happy – Page 4 – Sugar And Spice… Among Other Things

Daily, Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Random Thoughts

Two Back, One Forward

Posted on August 29, 2020August 29, 2020 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Roadblocks are nothing new. Going around them is the real issue.”

Words same or almost similar ones often echo in the recesses of the gray cells, especially when faces with those unexpected blocks. Truth to tell, those what we do expect, one can often deal with them. Those that just turn up, out of the blue, are what makes one stumble, often failing to get up soon after the fall.

So what’s next then ?

Procrastinate a bit. It isn’t a crime to do. For a while, getting out of the scene, doing something dissimilar or a remote similarity, gives us the breathing space to regroup and move ahead. For those of us who didn’t need them, well and good. But for the rest of us, sometimes those cups of tea, a swing in the hammock or just a walk around the block, gives us a fresh perspective and gives us back the inner mojo. Soon the roadblock becomes just another phase, and we move on. Don’t rush in, but just breathe. What if another comes along ? Find a way, none out; then breathe, do something else for a change and sooner or later all those roadblocks will change or the new turns open up. All it takes is those little steps, even though they may be few back and one forward. Tick along, we’ll soon be there.

“And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” Meister Eckhart

The Room of Ancient Keys
by Elena Mikhalkova

Grandma once gave me a tip:

During difficult times,
you move forward in small steps.
Do what you have to do, but little by little.
Don’t think about the future,
not even what might happen tomorrow.
Wash the dishes.
Take off the dust.
Write a letter.
Make some soup.
Do you see?
You are moving forward step by step.
Take a step and stop.
Get some rest.
Compliment yourself.
Take another step.
Then another one.
You won’t notice, but your steps will grow
bigger and bigger.
And time will come
when you can think about the future
without crying.
Good morning.

Daily, Family and Society, poetry, Reflections

Add them Up

Posted on August 22, 2020August 21, 2020 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”.

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 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. 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?’

Family and Society, Personal Musings, Photography Art

Of Import

Posted on August 15, 2020August 14, 2020 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Hindsight is often a painful thing, but in retrospect a gift in disguise. Unfortunately, the latter bit is well appreciated years later.

The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What one needs to remember that the thoughts running through, song whistled or felt in the morning, doesn’t mean much in what is it. Instead it holds a special place for it gave wings to fly for the whole day.

Whether it be a big house or a small one, as long as it is a “home”, it is indeed a blessing to feel so.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

If it follows that one is alone or by self for now, or enfolded by family and friends, more than the style or way we live, embracing life as a harmony of sensations. Of the sparkling moments evened out by the more mundane, dull or unsavoury ones; life is to be lived and felt as a whole.

More than the words that float about us around us, unless one deeply knows who they are from within; life along with her best parts and gifts may be lost in the wind.

More than that, over time, one realizes that we are a part of a bigger fabric. Each of us holds a special song, a tune or a turn; part of a special thread. This is felt by the heart and soul living within each of us. All this is what makes one, every now and then, be able to thaw out the iciness and bring in the gentleness in the world that surrounds us. As time refines us, one realizes that these are the things that really matter the most.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Life, Quotes, Random Thoughts, Reflections

From Fettered, to being Free

Posted on July 22, 2020July 22, 2020 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Getting a few hours to self, becomes more of a luxury, especially in the past few weeks. Contemplating on the changes brought about in the past few months, makes one wonder even if a sufficient warning was give, would one have ever been prepared for the present scenario.

Schools closed. Offices shifted to “work from home” mode. Sales down. Projects cancelled. Unemployment. Marked pay-cuts. Expenditure going way up above the limit, even though they may be only for essentials. EMIs piling up. Caught in this quagmire, the feeling of being stifled runs high. The tune of the day changes to basic survival.

“It’s not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong.” Jon Krakauer

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

As time always proves, one never knows unless we walk in those same shoes. Though survival is what we need to do to overcome the entangled mess, doing it becomes a near impossibility. While there may be few or many to provide words of support and encouragement; unraveling the mess and getting down to basic logistics or “ways and means” is something that one has to do on their own.

Trapped.

Knowing what is important to self helps one to regain the mental and emotional self. To be free one, needs to remember sometimes the things that trap us are our own thoughts, doubts and insecurities. Being human, one tends to over-think, draw irrelevant and unnecessary conclusions, adding more fuel to the fire. Things mayn’t be as complicated, once we try to do something genuine about the situation. Realizing this and learning to overcome them, helps one to see the rays of light through the jumble of twines.

“Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.” Mandy Hale

Whether one moves in tandem or no, the wheel of life and time goes on and on. With all their hidden or evident “trials and traps”, surviving them simply involves one to believe that they can. Forget the improbability of logistics or reality of possibilities; prioritize, decide, refuel, use own resources at hand and just go ahead. Somewhere along the way, the mental strength will come back and one learns to escape from the trap. As taught by life every now and then, value is best appreciated when one escapes from the snares.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Life, Quotes, Random Thoughts, Reflections, Stories Around the World

The Silent Restraints

Posted on July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Free afternoons are a rarity, especially when taking into account the present scenario of being the single parent (for now), children at home and the occasional ping of the messenger, the latter doing it’s best to create a chaos of it’s own in the guise of “work from home”. Not to highlight further on the tales of the past few weeks (ten, to be precise), the yo-yo phase has been going on. Which is why, the “rare sane hours” resulted in the bringing up a whole mass of photos (desktop, scanned ones, forwarded, social media downloads) to be sorted.

.. And they sing roads and bridges,
Colors of the forest and wind of events,
Stars, birds, rivers and flowers:
“Treasure your happiness, cherish!”
Eduard Asadov

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

Going through them, did trigger plenty of memories and the first round resulted in few sorted. As the sorting opened even previous files, the sudden downpour of photos lead to the journey into yesteryear. Though the travel was present, the return to the present brought out the sharp contrast of then and now.

