Powered by Happy Book

     While I was just writing my previous post, I saw this email sent to me. I thought I can share it.
Basically, it's the summary of what was discussed in a meeting, which I did not attend, as I am a contractor. And, the meeting is something which contractors are not invited for. Am glad that I got to see the summary. It is the summary of the main points explained in a book called 'Powered by Happy book'. What I understand is, these are the things one can do to stay happy. And I think that I saw this mail in the right time. I myself should put into action these points. So, here is what the mails says: 

• Create your own definition of Happiness 
• Have you ever stopped to think about what Happiness means to you?
• Choose happiness and make it Happen
•  If you are not happy, make decision to remedy it.
• Avoid what hold your Happiness hostage
• Minimizing worry and negative thoughts
• Spend too much time worrying about problems, complaining about them, or simply avoiding them, when we could confront them and move on. Need to separate fact from ficiton
• Hang with a gang that gets it
• Being around negative people can not only affect your attitude but also how others see you.
• Dump the to-do list and start an I-Wish list
• Your to-do list might change daily, but your wish list will bring you back to your big-picture life goals
• Take the "Un" out of "UnHappy" and be grateful
• Instead of thinking about all the things that could go wrong, think about all the things that are going right
• Make a high-yield happiness investment
• Think about the happiness you get when you help others
• Oh, Happy day- Get your happiness on the calendar now!
• Make sure to include fun events on your calendar and not just work items
• When all else fails, just laugh
• "Laughter is the best medicine". Be able to laugh at yourself.
• Pack your happiness and take it to work

PS: This is all worded my Terry, except for presenting them in an order on my blog.

When I don't want the night to End..

    It's been really tough for me to manage things for the past few months. Everything seems to be going against me, except for one or two. The happiness of that success didn't last for long though, because of the rest of the things going against me. I am happy that it's all coming to an end soon. I will soon be home. But this mental torment just a week before the end of everything, is what is not expected. From a few days, I keep waiting for the day to end, so that I can be home. Once I was home, I did not want the night to end, so that I need not face the morning which visits with so many 'I did not want this' moments. I do not even feel like sleeping because it feels like the morning is soon there, in the very next minute. I keep encouraging myself, saying that I should get back brave and face everything. But with everything against me and everybody against me, it's really getting tough. I try to convince people explaining everything and requesting them to understand my situation. But the weird thing is, no one seems to understand. The reasons they give, are just blunt and improper. This is what is cheesing me off. I don't find at least one crazy answer to why people are not interested in helping, when they actually can, except for the one that they can't help being selfish. Until a few weeks ago, the phrase 'Like I care' really helped me in facing difficult situations and people. I made a post on this phrase too, but somehow, it's not going to make it's place on the blog. I use this phrase with lots of attitude, and it makes me feel really 'like i care'. Till now, am the one experiencing the anguish. And I feel like that's going to make me strong. I realized it just today, when I talked to someone very strong about what I want to do. And said that it is what I will do, whatever it takes. May be I should behave just the way people do. Looks like, they can understand things only that way. I think all this helps me get strong, but I cannot take this stress. I am hoping that everything will be sorted out soon.

Horo Mania

     It's been really really long since I even thought of blogging. I don't know what made me think that my life is so busy and I don't know why I am very rigid and serious about so many things. I should take a chill pill and enjoy the sweet nothings life has to offer. I realized this morning how badly I am occupied, when I looked at a very beautiful tree with nicely changed fall colors. I have been thinking all along, that Columbus has no traces of fall. I realized that I haven't been noticing all those beautiful colors in this so called busy life. And, I must definitely mention something now.The blogger interface finally changed (wail). I am not finding the "switch to old interface" option anymore. Am I not finding it ? Or is it really gone?? 

     So, I started this post in office and am continuing at home. Ah, it took sometime to come back and continue with this post. The cab driver pissed me off today. I really don't understand why I have to pay him for the time he takes to give me the change back. All weirdos I come across everyday. I should probably try to control my temper otherwise, I might end up with temper issues.

