Tag: attitude

Posted in Life, Personal Musings, Reflections, Stories Around the World, Work

Over-Turn

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Whether it be work from home or not, breaks are always a must. Which is why there is always time for a “break”. There is something special about holding that warm cup. More than just a routine, it brings out a fresh perspective with each sip. Be it coffee or tea, herbal, green or black, with or without milk, each cup has something in it.

“There are mornings when everything brims with promise, even my empty cup.” Ted Kooser

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com

Like the cups that hold within it, so do we people, hold something within each of us. Different situations may have different hues and flavours, but we do put something in it. Interestingly whatever these cups hold in them, do spill out. That cup can bring out a smile, or push one into sorrows. When a cup spills over, what is in it is what comes out. Knowing that, let’s try to put something worth, so that even though the cup may tip over, it brings a smile on the faces around us.

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee?
“Well because someone bumped into me, of course!”
*Wrong answer.*
You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.
Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.
*Whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out.*
Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.
*So we have to ask ourselves”what’s in my cup?”*
When life gets tough, what spills over?
Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility?
Or anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions?
You choose!
Today let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation for ourselves; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.
Source: Internet

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
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Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Posted in Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, poetry

Unparalleled

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

For one to realize the frailty of life versus time given to one, scanning the first few pages of the newspaper is enough, or just listen to the morning news hour. For some who thought they had time, there wasn’t any. Whereas others have been blessed with a second chance, good or bad, only time knows the final outcome. Through all this one realizes how blessed one has been. In fact, these thought bring out the true meaning of what “we have never realized”.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

One never realizes how blessed one has been with a job or any form of employment, till the day the wages stop coming and the money is out of the hand. One never knows the gift of a family, unless they come back to an empty set of rooms with no voices, but only those of the media. One never realizes how much they were blessed with their own path to walk and friends to visit, until they are forced to confine within. Instead of realizing the simple gifts of time and life as a whole, we crib that theatres are shut, malls are out and we are all stuck.

“Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming.” Mike Dooley

True that life may put one in a bind at times; yet for every things there aren’t just one or two but many sides which can be explored. While we crib about what we may have missed out on, learn not to lose out on what we have right now.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

If one had to truly measure up the gifts we have been blessed with, the list made would put out the “so called better things” out with a whiff. As time shows us how fickle she can be with life, let each day be a highlight of the gifts that she offers us, put to use and not left behind in the chase for the perceived better.

How Much Would This Cost?
Courtland W. Sayers

One midnight deep in starlight still
I dreamed that I received this bill:
…………..In account with life:
Five thousand breathless dawns all new;
Five thousand flowers fresh in dew;
Five thousand sunsets wrapped in gold;
One million snowflakes served ice cold,
Five quiet friends; one baby’s love;
One white-mad sea with clouds above;
One hundred music-haunted dreams
Of moon drenched roads and hurrying streams,
One June night in a fragrant wood;
One heart that loved and understood.
I wondered when I woke that day
‘How much this would cost if I had to pay?’

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Posted in Daily, Personal Musings, Quotes, Random Thoughts

DETOUR

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

While trying to get to work, in order to avoid the regular route in lieu of the heavy downpour wherein the roads were mostly water-logged; the plan was to stick to the by-lanes. Whether providence or thanks to an early start, the early morning hours saw less of muck and rush. Though the journey took at least a half-hour extra from the regular allotted drive time; the end result saw a lot less stress within.

“The really happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery, even when they have to take a detour.” Sir James Jeans

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma

Throughout the drive, the running thought was how bleak and unpredictable the morning plans can be. Life in a way, behaves more or less that. Each of us may encounter varied manner of hurdles or waterlogged roads. Some may offer a way out, others fore us to stop and ask for help; while there may be those routes wherein we turn back the way we came and go a different way thereon.

Facing all these blocks, one must never lose sight of three basic things. Among the many basic tenets, few stand out distinct. To always stay strong and aim to survive. To make the best out of any given situation or scenario. Smile, no matter how bad things may get to be, face the hurdle with a smile. For that simple smile within may give us the needed courage and strength to go on.