Fact is we all change, some of us in a significant manner opposite to the original, others a more refined way of “then” and the very few who may remain more or less the same. Despite all these highlights, the unvarnished reality is that situations change and so do each one of us. Be it for better or worse, one needs to live in the present, especially to feel life through time. Harboring memories is fine, but storing up all the “regretful ones” just turns the mood sour.

Carrying, sorting, reviewing or entertaining all these hurtful or even the too happy memories, may turn out to be an encumbrance for the present. While “those days” were important, in the sense of “now”, they don’t really matter. At times, memories may become a millstone around the neck. If so, then it’s time to let them go. Carrying all that baggage won’t help us get our flying feet off the ground. Delete them, file them away in a remote corner and let time take care of it. For now, just take a deep breathe, lift off and fly. The view from above is worth the try.

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

Once there was a free bird. She floated in the sky, catching midges for lunch, swam in the summer rain trickles, and was like many other birds. But she had a habit: every time some event occurred in her life, whether good or bad, the bird picked up a stone from the ground. Every day she sorted out her stones, laughed remembering joyful events, and cried remembering the sad ones.

The bird always took the stones with her, whether she was flying in the sky or walking on the earth, she never forgot about them. The years have passed, and free bird got a lot of stones, but she still kept on sorting them, remembering the past. It was becoming more and more difficult to fly, and one day a bird was unable to do this.
The bird that was free some time ago, could not walk on the earth, she was unable to make a move by her own. She could not catch midges anymore; only rare rain gave her the necessary moisture. But a bird bravely endured all the hardships, guarding her precious memories.
After some time a bird died of the starvation and thirst. And only a pitiful bunch of worthless stones reminded of her for a long time.

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

Daily, Life, poetry, Reflections

DEPTHS

Posted on July 9, 2020July 10, 2020 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Guarding the pile of newspapers kept safe in the wall unit requires a certain amount of skill, specially in camouflaging the surroundings. With kids and pets running amok in the house, the set of the current week’s newspapers are kept up high, but one has to be wary of their wily ways and means. When the reader wonders the purpose of this, for the daily paper is meant for reading each day and with plenty of “visual media”-nization, why do so. The reason is simple, for the editorials as well as the obituary section. Even though one is well informed of the local news (specially those of the bad type), those pages are scanned through each day, only to read the bare details. When one reads those smaller words, is when figures out the person behind those lives. Noticing such things gives a daily to weekly reminder of not just how precious life and time is, but also how we lived through them.

“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source:https://vk.com/englisharoundtheworld

Making a difference never lies in the strength of how much time or resources one has at hand. Instead it lies in the way one prefers to wield them in the best possible manner. Whether it was an unfortunate end or the passage of years slowly over time, the mark one leaves behind is what matters.

When the hue and cry dies down on the weekend mornings, these sections are given a thorough read, for they do deserve it. As the sun rays filter through, the morning sky makes realize the strength of what we hold in our hands and thoughts within. No one knows how long one has. On the other hand when the talents gifted, blessed or acquired put to use in their deserving manner, then whether the days be short or long, one has their due and left their mark in the world and lives around them. Depths do matter as lengths, more or less, doesn’t make a difference. As shown daily through the contrast of day and night, as long as one breathes, live the hours not simply to one’s heart’s content but also to appreciate the chances given or taken, and their due difference made in their right and true manner.

Source:https://vk.com/englisharoundtheworld

Part Two: Nature

XXXIX

BRING me the sunset in a cup,
Reckon the morning’s flagons up,
And say how many dew;
Tell me how far the morning leaps,
Tell me what time the weaver sleeps 5
Who spun the breadths of blue!

Write me how many notes there be
In the new robin’s ecstasy
Among astonished boughs;
How many trips the tortoise makes, 10
How many cups the bee partakes,—
The debauchee of dews!

Also, who laid the rainbow’s piers,
Also, who leads the docile spheres
By withes of supple blue? 15
Whose fingers string the stalactite,
Who counts the wampum of the night,
To see that none is due?

Who built this little Alban house
And shut the windows down so close 20
My spirit cannot see?
Who ’ll let me out some gala day,
With implements to fly away,
Passing pomposity?

Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.

Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma

Source:https://vk.com/englisharoundtheworld

Life, Personal Musings

The Bend

Posted on July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going. “

Entering into the “adult phase” of life, the above phrase is something that many of us may have come across. Juggling between university, work and life in general, these words may make their first entry. If not then, maybe while family life and professional life get into their respective modes. Through these words and by general advice, the point highlighted is always to brave against the tide, use own resources or talents and charge ahead.

True that all this is important but a certain undeniable point is, how to deal with it. More importantly, how does one learn to live through it.

“A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.” Helen Keller

Source:https://vk.com/englisharoundtheworld

Sitting back and reflecting, each sunrise to the next holds its own events. Some of these may be classified as occurrences, others as routine, few as challenges which may be easy crossed as a test of mettle while others may be classed as “unavoidable and certain hurdles”. Undoubtedly the classification is something that varies from person to person. In due process, when one tends to classify many situations as “tough” it is time to sit back and take a deep look into our lives, as well as to remember that one is never alone.

Getting a heartbeat is a miracle, living it is a blessing.

If and when “the tough events” happen, the difference lies if one is willing to reflect back and decide whether the situation is really tough, or is it a state of own mind. If the factors tend to the latter, it is high time to take a breath and go for a run, joining in with the rest of the world around us.

“Maxim 36: When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support.
-The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries” Howard Tayler

Eventually things will settle down. All one has to do is to hang in there, and not let those “tough situations” get to us.