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Friday, April 29, 2016

Zero Zip Zilch



#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life


“With no cavalry to guard me, I started my journey on my own; vulnerable to attacks by all from every direction. I had absolutely nothing to guard myself. So what did I do? I used all the skills and qualities that I possess to guard myself. Was it easy, you ask. Of course it isn’t. Did you fear, you ask. Yes, of course. Sometimes I felt like giving up and running back to my safe haven, but something stopped me every time. The desire to keep going and the success encouraged me, and I kept moving ahead. I grabbed the opportunities which I saw fit, and turned away from temptations and forces which kept pulling me away from my path.”

How exciting it would be to start on a blank canvas! Would you like to make a fresh start by painting on a blank canvas or the one which has scribblings on it already?



I see a blank canvas in front of me and I am excited. Call me what you may; stubborn, rebel, bold. But I wish to own a blank canvas of my own; just for myself on which I can write to my heart’s content with not even a dot on it.

Zero Zip Zilch. Nothing. Nada!

I wish to start everything from the scratch, knowing now what qualities I have regained and what qualities I require. The canvas is new and is ready to be used. I have almost learnt the purpose of my life. I am still seeking, learning and going Beyond the conventional rules laid; that is a continuous process. It isn’t easy. All that I have learnt throughout this month, I wish to apply it to achieve my goals.

Right from my very first post of #AtoZChallenge, I had chosen to write for myself; for my improvement in every field I thought was possible. The journey will go beyond this challenge. What I learnt till now throughout this month has benefited me a lot and laid a foundation for me to start thinking about myself.

Battles in life are always present. You will be told to sacrifice your goals to fulfil someone else’s. Would you do it? Answer is left to you. But do not forget your purpose of life. Your passion! It requires your qualities and your zeal. And how do you begin your pursuit of your passion? Start from nothing. And build it one brick at a time.

Knowing what qualities I will need to achieve my goals; be it Killer Instinct, Being Jealous(this was a contradicting blog post), Panache, I need to make sure that the crown on my head doesn’t falter and eventually fall down.


My Pappa will always be my inspiration. And not to forget the Horrible Husband  :D (Read to know how Horrible Husband helped me)


                                       
                                                 



With this my A To Z Challenge 2016 comes to an end. But my journey of “Finding Myself” continues… The Journey has only begun.,. And from where did it begin? From nothing. Phoenix rises from the ashes. Begin from nothing and build something.



Thursday, April 28, 2016

Yours Truly






#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life

Dear Yours Truly,


Yet again I am writing a letter to you. It has been a fabulous month of self discovery. Although this is a long process unlike what I had assumed, I could see that you thoroughly enjoyed discovering and writing about things that you had thought deeply about. I am glad that you have started implementing a few and hope you will continue with same zeal and energy to work towards your goals.


You have always been a shy person who preferred staying away from the crowd. So I guess that is what turned you to writing. Instead of speaking, you pour your thoughts on paper. May be that is why writing suits you the most. But at times, you have shown your gregarious side, though it is very rare.
Though you may have had high hopes and dreams, do not forget that you have lived an ordinary life. Though you wanted to touch the stars, you followed the crowd.


It is never too late, they say, to try something. You may have to start few things from scratch. But if you show your immense desire towards your goals, and the childhood vigour that you owned once, nothing can stop you from achieving them,


What is the purpose of your life? What is your passion? These are the most important yet difficult questions that you need to ponder. You have almost come close to them. Some answers you have, some you do not. Some thoughts will be saved in your drafts or your journal. Well this reminds me to tell you that you should maintain a journal for your daily activities. Do you remember keeping diary to keep note of the many things that you wished to learn and do during summer vacation? And there were separate sections for each.
And then you would write each in different colours and make pointers. Height was you had made another page which had pointers to these notes. The point I wish to convey to you is that though these things may look unproductive to you now, I would ask you to do them to keep an order.


All I would like to say right now to you is that keep pursuing your passion no matter where you are. You may not find success, but satisfaction that you kept trying will be better than not trying at all. Set high targets and high standards. Do not stagnate, keep moving ahead.


Yours Truly,

Yourself



Wednesday, April 27, 2016

X Factor


#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life

What would you need for your passion? If you know what is it that you are passionate about, you won’t need a quality to be imbibed. Passion itself will make you go way ahead. So why do you need an X Factor?




X Factor, in simple words is a special quality that a person has in her/him self. Are both passion and X Factor the same? Need not be, in my opinion. I may be good at doing something, which is my X Factor, but that need not be my passion. So incorporating this quality to achieve your desired goals should be the focus. Make the best use of your quality to achieve your passion. What better thing can be than that?


Your X Factor is your strong point and your passion is something that you are after. Combine both and the result will be awesome.


Identify your X factor and start working towards your goals. I have my own X Factor and this is the advice I give myself- Use it to pursue your goals.

All Words and No Play


#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life



Words. Weave them with one another with creativity and voila! You end up with a well crafted crochet; words beautifully twirled with twists and turns.


Are all people gifted with this craft? Perhaps no. Writing is an art if you take it seriously to win audience's hearts. Just writing a line without any magic in it has no impact on the audience. And by magic, I mean the art of properly knitting the desired words and discarding the overwhelming ones. Mere connection of words with conjunctions doesn’t leave the desired influence in the minds of the readers.


Writing is a matter of playing with words. And by playing, I do not mean having fun at the drop of the hat. It means choosing your words properly and infusing them in a sentence to convey your thoughts. A dry string of sentences attached with one another hardly gets any attention. Writing gives you information. A very good piece of writing makes you think beyond the reality, just like how dreams do. Dreams take us to places unimaginable. Writing has the same effect. If words are chosen properly and created into effective sentences, they bring out the picture infront of your eyes; it is as if you are watching the movie infront of you.


Words that you spin are crucial to convey the meaning. You should be smart enough to play to create a masterpiece that will keep the readers gripping and coming back to read what you have in store for them.


Why this topic about words and writing today? This is what I have always loved to do. Write, write and write more. But in the process I didn’t actually learn how to draw audience to my writing. In this Journey of Self Discovery throughout this month with the A To Z Challenge, besides learning how to tackle many things, I gave deep thought towards my liking for writing. And this is what I concluded. Your content is your strong point if you need people to read what you have written. Mere dry words running in sequence are just words. Playing and weaving them properly is an art.


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Vehemence



#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life




Dear Thou,


This is your long lost but recently re-acquired quality that is writing to you. I am glad that you have kicked out procrastination and gave me my deserved spot yet again. It looks like ages since we last worked together.


I remember the endless hours you, as a child, sat on your small study table to complete the tasks that you set for yourself. There was nothing that could stop you. Your mind was ever busy, and like a scrap book with variety stuffed in it. Your brain would be brimming with ideas. Giving shape to them you sat, either with the words that fired themselves from your brain, or devising plans and activities so that they could be implemented in future.


It was in your early childhood that you learnt to use internet, but you never started using it for your ideas until recently. But before internet crept in, it was books and magazines that would give you knowledge. Your closet, was your storehouse of knowledge.


Do not forget that it was I who gave you all that exuberant energy that would sometime overflow from your mind.


You and I together achieved milestones which made people think you would achieve a lot when you grow up. Times changed and with that you forced yourself to change too. And in the turbulence you lost your energy of doing things differently and followed the crowd. Although you achieved a lot, I couldn’t be of much help since it wasn’t your passion that you were pursuing. You allowed yourself to leave me behind.


With time, you allowed procrastination to fill the empty spot which I owned once. You allowed yourself to settle in the mundane life and job which didn’t give any exposure to your passion.


But now that you have finally realised your passion and allowed me my rightful space in your life, I would like to tell you that this is one of the best decisions of your life, the first being that you have made a firm decision to pursue your passion and your likes.

In your endeavor of achieving your desires, although you might have to start everything from scratch, I would like to tell you to have the same vigour, gusto and energy that you had as a child. It was that vibrance that made you take those baby steps that you had achieved. You had taken several risks, and with your ability to tackle them along with my help, you won everything. I want you now to work with the same childish energy that you once displayed. Thinking of what will happen and fear of failure will bring you down. You do remember how you worked before, don’t you?

Yours Truly,

Vehemence



Be Unbroken to create Utopia


#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life





The saturation level had reached a while back. There didn’t seem any promising land nearby any soon. The scorching heat had created a parched throat and it seemed as if unconsciousness would creep in anytime soon. But the will to go on and not give up was stronger than before. The journey promised an equally deserving reward.


It is said that hope never dies. The strong desire to achieve something keeps you going.


Moments of depression come along with questions in mind - Why the hell am I living? For whom am I living? Haven’t these questions caused distress in mind lately? Ample time spent doing unproductive work, time spent in pleasing others and living for others, where did the years vanish? What will they think if I give my answer? Will I be termed too bold?