“Dead-end roads don’t mean you’ve come to your end, just means you need to take a different detour.” Anthony Liccione

Source:Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

Dead ends, detours, deflections or digressions, no matter how small or big they may be; they do crop up every now and then. Whether one likes them or not is irrelevant, for all these are a part and parcel of life. The trick is to never let them to us. Not just knowing that, but believing in it and acting on it; helps one to take the next step forward. All it takes is a keen pair of eyes and clear thoughts.

Ironically some of the detours that life takes us through help to redirect us back to the right track, or onto the true path which may be way off from what was perceived previously. It is only in hindsight, that these realizations may come to light. To experience this, requires one no to be completely bogged down, but to get up and run along with the flow. Eventually it will all workout. Till then the main purpose is to survive the fight, move on and get to the better days ahead.

“If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options.
You can climb it and cross to the other side.
You can go around it.
You can dig under it.
You can fly over it.
You can blow it up.
You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there.
You can turn around and go back the way you came.
Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Source:Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:Source:https://vk.com/pubmdma
Posted in Family and Society, Personal Musings, Photography Art, Random Thoughts

In Our Own Way

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

With the situation running along the same lines as in the previous months, all this sudden realization of the little things in life have given us plenty of food for thought. Slowly as the social strata get back into a semblance of an order, the reality is still unsettles remains strong. As each one of us embolden ourselves to face these small but significant challenges, we learn new things not just about others alone, but concerning ourselves as well. Of them, the most important thing, is to learn from the few experiences that life takes each one of us through.

“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.” Dale Carnegie

As one journeys through, we learn to understand the silence in a better manner as well as to read between the lines and a glimpse into the souls around us. The art to speak soft, approach slowly , spread the warmth around us as well as to share the pain in the eyes of those around us; once learnt from life, then become her priceless gift to us. To not just know the bitterness of loss, but also to experience the joy of gaining is how time teaches us the value of each hour that we breathe the air around us.

The inner circle that we choose to live in, is not measured by beauty, wealth, education or fame alone; but by kindness, sincerity and love. While one may falter every now and then in keeping the circle of our choice, over time being true to oneself becomes easier and as learnt and discovered is a wiser way and option to hold onto.

“Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” Helen Keller

In our own way, doing small and simple things helps one to being whole. As universal love has taught and showed us, being grandiose never bears more fruit than just being ourselves, simple, kind and of the intent to share the joy and love with the world around us. Being kind, is no less beautiful and is the crux to finding own happiness. For no matter what comes and goes, these are the things that one yearns for in life. To share the simple joys, being happy and at peace within; one doesn’t have to journey far but start from within. At the end, being true in our own ways is what matters the most, in life across the aeons of time.

Posted in Personal Musings, poetry, Quotes, Reflections

Challenge of the Dare

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Surprises are always a part of life; whether they be good or bad. While the former variety is well received and brings about beaming smiles on the faces of many; the latter surprise does have it’s own benefits, though they may be hidden. With the local henchman unable to make the usual rounds or repair work, the sudden spurts of gales saw the old chicken coop falling down as well as the barn floor being home to mini ponds. The problem is repairs aren’t the same when there are less number of people at hand to help.

Nevertheless with the hammer and saw, we had managed to make an odd fashioned set of repairs, not pretty but viable. Then came the good old cans of leftover but fresh paints. The final end-result was five vibrant homo-sapiens bearing the colours of the rainbow. While it would have been easy to treat this unfortunate incident as another hurdle; throwing aside such an attitude and embracing things as they came, made way for another set of beautiful moments to be captured.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela

One of the instinct traits of man, is to deal with the downside in an air of worry, wariness and despondency. While for some of us, most of the apprehension and fear is washed away slowly as we approach the task at hand; for some of us it colours the way we approach the task. The strength lies in not calculating all the downsides and upside alone, but to keep the practical eye and will at hand. True that one needs to have a fair share of caution and apprehension; to let them colour the day would mean another day not worth the memory.

“Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

The dare lies in keeping an open mind and approaching any given situation, blessed or an upheaval with the attitude to persist and prevail. For things do eventually work out, as long as we rise to the challenge and hope for a better try at every given attempt over time. Thus will then one appreciate the real treasures that life has in store for each one of us.

