The Magic in your Life

 

They bring a magic in your life.They cheer up your day with their flawless smile.

They make you feel valued and cared for.

They come like a wave of mist and go like a cool breeze.

They give it all yet own nothing at all.

They chose you for your aura and uplift your soul.

They enrich your mind and make your heart sing in joy.

They surprise you through meaningful silence and philosophical theories.

They give you a practical outlook just when you sway away in emotions.

They watch you walk your confidence gait and disappear in the horizon.

They are there always yet unseen mostly.

They are thought in prayers always yet heard about in special contexts.

They are in your lives, just you got to close your eyes and identify these best souls.

4 Wise Management Learnings While Holding the Pruning Shear

These are the corporate terms known to one and all. Clarity of purpose. Precision in process. Focus on quality. Contentment and Inner Peace.  They echo much more than the temple bells or the sound of the Azan heard at pre-defined intervals usually for the divinely connect reminders. Reminders in the present work from home trend, the new normal in most professional's life chant these 4 mantra. The simple fact is to treat work as a worship no matter what religion you belong to or even if you are an atheist. Well the returns not much in cash or in kind yet only in hopes for a better tomorrow. So to break-free, to reset and rewire, all we need is a good day off, in the midst of Nature, away from the screen.

With the purpose of taking a break from the usually robotic work life, I ventured out in my beautiful garden, that had become more like a dense forest with flowering plants all set to compete among themselves to reach up the coconut tree. To have a garden, trust me, is a blessing, yet if you do not get the right people to prune the trees, level the bushes and change the mud or even till the soil, regularly, it becomes a bit of a task to do it all by yourself. Yet, a pleasant Sunday was meant for us to do the needful, we (my father and my sister) ventured into the muddy, leafy world where I was all set to learn the fine art of gardening with no prior experience. 

Admiring a garden and boasting about it always would give me a pleasure, now what I learned that day was how to take good care of the same by keeping the right
ones, cutting the ones that go out of control in length and completely uprooting the ones that serve no purpose. Easy? Well, not really. 

Thanks to the expert guidance by my perfectionist father, we were able to get the instructions somewhat correct after the initial apprehensions. The other challenge was using the shear as it was not friendly with all the branches. Surprisingly, it was so gentle and effortless while cutting the small rose plants or the wild grasses. I did use my both palms to complete uprooting the partially cut branches. That did gift me with slight bruises, yet I was focused on getting it all cleared. There was one thing that we learned that we need to cut a thick branch a few inches above the ground and then it could be pulled comfortably that making a hundred cuts mid way and we gasping for energy. Also, the instructions given were so focused and not based on the beauty of the plants. I was fond of the rose plants and it was heart-wrecking to see them go, yet my father knew that if not cut they will not bear beautiful flowers, the existing flowers were hardly getting any breathing space in the clustered branches of other plants. So which means, mind rules over heart when taking the right decisions for the highest good. Another lesson learned.  All the cut leaves, twigs and branches were later cut into small pieces and placed around the coconut trees. So this would soon become the organic manure. So reusing the organic waste to nourish other trees was a great thought, actually.

As I watched the garden, I could see so many colorful butterflies, that would hardly get noticed otherwise, in the bushes. (Clarity of purpose) 
I saw the plants happily swaying in the wind without hitting upon each other. (Precision in pruning process) 
I could smell the mud as it showered that evening. A perfect way by rain God to bless the earth and the garden to be merry.(Focus on quality) 

While washing my palms, even though my palms had all turned red, I could feel a sense of accomplishment, upon doing something different and meaningful. ( Contentment and Inner Peace)

Light the light.

 

Light the light of happiness in your life.

Light the light of peace in your soul.

Light the light of love and trust in the world around you.

Light the light of faith that positive thoughts manifest wellness .

Light the light of care that begins with you to inspire all.

Light the light of gifting precious blessings promising a lifetime of happiness.

Light the light of gratitude in your journey of self-discovery.

Light the light unconditionally to be the inspiring light of humanity.

Light the light in someone's life as a messenger of the divine 'light the light' chain of kindness.

Happy Diwali! 

Light the light brightly and heartily.

Be the you.

Be the good you wish to seek from people who are kind.
Be the kind you wish to receive from humans who smile.

Be the smile you wish to attract from the souls on inward journey. Be the journey you wish to explore from experiences of high respect.

Be the respect you wish to receive from a society admiring inspiration. Be the inspiration you wish to imbibe from men of highest values.

Be the value you wish to preach from associations with the right.
Be the right you wish to breathe from every breath of peace.

Be the peace you wish to experience from the paradise of love. Be the love you wish to bathe in from the divine aura of you.

Be the YOU, you wish to nurture from the ultimate life of being happy and grateful.

Dare your Fear. Go blank. Just do it.

A regular Monday morning all set to begin with proper plans in place, perfect for me, I thought! I woke up to the music of the rain and a feeble sound of the chirping of the birds was soothing. All seemed fine and positive until I opened the door. It was not a pleasant surprise but a dead big fat rat lying on my doormat. The fellow surely couldn't not escape the cat's attack the previous night. The immediate reaction, well no guesses. I closed the door, somehow controlled and nursed the after effect of spewing. Catching a rat using rat trap, I have done yet handling a dead rat was always a no. Well, I thought quick, now what?

Call it an imaginary placard flashing on the mind, I recalled the specific morning read about daring your fear with absolute blankness, no thinking and just doing what best I could. Perhaps I was made to read it by some divine intervention. I opened the door counting my breath slowly and also holding my breath. Then dragged the mat along the corridor using a small twig, all that I could find then, to the main entrance of my floor. That's it, came home for another round of heaving and then thought the garbage collection men might help me discard it from my second floor. Well I received not much help from them and my neighbor next street seemed least interested to lend me even a ear. No complaints. I knew I had to get it cleared anyhow myself.

With all might, somehow transferred it in a huge paper bag, wearing disposable gloves ( they always come handy) and took it downstairs. Just in time when the garbage vehicle made its second round. I gave it off, couldn't smile in gratitude for obvious reasons. Thank God, the toughest task was over!

The sanitizing, cleaning, cleansing was a long tiring process that disturbed all my scheduled morning plans. Well for me cleanliness is Godliness indeed, just that I had to do it twice today. After an hour, I finally settled down, listening to music alongside the lemon aroma therapy for quite sometime to get back to normal.

I had no choice but to challenge my fear, simply go blank and do it with focus on just doing it. Thanks to the Divine and the book that I chose to pick up and read as part of my happy morning ritual. Trust me, the feeling of peace and achievement after winning over such kind of fear cannot be expressed in words.

A Writer's First Attempt with A Paint Brush

 

When a WRITER steps into the world of painting for the FIRST Voyage, magic happens the moment she chooses to become a CHILD, to PLAY with the colors, while brushing away the RULES. -  Sreelatha 

                                                                                                                                           

Ever since my childhood days, the world of wet and dry colors on the canvas always lured me and I would stand in awe as an admirer. Thanks to the childhood patterns in our mind, where once we believed that if we could not do anything, rest assured, we would never bother to invest even an ounce of energy, to give a try. At least in some cases. Art to me has been a classic world reserved for the highly intellect, I was happy with a pen in hand or the word document to give wings to my power of imagination, with absolute clarity and profoundness in communication. Yet, every time I would get a chance to enter the aesthetic art room in the school, I would be fascinated by the world of astounding human creativity in the form of painting, sketches, drawing, graffiti, tapestry, animation, sculpture, calligraphy and many more that I could even imagine. 

With the preconceived notion deep-rooted and constant, I was playing safe despite the humble words of motivation by my art-friend S who teaches the essence of art with so much love, passion and appreciation. I remember she once gave me a random task to sprinkle the glitter on the earthen pot, which made me so conscious, yet she was like, there is no right or wrong way in art. Whatever you do from your heart with a creative zeal manifests best in line with one’s own imagination.