In the face of all this, we forget what we wish to do with our life. The struggle sometimes looks never ending and we give up.


If you have read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, you will realise how tough life can be in times of intense adversities. All I can conclude is that perhaps the will to live surpasses everything.


Progress is life is a must. One cannot remain stagnant with something for too long. Of course, we should be satisfied with what we have, but that shouldn’t stop us from going ahead.


There is no Utopia anywhere. It is we who can create it for ourselves. Being unintentionally tied to many things can hamper your process, even your downfall, but that needn’t be the reason for giving up. There are times when you might have to face the worst, but not giving up hope and coming out unbroken is one of the keys to success.




Your strong urge to achieve your passion is not going to be easy unless you are made to suffer. It is not out of freewill that people choose to suffer. But out of that comes up a strong person who is much different that the frightened person that she/he was.


Stand erect, do not falter, do not give in to demands of the people if you wish to create Utopia for yourself. People will throw stones at you, learn to build your fort and use those stones if they are useful.


History has been witness to people who have suffered and come out successful.

Be Unbroken, create your own Utopia!!

To Blogchatter



What is your purpose of life? Every individual has her/his own purpose. Some recognise, some do not; some fulfill, some do not. Many sacrifice their dreams to fulfill the life that others have mapped out for them. While still others spend their lives in pleasing their near and dear ones. Most do not even dare to think beyond limits.

The surge of startups and doing something different and unique has become so common in recent times that the hint of uniqueness is lost in the process. The uniqueness has become common, every single day, you read an article applauding the skill and journey of a person who went against the norms of the society and did something different in her/his career. And then there is hardly or no news about the person. Life goes on and new article is published. Highlighting the achievements is of course required to encourage the crowd.

Whether you are one time wonder on articles or not, highlighting one’s achievements boosts her/his confidence. A very common advice is that success shouldn’t go in the person’s head so much that he/she stops the progress.

When I started blogging in 2008-2009, I didn’t know why and for whom I was doing it. Writing has always been my passion, or so I think. I remember noting down every thing I felt I should as far as I can remember. It started out with pencil and paper. The pencil was replaced with pen; pen and paper in turn was replaced by desktop, followed by laptop and recently by the smartphone. But writing hasn’t stopped. Of course there was a huge gap in my writing due to academics followed by job.

In this journey, I realised that with the blogging platform, I could bring out my writing from the closet and allow the many readers outside to read and understand my thoughts. Of course, then, I would write whatever came to my mind. As a kid,I had my stint of writing in newspapers for contests. But blogging crossed the barriers and allowed more people to view my style. But it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Telling the near and dear ones to read was a big task in itself; forget the people I do not know. Discouragement along with academics kept me away from writing for a really long period.

One blog post would come up once in six months which would hardly be read by one or two upon insisting. It was accidently that I stumbled upon this twitter account of Blogchatter few months back. After following, it took me another two months to actually start the conversation in the group; And then there was no stopping. :) :)

Thanks to encouragement by Richa- the brain behind Blogchatter, that I started writing again. In this community I found many people who encouraged to write and gave tips on blogging. I realised that if you need audience, community is a place which gives you support and encouragement. Now there is no looking back since I am in this wonderful community which has given me readers and good advice.

If I can be of any help to the community, it would be a great thing. For anyone who is seriously thinking of blogging,be it for pursuing your passion of writing or anything, this community is for you. It is through this community that you will learn that blogging is not just about writing, but has many things beyond writing.

I whole heartedly thank Blogchatter for coming up with ideas and activities to take our blog to the next level.

And thanks for choosing me as the First Blogstar of the Week.

I guess I still have a long way to go as far as blogging is concerned and I am sure Blogchatter will be with me for support and encouragement. Thank you again Blogchatter!!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Ten Thousand: Tangential Thinking




#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life


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Ten thousand hours rule. Popularly known for the number of hours required to master any skill. It has been said that to master any skill, you need Ten Thousand hours to learn the skill. Have you heard about this? It has been popularised a lot. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell describes that to practice and master any skill, it takes a practice of 10,000 hours.


The 10,000 hours rule has been debated by many. I will not ponder and draw a list of pros and cons of this rule. Neither am I going to support any side. My purpose of bringing up this topic is to understand how I can utilise this 10,000 rule of practise for my benefit.