     Anyway, now to the topic, Horo mania!!! Horoscope has been one of the things I was crazy about almost 2 years ago. I was so much into horoscopes that I remembered people with their zodiac signs. This was the site I always looked into as soon as I went to office. I always felt that what is given in the horoscope matched my situation. I still wonder how that was possible. There used to be a magazine for my office, in which there was again a horo column. And, I would never start my day without reading that. I turned my friends too, to horo maniacs, lol. Somehow, I completely forgot about horoscope after my wedding, hehee. It was yesterday that I suddenly looked for my horo online and I came across the same website. Nostalgia!!

Whenever I read horo, I feel as if everything I think of, will happen at any cost. And as if everything is possible. I sincerely don't know why I feel so. Somehow, I feel confident when I look at my horoscope. Sudden landing on that site made me really very happy. And I will continue reading it again, I guess. Let us C++ :)

     

Dan Brown

   It's been a while since I wrote something here. The new job is keeping me quite busy. Dan Brown is the one who is making me blog even in this busy schedule. Yes, I am talking about the author Dan Brown. Of course, google made me do the previous post even before doing this :)  


   So I have been reading this book of Dan Brown called 'The Deception Point' and I realized how good an author he is!! I couldn't read a single line of this book without appreciating him. The thought about the amount of research he would have put in, to write the book, is amazing. This is the feeling that I got while reading his other two works too. 

   The first time I bought Dan Brown's was around 3 years ago. That day I was bored like hell and none of my friends were interested in going out. So, I just went to a book shop that is very far from my place, and bought some books, just to while away some time. 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons' by Dan were among the ones I bought. The others were Sidney Sheldon's if I remember it right. Being a great fan of Sheldon, I started with one of his' and I gave 'Angels and Demons' to a friend of mine, to read. She hardly read 2 or 3 pages and said that the book was more like a Physics text book rather that a novel. I remember one of my colleagues telling me that it was an awesome work. So, I was surprised as to which one was right. But when I started reading it, I felt just the way I felt when reading 'The Deception Point'. 
    
    The things he talks about in the novel, are really awesome. He talks a great deal about Physics and technology in 'Angels and Demons'. In 'Deception Point', he talks a great deal about astronomy, Oceanography and lot more. I realized how much work can be put into writing a book. You can find an example of this, in Chapter 51, when he describes how a person is killed. He talks a great deal about Computers, cryptography and encryption algorithms in 'The Digital Fortress'. 

     I really feel that reading Dan Brown's books increases our knowledge. I still have to 2 more of his books to read. On my visit to a Good Will Store last time, I got a few books. And I am so happy that I bought 'The Lost Symbol'. I am really excited to read that. But I would start only after reading some other book by a different author. I cannot read the same author's one after the other. The 'Da Vinci Code' I bought, disappeared through a friend long time ago, though. 


     I just feel like writing about a particular scene in which a girl asks an oceanographer, about where polar bears lived. If they lived in arctic circle or the antarctic circle. It could have been written by just saying that they live in the arctic circle. But he explains the etymology of the word to her. I just loved it. I just love reading Dan Brown's. 

Google disappoints me

    This morning I was just thinking about a few pictures I uploaded in picasaweb and I just logged in to see them. And damn!! Not a single album was in there. I really did not like this change by Google. 
    
    Usually I am not much excited about 'Change'. Change is something that frightens me and makes me very much uncomfortable. Google has been testing my patience for sometime now. They keep changing the look and feel every now and then. The first big disappointment for me was when the Gmail look was changed recently. I really hated to use the new look. But fortunately, there was an option which allows me to continue with the old look. I was happy to find at least that option. But that happiness did not last long. One fine morning, I realized that Google is not giving me the luxury of using the old look anymore. 
    
    Something similar happened with picasa too (wail). It is a big disappointment for me this morning. I don't know if I would be using picasa albums anymore. And, I am seeing a changed blogger interface as well. Just like in the other two cases, I have the option of using the old blogger interface now. I am sure sooner or later, that is going to disappear. I am not sure if I would be blogging anymore, after that happens! Or  may be I should make myself accustomed to accepting the so called 'Change'. With so many other options to do the same that I do with google now, I can actually switch to something else. But I don't know which one I would better accept - switch between the old and new looks of Google, or switch to an entirely different site!!

It's very difficult to practice what I preach!

              I had a good conversation with a kid who learns music from me. He is a very intelligent kid with lots of enthusiasm. He is just 5 but has exceptional understanding. Whenever I talk to him, keeping aside the innocence of his', I don't feel like I am talking to a 5 year old. The way he responds to any question never failed to surprise me.