“When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.
Dare to be the best you can.
At all times, Dare to be!”
― Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)

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Source:https://vk.com/slideshowarts
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma

Posted in Reflections, Stories Around the World

Little of Reality, the Why and the Truth

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

With a little extra time at hand, thanks to the hours saved by missing out on the daily work-school commute (though one definitely misses them), reading those “snippets of information” makes one realise the gargantuan foundations laid not just by science, but also by reality and history. Embroiled in the fiasco of the present crisis, it looks like science and history have reinforced their teachings once again.

“Science taught…. without a sense of history, is robbed” I. Bernard Cohen

Reading up on these historical and scientific articles, one would understand that a lot of science is born from how one chooses to perceive reality. Take for instance, the fact that one has repeated bouts of morning coryza symptoms, on opening for that breath of fresh air. Some of us just pass it over, while few of us blame on the timings and the like. Yet a distinct set of people chose to ponder the whys and hows of it. So the options lie in not opening the window, or opening it another time. When the people who had the “whys” observes their hard facts, it led to the concept of “allergies”. Broaden it and includes not just the usual “hay fever” but also dust, pets or even upholstery fabrics as allergens. Record this over a length of time, and it leads to the study of allergies and the start to overcome them.

“You don’t get explanations in real life. You just get moments that are absolutely, utterly, inexplicably odd.” Neil Gaiman

Point of interest to note, is that one has to address. Just like the person with the “whys”, one needs to brood on their failures in life too. Success too requires it’s fair share of the “pats on the back”, but learning to address the falls helps one to get past them and back on our feet withe next single or couple of attempts.

Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma

As the spider says to try, try again; to do so, one needs to choose to inspect the facts, remove the inner emotions and face the hard reality. Once we join the dots and map out the course, each of our journeys will have something extraordinary and exceptional to offer, in the course of our own.

“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” Albert Einstein

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician and scientist, now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the “saviour of mothers”, Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever (also known as “childbed fever”) could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics. Puerperal fever was common in mid-19th-century hospitals and often fatal. Semmelweis proposed the practice of washing hands with chlorinated lime solutions in 1847 while working in Vienna General Hospital’s First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors’ wards had three times the mortality of midwives’ wards. Despite various publications of results where hand washing reduced mortality to below 1%, Semmelweis’s observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. Semmelweis could offer no acceptable scientific explanation for his findings, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it. It much later that Joseph Lister and Louis Pasteur discovered that it was ‘germs’ (bacteria) that were responsible for the Puerperal fever. Source: Internet

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Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
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Posted in Daily, Life, Personal Musings, Photography Art, poetry, Reflections

To Fear, or Risk

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Watching the late noon sky darkening with an unprecedented vengeance, the sudden disappearance of the bright rays likened to the hidden uneasiness present around us, most of these days. Certain days, those dark depressing thoughts come unbidden tot he mind, turning out the inner exuberance, either in a subtle manner or with all lights blaring. Some days, one is able to stamp out those thoughts. Yet on other days, we fall prey to them. What one should know, the fight is always between the fear and the risk.

“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis

Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma

Whether it be the current scenario or not, there would have been many situations when we had to do away with the fear and take that chance. On few occasions it may have been the other way around; when we lost the chance thanks to the fear. The funny thing about fer, is that it always a part of life. The wise thing is not to do away with it, but to address it.

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” Og Mandino

When we learn to just put one step ahead of the present foot print, we move ahead. But stay still or look back, the prints ahead don’t happen. It is natural to develop the sense of trepidation and fer, if everything will be alright. Yet dwelling in it for too long, doesn’t really help. It is only we gather the courage to just put one step in front of the other, that fear takes a backseat. Then we move ahead.

Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma

On looking back, one discovers that this was what “taking a risk all about”; the imperative to not let fear get the upper hand. Address our fears, but don’t let them hold us back. Time never stays still, neither should man with the huge potential and the gift of life that he has been fortunate to hold within each one of us, and be a part of.

Fear
Khalil Gibran

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma