FOOTBALL FEVER !!!!

The monsoons have just started and the monotony of everyday life is slowly setting in. Just as how the first Crocus flower breaks through the blanket of snow at the break of spring, inspires the artist, nothing inspires the football fan more than the moment when the two teams walk out onto the green, proudly donning their respective colours in front of their roaring fans. It is a most indescribable feeling. Adrenaline races through the veins and the weight of expectation sets in. Breathing is suspended for a brief moment in time. A look of consternation masks the 22 on the pitch. The referee pulls out his whistle, acknowledges the crowd, and raises it to his lips and then a kick on the ball! This is the onset of a disease, and the one that is good for soul – Football Fever.

In fact, according to FIFA, there are 265 million football players around the world making it the single largest sport across the globe. Yes indeed, football is big business. As with all high profile, extraordinarily expensive events, much controversy surrounds the event. But love it or hate it, for me there is something wonderful about seeing teams from across the globe descending in a single location and playing a game that they love. Perhaps football is the great equalizer especially, the World Cup, the granddaddy of football, occurs once every four years.

Football fever has struck throughout the world and am not an exempt. And during the World Cup, it is all that everyone here is talking about. At Brazil, this Game draw mobs of often unruly spectators all rooting for their hometown team and for those who can't secure tickets like us, we watch these matches in a different time-zone only just because of the pure passion towards it. We've even joined friends and been a part of the crowd cheering on the game. It seems as though everyone is either playing or watching the sport.

From day I started  watching football I started liking GERMAN team the most and i would always say they are in fact the best in the world. Living in a mixed community of fans of different Football teams, I am feeling and seeing the sense of excitement on a daily basis. In the weeks and yes, even months leading up to the World Cup, people were talking about the big game and SPAIN/BRAZIL's chance of winning this world cup. I honestly have no idea on other team’s stands at winning but regardless of this, GERMAN support has been prominently displayed by me. I always wish to be in the crowds roaring and cheering when my Team is playing.

Facebook pages are filled with commentary about good and bad plays and calls. Even those countries without low FIFA rankings have fans and these teams really surprised their fans by awesome game and classic wins over the biggies. I must admit, it is all kind of exciting. While we haven't been staying up into the wee hours to watch the games, and we have been catching as many as we can.

Do you have any favourite team?

For all non-GERMAN matches, I have a tendency to root for the underdog but I guess it all depends upon who is actually playing at the moment. And the fact is that it really doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day it is the excitement of the game that is so contagious.

PAY IT FORWARD !!!

The blogging world has been both fascinating and overwhelming to me.  I hesitated starting a blog for years.  I had difficulty overcoming the thought that it was self-centered to assume that people would want to read what I have to say. And especially the language barrier, hindered me in expressing my thoughts. But thanks to the invention of apps that are interactive, I’m now a member of Words with Friends and one other interactive game. The first one is fun, allowing me to use my  word vocabulary to impress my friends with words along the lines of ‘some’ and ‘other’. Let me point out, I have never won with big scores though.

I am so grateful that I finally overcame my fears and entered into this arena – and a huge thank you to the friends... It has already been a wild ride. I had received comments to many of my blog from my family & friends.The comments, though not on the post itself, but by emails, text, verbally, in person, etc. truly touched me to my core..

As I read all of the comments, though, I was extremely touched by them.  The act of commenting alone, is a kindness (someone is taking time out of their busy lives to show interest in what I said); but it is also the nature of the comments.

People offer interest, sympathy,  concern,  support, encouragement and love.   And these people are not only my immediate family and core group of friends – they are my extended family, with whom I have reconnected in significant ways; they are acquaintances, with whom I have forged tighter and closer friendships; they are total strangers, with whom I want to become friends and, really, consider friends already.

It is easy to get bogged down in the depressing aspects of our world right now.  That so many people are willing to take the time to offer encouragement and support is a huge reminder to me about the basic goodness of human nature.  And also how incredibly important it is for us to reach out to one another.

It has caused me to reassess my views. I have been reading various blogs and facebook posts for years but rarely commented.

Why?

When I was in my busy and stressed out phase of my life, I think it was a time issue.  I see the absurdity of that now.  How much time does it really take to reach out and pat someone else on the back (actually or virtually)?

I also struggled with feeling as if I was an intruder.  There is a sense of voyeurism when reading people’s posts and, by commenting, you are admitting to being a voyeur (or so I thought at the time).  I realize now how wrong that is.

I am reminded of the movie ”PAY IT FORWARD” which was remade as "STALIN" in Telugu and "JAI HO" in Hindi, in which a favor for someone to be paid forward by doing a favor for three persons, rather than returning the favor to the same person.  It was a bit of an odd movie, but the concept of paying it forward is a strong one.

So please consider this my way of paying it forward in the social media arena, motivating the budding bloggers like me...

For those of you considering a blog, go ahead and try it.  It has been one of the more rewarding experiences of my life.  I feel as if I am finding my voice and living a life more authentic to me.

For those of you who read blogs, please consider commenting on posts that you enjoy.  Understand that by commenting and showing interest in a post, you are showing kindness to the author.  Now when I read blogs and posts, I make the effort to comment on ones that I find interesting.  And when I do comment, I feel very positive about it.

And then on a more personal level, for those of you who have commented on my posts or offered me encouragement on my blog, I give to you a huge and heartfelt thank you.

Is it true that you want it?

I know I have not been updating more often and I am trying harder to keep on track with it! But I am not abandoning this beautiful but awkward mind-space that I have created.

So, if you know anything about my life right now (my Facebook statuses will reveal it), you’d know that I am having a heck of a time sleeping. It continually evades me. Which is weird, because usually my relationship with sleep is usually very copacetic? But I guess I get much like an overly attached girlfriend to my sleep and sleep decides it has to be a jerk.

So, I tried to calm myself by thinking nice thoughts, but they usually get away from me too. Finally decided to use my second girlfriend "Ïnternet" to update myself on the FIFA 2014, and ended up listening to Shakira's FIFA song.

Is it true that you want it?

Then act like you mean it

With everyone watching

It's truth or dare, can you feel it?

These lines caught my attention..  and started my butterflies of the thoughts on them... This reminds me of an article which i came across, it says,

"Whatever your bigger goals are in life, what are you willing to do achieve it? Are you willing to make sacrifices? Work when others are sleeping? Eat only particular noodles? Breakup with a girlfriend/boyfriend who is holding you back?"

Many times we may think we want it so bad, but do we really? Most people aren’t willing to make sacrifices to get what they want. The successful ones do what the unsuccessful ones aren’t willing to do. Those who like the idea of doing something will quit after failing once or twice. They will say, “It’s too hard. It’s not meant to be. Oh well I tried.”  But the committed ones don’t stop.

However this commitment alone is no longer enough unless you face the Battle between making choices (Easy vs. Hard). I still remember the nursery rhyme "Inky Pinky Ponky" which we used, to make the choice during childhood (in-fact even during our university exams) to choose the answers. But this methodology will no longer work out for these situations !!! It is a tough battle when deciding between the two. They don’t get along. They’re like the angel and the devil that sits on your shoulders talking to you. Each one wants you to listen to them.

When I think back over my life, I’ve found that time and time again, the hard choices I’ve made were the ones that provided lasting positive change in my life. When I took the easy road, it didn’t have any impact – it was only the hard choices that really brought about change. I’m where I am today because I’ve had to make hard choices the past years. They weren’t the most fun at the time. I would have rather been goofing off, watching movies, whatever was on TV, reading magazines. But I knew I had taken the easy road before that and it led to a life I didn’t want.

Hehehe ... I'm pretty much guaranteed to achieve my goals and I'm actually going mad coz of that and I didn't think of it sooner. I don't really know where I was going with all of these thoughts.  LOLz.. It is probably best to stop now. No more ADVISORY INJECTIONS  !!!!!!  Catcha soon !!  Bye Byee !!!

Perfectly Cursed Life !!!

Can you just imagine this. “Chasing that dream that you’ve always longed for. Doing what makes you come alive.”

Can you feel it? The joy?  The buoyancy? Me too, as stated in my previous blogs, even am chasing my dreams. If someone tells you that they are ‘following their dreams’ what would you say to them?  Would you mock and laugh or would you encourage and support them?

One of the Motivating mentors said in his seminar which i attended, "It’s what you were put on this earth for!  Your dreams are the reason why you are here, why you live and breathe today.  For you to be happy, fulfilled and in love with life you must follow your dreams because they matter!!"

For me there are no arguments here, just facts. However, living your dreams can come at a price.  Of course it is far easier to settle with the ordinary life, not rocking the boat or challenging the ‘way things are’. These days, the phrases ‘be yourself’ or ‘be authentic’ are thrown around so carelessly, that I’m not surprised at the amount of people who feel frustrated around the whole subject. What makes it even worse, is that when people say be yourself, it is almost always accompanied with the word ‘just’. Just. “Just be yourself!” They say nonchalantly.

On a practical note, it seems like a myth, mostly propagated by people who tell you to do what you love. Doing what you love will make you feel fulfilled. But you don’t need to get paid for it. So if you are overwhelmed with the task of “doing what you love” you should recognize that you are totally normal, and maybe you should just forget it. Just do something that caters to your strengths. Do anything. Doing work and being valued in the community is important. We become realists. Whatever the hell that means, for better or worse, we value people with money.

As far as I can see, the happiest people I know of are the inhabitants of tropical islands or are under the age of 12. There is something to be said about a child’s mind- the mind that draws a line between what’s real and what’s imaginary that’s so faint, you have to question whether it’s there at all. This pulls me to one of Ernest Hemingway’s remarks, “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”

Isn’t that the truth? The difficulty of being authentic gets lost in translation. It would be nice to live in a world where being yourself is like breathing, but that’s not where we live.

In simple terms let’s call it, a "Perfectly Cursed Life", where you can neither follow your dreams nor stay happy with what you have.

Everything is a Miracle !!

A very happy and prosperous new year to all of you!!

Somewhere I read today that, "There are days". What does that really mean??? Does it say that there are days where you are a total loser, and then there are days where "bang" you are a super dude, where everything is right for you. Or does it mean that, whatever you work for doesn't matter because there are all kinds of days. I think what it really wants to say is, that everything is relative and you take every day as it comes!! Likewise, there are days when you feel like writing and sometimes there are days when you don’t feel like writing and when you scribble something, and today is my one of those days and the first one in this year. 

Few days back we were having a small discussion among my friends; it just started with the topic "Why everyone just sees only the beauty and the happiness within”??  Well though Happiness and beauty comes in all different forms but are directly related.

Beauty is all around us. Everywhere we see. It’s omnipresent. The physical, the spiritual, the metaphysical, it was put in the lands we live in for a reason; to make us feel a certain way. It’s all about the feelings that are evoked within us, just as that feeling you get in your stomach at the sight of someone special in your life or the feeling you get when you are alone, listening to your favorite song or upon eating your mom's home cooked meal (especially when you stay away from parents like me). This feeling is none other than the so called Happiness.

Happiness is a state of mind that can only be permanent if it comes from within, it cannot be achieve through external forces. In that case happiness will only be temporary. It may be extremely helpful to remember that happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it solely depends upon what you think.  

Happiness can be got from simplest of things and not big gifts and grand gestures. Am sharing a simple thing to do which I learnt from one of my friend is, start the day by thinking of all the things you are thankful for. Not only will this give you a great perspective it will also put a smile on your face. Happy thoughts and a smile on the face will be your key here.

When coming to the memories, it can light you up or sometimes kill your mood completely. How actions, reactions, things, situations all lead to that incident!!  Replaying the past in front of your eyes like you see in the movies.  Sometimes you need to pinch yourself to remind yourself that what you see now is just a recollection of the past. And how the past can’t be forgotten yet it can always be lived via your memory. 

The magic of memories is a cinematic experience altogether, as you can relive the moment from the past in just span of few minutes. So the next time you have time take a journey through your past memories as sometimes, these very memories that will bring a big smile to your face.

This end result is beautiful to look at but what is more remarkable is the journey towards this miracle of life. Someone wise once said that "everything is a miracle". I believe in it a 100%.