        

              He keeps crying in the class, and says that he misses his parents. Though I tell him that his Dad is going to be with him in just a few minutes, he cannot control his grief. As a result, his focus on the lesson being done, is very less. One fine day, he was, for some reason, not missing his parents much. That day, he learnt 6 of the lessons, as opposed to only 2 in 4 of his previous classes. And he became worrisome again another day. So, I explained to him that when he worries much, his focus is less. I told him how he learnt 6 lessons in one class. At the end of the class, I usually give a summary of what I teach. So, when I asked him what we learnt that day, the response he gave made me extremely happy. I was so surprised. I was expecting him to say that he learnt so and so swaralu. But he said that he learnt not to worry, and that worrying will decrease his performance. I was awed by his understanding.

              I could talk to him and explain how worry leads to things not being done properly. But I, myself am not able to follow that. These days, I think of that kid, and what I explained him, whenever I am worried. And I really think, it is not easy to practice what we preach. Those who can, are praiseworthy. 

My First Music Performance

               I feel so happy for being able to sing Carnatic Music. I, in fact, feel fortunate and blessed for getting the chance to learn this form of music with lots of support from my family. I don't remember practicing music ever, while I was a student. All my practice was in the shower. I still sing in the shower. So, this morning, in the shower, I was singing one of those beautiful Annamacharya Keerthanalu, and I suddenly thought of my first ever performance on stage.

              
              I was 10 or 11 yrs old may be. In Nellore, TTD conducted State-level competitions every year. So, my parents felt that I am grown enough to perform on the stage and they enrolled me in the competition. I was myself very interested in participating too. So, I chose one random cassette of Annaymacharya Keerthanalu from the pile and played it. I chose the song 'Kanti Sukravaramu'. And I practiced it myself. This song will always be my special song. That being said, please don't think that I did very well in that competition. 

             
             That was the very first time I was going to perform on the stage, that too in a competition. I was so very nervous. When my name was called for, I gathered some courage to perform, with the support of mom and dad. It was my first and last worst performance :) I started singing, but because of nervousness I couldn't control my breath. On top of that, I saw one of the judges, nodding her head. Today, I feel that she might have done that feeling that my song was going good, in spite of my no control over breath. But, that day, I thought that they did not like my song, and that she is asking me to stop the song. What a fool I was!! They were asking some folks to stop the song, when they felt they have already judged their song. So, may be I was not confident on my song, or whatever, I don't know. I just came off the stage, and started crying :). I still remember that day and laugh my heart out. Some of my friends' parents suggested me to practice more. However, that day, I learned something. The next year, I took the same song and I was selected for semi-finals. Of course, I couldn't get through the semi-finals but that was an achievement!!

Dotted Mani!!

          So, here is a dotted mani I did for myself for a contest -- http://www.chalkboardnails.com/2012/02/im-hosting-nail-art-contest.html. 
         Just saw this and thought I can give it a shot. I am not an expert at mani but wanted to give it a try. So, here is my mani!!

           I am not very good at taking pictures too, but yeah.. here it is!!! :)

January Post!

       Heylo folks!! It's been very very very long since I posted something on my blog. Have been quite busy from a couple of weeks before the new year even started. Had so many friends visiting us. And now, I realized that today is the last day of the first month of this year. So, badly wanted to post something for the month, lol.

       To me, the new year started very well. As with every year, I started this year too, with a set of resolutions, wink. And please don't ask me how I am dealing with those. I lost track of those in the first month itself. But the year is not over yet. So, I really hope to follow my resolutions for this year (Power of positive thinking :P). Some people really does not want to make any resolutions. I think one should definitely make some such list. Following it or not, is secondary. I really feel it is important to get some ideas kindled. My most important resolution for this year is to not speak ill of anyone, either in front of them or at their back. I don't say I do this often. But, sometimes people drive me crazy with their behavior and attitude. Even in such situations I should not give up.

       Well, I took some other resolutions too, like eating healthy, ways of spending, to never get upset with loved ones and some such things. I have done many new things last year. I hope this year too, brings me the joy in doing new things and enjoying every moment to the fullest. I wish all you guys to have happiness, joy and I wish that you guys get what you wish for. I know it's a little too early, but, Happy New Year :P