Gathering and maintaining your thoughts and ideas isn’t an easy job, at least not for me. There have been instances when I would have very good topics in my mind to write about, but procrastination would delay writing them on paper and topics would be washed away form my mind.


“Passion isn’t achieved on its own. I have recurring dreams. What do they tell me? To work towards my passion. In this process of dreams and longing to achieve my goals, I lost myself somewhere in the turmoils of daily routine. It took me a while to realise my dreams. Better late than never, they say. Passion drove me crazy. How do I achieve it? I started working like a maniac, it became an addiction. I thought of it as a competition. Every other person was seeking the same goal as myself. This brought questions in my mind. If what I thought isn’t unique, why am I following the crowd? Nevertheless, in this confusion of achieving my goal and competition, I end up doing things in a haste. Result? I am stuck where I was. What is the solution then?


I thought over and over, time and again. Competition will always be present. You need a Killer Instinct in this competitive world. But running just to get in the front race without strong base is like a building without strong foundation. It can collapse any day.”


Using this concept of 10,000 rule, I thought of getting down to the basics again. It may take a while. But what is the harm? Plan, prioritize, and sequence your steps for execution. It may take more or less than 10,000 hours, but achieving your target systematically is of importance. Have a Killer Instinct, show your creative side to the crowd. You may or may not agree with the 10,000 hours rule, but do you atleast agree that you need practice; and this practice requires long hours?
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Long hours spent in mastering a skill give birth to tangential thinking. Mastering anything requires efforts and in this process, you learn a lot of skills and develop ideas. Use them to develop your unique style. Think Beyond!


Thursday, April 21, 2016

Soul - Seek and ye shall find



#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life



This post is written as a continuation for the blog post "Journey" that I wrote a couple of months ago. Read the post by clicking ME.

The fact that the soul examined every other soul that it found on its journey only meant that it did not recognize its own self, for if it had, it wouldn’t have tried fitting itself with every other soul. For recognizing its other half means recognizing one’s own self.

Short Summary:

The soul was searching for its other half for being complete. The Journey was long and exhausting. But the soul didn't give up. It assumed that it found its other half and tried fitting itself with the other wandering sould who were searching for their better halves. This process of fitting itself created scars on the soul.



And the scars remained.....


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It was after a long search that soul eventually found its other half. Little did the soul realise that the scars left on itself in its effort of fitting with other soul would affect its union when the soul found its other half in future. Its other half was devoid of any scars, for unlike the soul, it was confident it would meet its missing piece without trying to scar itself.

When these two missing parts finally tried fitting in, though they were meant to be together, the scars that the soul had on itself created it pretty difficult to fit. The two pieces should have exactly fit with each other without any efforts, for they were one, but had been made into two for them to search each other and become one on their own. But the scars that soul had seared on itself had made it tough.

Whenever its other half tried fitting in, the scars of the soul would come in between them. The other half would be restless. The union would get delayed often. The scars. How would they be taken care of? For if the soul wasn't ready to get rid of them, nothing would.

So what would soul have to do? Would the soul ever get rid of the scars that were very much visible to its other half?

Seek, and ye shall find. The soul has to find the way for the union is inevitable. But how? Seek the way to its other half. The soul needs to find by itself the way to the heart of its other half. They are two parts of one piece, so why is soul finding it tough to get closer and unite with its other half?

Seek oh dear soul, and you shall find the answers.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Cooking Wizardry




An artist’s experiment with different shades of colors holds his audience captive with the sheer beauty of the amalgamation displayed on the canvas. When we speak of creativity, all we think about is a painting, a structure or a monument, writing or engineering. Not many would consider cooking as a form of creativity.

A small kitchen equipped with the basic and few or more sophisticated or traditional gadgets paves an immense scope for curating a vast variety of mouth-watering dishes. Be it heating or cooling, drying or fermentation, there is no dearth of dishes, be it pickle or curd, possibilities are ample for products to emerge in a kitchen. From cutting vegetables to braising meat, from combining different flavors to allowing air for bread making, kitchen gives birth to variety of flavors and aroma that permeate and reach every nostril. Even more enchanting is the look on the face of an honest cook who views the end product that he has made after minutes, or even hours of perseverance.

It is no surprise therefore that food industry has gained immense importance. People like to try different varieties of food. The same main ingredient in one dish can be a secondary ingredient in another. Variety has no limit.