Few months back, my dear friend N started unleashing her love for art by making miniature portraits using acrylic paints. They caught my attention for the simplicity and the perfect choice of colours and the brilliant narrative through her customized masterpieces. She assured me I could do it too, just try it girl!  Call it an inspiration, followed by the law of attraction where I received a painting kit as a gift from my cute niece A, followed by many more materials from my dearest nephew V. I had it all with me yet I did not know how to begin. Well again, it takes time to recondition the decades old mind-set. Like in yesteryears, when we used to rewrite the memory in the floppy disks with new memory, I chose to 'go with the flow', another magical phrase gifted by a good friend, M, I went ahead with a child's curiosity to finally create the FIRST painting of my LIFE. Truly Grateful for the surprise and the blessings!

Clueless of the rules, all I know is that I followed my heart, anchored my focus and the brush reciprocated my instructions flawlessly. Letting go the fear of self-created assumptions is the best way to liberate and express freely. S was happy and was surprised when she said what I painted was a 'Silhouette'. :) 

Takeaway: To slay the fear of doing anything off the regular, you have got adapt to the childlike approach, soak in curiosity and enjoy the process without thinking about the end result. Then magic shall happen. 

 

100 Days to Art of Self Mastery and Inculcate Happy Habits

 

When stuck in the middle of a whirlpool of uncertainty , the best way to experience freedom is 
by diving within to peace and happiness . -  Sreelatha 

With inspirational books, motivational speakers, spiritual leaders talking and well wishers emphasizing on the need of discipline in life, most of the times we are clueless what should we do best with so many choices available. Well consistency is the expensive key that tends to play the dominating mind games to make us a slave to unconvincing excuses. With a lot of self experiments and inferences, though, we will be able to master the art of commitment in perfect synchrony with our goals.

The 100 days challenge or even the 21 days ritual for the well being of mind, body and soul, might seem like a common read delivered by famous authors and philosophers. The present times have definitely increased the demand for the self help treasures, which once stood gently to be qualified for a light read with no intent to be taken too seriously, except for few doable quick tips.

They say it takes 21 days to master a skill or habit, well it is right.  For beginners, the catch here is to let thought of multiple goals and just take the simplest and achievable one. It can be as simple as walking for 20 minutes everyday and at the same time. Even simpler, it can also be watching the Sun rise (for the lucky ones) everyday and doing Yoga or exercise. The idea is to allow the rewiring of the pattern of thought in the brain and nourish it with discipline. Journaling is also a tried and tested habit that has helped people in all walks of life to achieve greater success in their life and career.

Once we complete this challenge, after repeated attempts because if we break the chain even for 2 days, the mind goes back to its previous habits, not meant to do us any good for sure. It is believed that children develop habits easily with proper guidance to help them discover their talent or learn something in the lines of mindfulness. When we add on years, we tend to say, we are not a child any more, when actually any human is capable of achieving anything at any age based on the discipline and faith.  Habits becomes part of our character so if we imbibe the right ones, we would attract abundance of peace, clarity, happiness and more important self awareness by being grounded. Identify the one that will help us wake up with a smile and sprite to pursue it.

The 100 days milestone is definitely achievable. The obstacles are ever present and in most cases, it is lethargy, work commitments and stress, climate changes or even health concerns. Yet if we treat these as minor unimportant distractions, we will be able to follow our regime with complete commitment. A healthy mind will make a healthy body for sure. The thoughtful strategy would be to break it down to 21 days cycles and to keep adding new achievable goals and habits like affirmations, learning a new skill or language online, art and music, random acts of kindness, sharing our interpretations with like-minded friends or we might as well journal each day with positive hastags it for focus and best results. We should not forget to celebrate our small wins after completion of compartmentalized milestone to get motivated for the next phase.

For people who identify their true purpose of life, there is a definite path meant for them. It is how best they make the days count through graceful self discipline and wisdom, to get closer to their goals, slowly, steadily, smartly and successfully.