I was thinking it would be so much fun to go for a walk and see the sunrise. To feel the feeling to be the first one to see it before anyone else and somehow I could do it!

I do not know but I feel quite excited today. Maybe, I am chalking plans for next three months that would be lot of travelling and exploring places in India. Maybe, few lost connections and new surprises but I feel a thought of liberty and complete independence. Maybe, it is about meeting new people and my old doctorsJ.

I do not know, why am I laughing or blushing while posting this on my blog? Maybe I am happy or I am in love with myself. I do not know, just do not know. I do not feel this morning like a usual morning. There is something good about it. There are days that we experience such feelings and we want to make most of it.

I thought to blog it and keep it as a memory for me. Most of the time, I pen it down in my personal diary but today, I thought to share with my readers. I am feeling so positive after a long time. I am experiencing being in love again after a long time. Or maybe I am excited about my birthday....could be.

I could actually relate to one of my favourite quote –

“...e não esqueça: há vida ANTES da morte" (....do not forget there is life before death)......

This is my third birthday gift to me and my readers. To be in love with yourself, you do not need a reason. You just need to look at small things that can give immense happiness. The first ray of the sun could make your life shiner than that diamond of your ringJ.

Below are few interesting quotes that my husband mailed me in past few months. I have been collecting them to share on my blog. Here are few of themJ.

Every test in our life makes us Bitter or Better. Every problem comes to make us or break us. Choice is ours whether we become Victim or Victor.

A lamp does not speak, It introduces itself through its light, Achievers never introduce themselves , they are introduced by their achievements…

Heavy rains remind us of challenges in life. Never ask for a lighter rain. Just pray for a better umbrella……

Between stimulus and response is a space. In this space lies our freedom to choose our response. In these choices lie our growth and our happiness…

As long as there is SOMEONE in the sky to protect me, there is NO ONE on earth who could break me......

If 5 seconds of smile can make a photograph more beautiful. Then just imagine if you keep always smiling how beautiful your life will be. So keep smiling ….

Simple rule to be happy - love yourself!! 

My Second Birthday Gift!!

“E” is a very important letter. It could be ‘E’ for ‘Energy’ or ‘E’ for ‘Expectation or maybe ‘E’ for just being ‘Easy’.

In my third counselling class, my counsellor discussed the real usage of ‘E’ in my case and somewhere it could be related to all of you.

So I am here to share what is my second birthday gift to me and my readers.

Ok, I had bad ulcer pain since afternoon and sitting at FB and chatting could divert my mind for long. And it really worked. Thanks, FB.

My husband enrolled me for ‘Kickboxing classes’ and I was quite confused whether to attend today’s session or not. This was my fourth class with my trainer and somewhere I feel like a slacker before every sessionJ. I thought to skip my today’s session. While coming home from ‘Gym’, I met my trainer and somehow, I walked into the room for my class. Do not know but felt some positive energy after meeting my trainer and I could feel the positive pull.

Today, it was all about kicks, blocks and strikes. For last 3 weeks, I am working on my arms and shoulders to get the real punch strength. Only, a trainer can identify that strength improvements and it was my day, maybe. I did not practice as my kit is yet to come but as per my trainer, I did exceptionally well.

Before the class, I was not sure to go or not but after the class, I was like – ‘WOW’!

But what is the learning here?

Very simple thing that when I entered the class there was ‘Positive Energy’ and what made me enter was a word ‘Expectation’ of my husband from me to do something different.

Positive Energy is like an amplifier and it works for everyone.

To fulfil ‘Expectation’ is a better choice than to set ‘Expectation’ from people. There is a difference as former makes you benchmark your abilities and performance and the latter makes you a miserable, vulnerable person. Expect from yourself and your abilities. The game of pain in life is when we expect from othersJ.

A good start of your day and maybe a happy ending of mineJ

Cheerio!

My Birthday Week - First Gift To Myself!!

My Birthday Week and what I want to gift myself. I just read a message that a special friend sent to me and I laughed.

It says – at times one does not have a choice other than being strong and this is the beginning of my birthday week. To be strong for myself and always carry a BIG SMILE on my face....J.

I was talking to my mother and sharing that I do not want to be with some people on my birthday, who gave me just pain and negative energy. They did all they could do, knowing that ‘I’ would be hurt and left broken. They are my people with whom I grew and those whom I chose to be part of my life. I was determined that I would not even attend their wish calls on my birthday.

Strange!!

I get a call from one of them and I spoke as if I have no regrets of there being in my life. I spoke without letting them know, how I felt when I was tagged with titles and names. How I felt, when my character became a blank paper for them, to certify the way they wanted. I reacted at times as you cannot accept beyond your patience.

Much above, how I struggle within inside me when the past hits me, at odd hours of being alone. A question that my heart asks me – if they would have been good in the last 7 or 11 years, my life would have been different. Now, after reading my book, when they are showing change or even if they are faking, can they give me my all those years back. My mind answers – a BIG NO!!

But then the same mind asks me, what will change now, if I hold the past and drag things. I also cannot get my lost time by dragging things ahead.