I admire the way people spend their time combining ingredients.I have never been a fan of cooking, neither am I now. But that doesn’t stop me from watching the ample cookery shows on the television and watching people cook. The fervor and sheer interest with which they execute each and every process is applauding. Be it as simple as boiling an egg or making a stuffed turkey, the cook uses his every sense to make it perfect. In this era of processed food and instant cooking, the traditional cooking has not been let down. People would any day prefer to have a freshly cooked meal.

Cooking has also been used as a therapy for stress. Some people find cooking therapeutic since  activities involved help in removing stress. The aroma, the look, the taste that they manage to create gives them a sense of satisfaction. The complement that they get from people is an icing on the cake. The entire process involved in cooking is much longer than the time required to gobble up the dish.

Even though cooking has all these advantages, it doesn’t give me the satisfaction as writing gives. As it is said often, to each his own. But cooking is a wizardry that will always keep enchanting me and the sheer pleasure of watching some dish come slowly to life is a treat in itself.

This post was  written for weekly prompt by Blogchatter community.

Reclaim your lost glory





#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life




“I have been running for hours and I have lost track of time. All of a sudden I realise the land will end and I will end up jumping in a valley. I have no control and within a span of two to three seconds, the land beneath my feet has disappeared and all I see is a never ending valley.


In a second, umpteen thoughts make a cloud in my mind- I am failure, I am not what I was, will I ever be what I was before? I cannot fight my fears, I have lost the game to others, I have lost the glory that I had earned painstakingly. I will keep falling in this never ending deep valley.

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And then I realise my hand has been firmly gripped by my samaritan, and the message comes, “Why are you scared? Haven’t I told you that nothing is lost yet? I keep coming in your dreams. I will never let you quit. You have me as your support. Go on. Explore to your hearts content.”


I am back on the land now and I see everywhere. I can see the samaritan going somewhere. I shout out loudly but my voice is unheard. And the samaritan disappears.


I now sit in vain thinking. Samaritan gone but his message clear. “I am always there to support you.” Words run in my mind continuously. Question arises- Will I be able to?”

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“I am transported to another place. I am driving through a forest. My samaritan is sitting beside me again. “Yes, you can.” My samaritan says."

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“I am swimming but I can’t. Samaritan comes again and says, “ Yes, you can.”.”

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And then I wake up, sweaty and scary. What do these recurring dreams mean? The message is always the same-  Reclaim what you had!!


But my conscience doubts that. Will I get it? I have to maintain the crown on my head. How do I do it? And then the answer comes to me- follow your conscience. Success wasn’t achieved by many by following the crowd.



You wish to achieve something, regain the accolades that you had earned. You have paced those paths, why not tread again, with your Panache and zeal? Glory comes to those who run after their passions.

Listen to your Samaritan!

Queen Escort or Queen Regent?




#ATOZ Challenge Theme: Finding Myself - Living My Life




The crown had to remain intact. She took another look in the mirror. It wasn’t just a matter of pride now. It was the need of the hour. With power came responsibility. Giving a final look in the mirror she walked through the corridors. She had made her decision. No! Not giving up the crown. She wouldn’t, however selfish it may sound.


She was raised to be a queen. Did she opt for it?No. But she liked being the Princess. With the title came the perks of being pampered and having undivided attention. But she wasn’t the pampered princess who was spoiled beyond limits, unlike what everyone liked to believe. She knew her responsibilities and worked hard for her goals. Her hardwork helped her in her goals and not the title of Princess.


She grew up keeping her hat intact until calamities befell. Times changed, and with that people too. Living in shadows was not what she liked, but she was forced to. It was a whole cringing experience until the Prince came along and swept her off her feet.


Life goes on, they say. Time doesn’t stop for anyone and within that time you have to prove your mettle. It was after lot of thinking she had taken this decision.


Being Queen she enjoyed. But what was it? Queen Escort or the Queen Regent? She wasn’t given the choice. But she had made her own decision. She knew what she wanted irrespective of what was decided.


No, she didn’t want her King to be her Escort while she flaunted her title of Queen Regent. Neither did she want to be the Queen Escort and live in the shadows. Odd as it may sound, she wanted both of them to be Regents. Would she succeed?


Success stories are not written in a day. Turmoil, insults, toiling, all comes as a package.


But the crown had to remain intact. No matter what. People had worked towards it to see it on her head. She wouldn’t let anyone down. More importantly,she wouldn’t let herself down. She knew she had to keep it, and keep it,she would.

Regent it was. She had taken her decision. That was what she had worked for? Wasn’t it?