I have spent my life by not expressing even when I knew the truth that my own people faked with me and I will spend rest of my life on the same note. I will be humble to them irrespective of the truth as I always believe – ‘In any relationship what I GIVE matters to me. I am ACCOUNTABLE for my actions. GOD will see my honesty to myself and will DECIDE my fate’.

This post is for my readers who might have travelled the same roads of life, like me. I know it is hard to forget but it is easy to forgive. Just live on one thing – I will give my best in any relationship. If it worked, you did your best. If I did not, somewhere it was not meant to be!

My gift to myself  and to my readers – Give your BEST!

Cheerio!!

Eid Wishes - 2012

Firstly, I wish my all readers, a very Happy Eid. Secondly, I am missing ‘H’ for ‘Hyderabad’ and ‘H’ for ‘Haleem’. I can recall small roadside shops with colourful lights around the entrance, serving ‘Haleem’. A bite of Haleem can make you feel the real essence of Hyderabad around Eid.

Well, I love India as we see all the festivals here with everyone taking complete participation in making it more enjoyable and memorable. I just called my friends in Hyderabad to wish them ‘Happy Eid’ and I thought of the poem ‘A Nation’s Strength’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What makes a nation’s pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?

It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.

Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.

Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

The real strength of India lies in three words - ‘Unity in Diversity’. I pray and wish that this Eid brings more love and harmony in India.

Good Night and Happy Eid!

Struggle: Route To Happy Journey:)

If there is no struggle in one’s life, then you are not alive. Nobody has a perfect life but we all have one thing in common – ‘struggle’.

If I look back and try to identify the happiest moments of my life then they would be the struggling days of my life. Sometimes, fighting for funds or finances, sometimes, searching for a good job and now an endless struggle against painJ but somewhere all these small or big struggles made me a stronger person. There are times, when you are broken but then again you start walking on a new path in a new directionJ.

Few inspiring words by Sidney Lanier -

My soul is like the oar that momently
Dies in a desperate stress beneath the wave,
Then glitters out again and sweeps the sea:
Each second I'm new-born from some new grave.

When you encounter ‘struggle’ in life, there are three ways we might act –

1.) Contemplate ‘future’

 2.) Compare our ‘lives’ with ‘others’

3.) Look back and grieve over the past

Honestly, all the three ways to fight your struggle will not show you the way out of it. The best solution to any problem is ‘ignore it’. Think of it is as an opportunity to learn and explore something new about your strength and capacity to handle challenges. From soldier to a common man, we all are born to struggle in our own ways. From mother to being childless, you are born to listen and encounter strugglesJ

If I would not have struggled in my life, I would not have been what I am.

Everything comes with a price tag but it depends at what price you want to buy it.

Buy your struggle at a lower price by ignoring it and exploring new aspects of your personality.

Buy your happiness at a higher price by living in present and enjoying each bit of your life to the fullest.

Saying ‘Goodbye’ to this week for a great weekendJ

CheerioJ

Pasta Arrabiata, Semolina Halwa to Bhagwad Gita!!

Cooking is like meditation for me. I decided to cook my dinner tonight, fusion of Indian and Italian cuisines –pasta arrabiata and sooji ka halwa (Semolina Halwa). Both are my all time favourite.

This blog has helped many readers. I have got emails where it was mentioned, ‘your blog inspires us’. At the end of the day, it was the purpose of ‘So You Think You Are Living’.

I am one of you and at times, I also feel to be inspired. I read books to keep my spirits high, mainly self-help. But nothing like reading quotes and that too from Bhagwad Gita. I read few of them while making my dinner. I thought to share with all of my readers. J. Any act is a combination of peace, action, love, humanity and body. All the quotes are around each one of these termsJ.

So read them and buon appetitoJ

"Little by little, through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self."

"For those who wish to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is selfless work. For those who have attained the summit of union with the Lord, the path is stillness and peace."

"Fear not what is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed."

"Just as a fire is covered by smoke and a mirror is obscured by dust, just as the embryo rests deep within the womb, wisdom is hidden by selfish desire."

"Action is the product of the qualities inherent in nature."

"The body is mortal, but the person dwelling in the body is immortal and immeasurable."

"When you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you life in the wisdom of the Self."

"A man's own self is his friend. A man's own self is his foe."

"Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable."

Luna - Our Wonder Bird!!

We have four babies – my four birds. They are so friendly that I spend an hour daily, talking with them. They listen to me peacefully and it makes feel lighter. I thought many times to set them free but then the question was – will they know how to search for food and habitat?

Since birth, they are with us and I make sure we do not let them stay in their home (cage) all the time. We set them free in our house so that they can fly and interact with their surroundings. We have been training the youngest of all the four birds – Luna for last one month and she is a wonder bird. I believe; it depends how you treat them. If you do not interact with them or make them feel part of your life, you will find them dull and then the poem below will make you feel more vulnerable (:

If you bring them home then love them like your children and you will see their wonder acts making you laugh and cry at timesJ

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.