BEST OUT OF WASTE

Pic Source- Link

Hi there,

How are you?

I have been searching the internet for some creative ideas for the last few days. The top on my list was making best out of waste and I found a treasure of new ideas. People out there are so creative, hats off to them.

There were loads of sites that gave ideas to transform total waste into beautiful usable things with just a dash of color here and there, a few funky items, and loads of creativity. After going through those sites I am sure I am going to get a little possessive for the broken things lying around my house. Who knows someday I might make something beautiful out of it.

And while I was busy reading those ideas for turning waste to best, a thought was brewing in the backdrop…

When we can make the best of waste with things then why not us.

Isn’t it true that we all feel lost sometimes, isn’t it true we all mess up with our lives and there seems to be no way out and we wonder it’s all over? It’s a mess. A waste.

Relax. Take a deep breath.

Dash up the mess with a silly smile, mix your tears with bright colours and draw some crazy dreams with it, sprinkle some optimism over your broken pieces and fix it all with the glue of hope. Yeah, I know it won’t be the same as old, but isn’t it good in a way? Sometimes some things need to be altered for the best. So be creative with the mess of your life and get as funky as you can.

All the best for the new venture of rediscovering, oops sorry remaking yourself.😊

P.S. – The Kindle edition of my novel ‘Beyond Secrets’ is available at 60% discount for a limited time period. To read a free sample click here.

Chase Your Dreams

The biggest agony of our life is that we focus more on shortcomings rather than blessings. I wasted a lot of years of my life cursing my limitations. I was a basketball player and I believe I was good at it, but my height acted as a roadblock and I left my passion. Though now I know my height was not the reason for my failure, my self-belief was.

I was introduced to the above quote by Richard Bach long after I gave up playing basketball. And the woman who enlightened me with these words is Ms. Shefali Kapoor, owner of Vijay Computer Academy. She grew up between narrow-minded people who cursed her and her two younger sisters just for being girls, for their incapability of carrying further their father’s name. Well, she didn’t anyhow wish to carry her father’s name to the next generation; she dreamt far beyond that. She opened a computer academy with meagre resources. There were times destiny didn’t support her, but never for a moment she faltered. For she firmly believed if god has given her a desire, he must have given her the power to achieve it. Her passion demanded sleepless nights, tiring days, countless sacrifices and yet faced many failures, but she didn’t give up. Her strong will finally change the course of destiny and success followed. The academy which was named after her father “Vijay” has now its wings worldwide. Her father’s name has not only survived but honoured.

Her words have since been my friend, philosopher and guide. They hold me up every time I am about to give up. Though the passion of being a basketball player had withered long before I met her, I have dreams that if I share, I will be called crazy. Well, I like being called crazy is a different point. When dream becomes passion, it forces you to push your boundaries, your comfort zone and much more. It gives soul to life. A week, a month, a year, a decade, let it take what it does, but chase it until you achieve it.

Pic : Link

I connected with the above quote so deeply that it became a part of my belief system. Then there are quotes that touch us, but the words slip by our memory just like that. I wonder what words can do to us. It can alter our personality, so we need to wisely choose what we read. And carve the precious ones in our character.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Beauty

Yay its story time–little Shreya chuckled, lying cozily in her mother’s lap. “Today I want to hear story of snow white”.

Mumma smiled and started the story “There was this pretty girl who was fair as snow, soft as cotton and the prettiest girl in the world"… and the story went on…

Next day started as usual with Shreya's laughter echoing in the morning but things changed when she returned from school.

“I was again not selected for the drama.” She said dully removing her shoes. “Hmmm but then the princesses need to be fair and pretty which I am not so I guess mam did the right thing.” and she went to wash her hands.

Mumma stopped short in her work. Shreya’s words echoed in her mind for a long time. She wondered who planted these measures for beauty in these innocent minds. Aren’t we all responsible? These measures are so deeply rooted in our minds that knowingly or unknowingly we all become ambassadors of false notions of beauty. Tall, fair, slim -are these the notions of beauty? Really? The models showcased in the flimsy cover pages looking no less than the snow white aren’t flawless themselves. The dab of makeup and the photoshopped images must scare them to come to limelight with their natural beauty. Why are we chasing illusions? She decided she won’t let her daughter chase an illusion and will clear the clutter from her innocent mind.

Today she was waiting more than Shreya for the story time. And as the night crawled in, she was ready with a new story.

“So today I will tell you a different story” she said, cuddling Shreya closer in her arms.

Wow… Shreya chuckled

“This is a story of a girl”

“Who was fair as snow” Shreya said before her mother could complete the sentence.

Mumma smiled and shook her head.

“No, she was dusky and chubby."

“Oh, so she wasn’t pretty like snow white.” Shreya was disheartened.

“I didn’t say that. She was dusky and chubby, and pretty in her own way….” And the story went on.

***********************

Beauty has no parameters. It can be...

    

With all its extremes isn’t mother nature beautiful. It nurtures all extremes will equal love and care and even we appreciate nature in all its form, then why this bias for our own tribe? Why we try to confine beauty in restricted standards. May be because the false parameters are so deeply rooted in our mind that it has become a part of our belief system. It's time to shed them. Beauty is immeasurable and undefinable. Let's celebrate the vividness of our existence and appreciate beauty in all its forms.

5 ways to enhance your beauty

Photo credit - Animesh Nautiyal

Looking beautiful is every woman’s dream or I can say every person’s dream. But if you think I will discuss makeup tips here you have arrived at the wrong place. What I will share are ways to look beautiful – inside and outside.

     1)    Put on your Smile:

We always smile while portraying for a photo. Why? Because we look beautiful when we smile but why confine our smile to that one moment. Lets smile and spread smiles. Agreed, red, pink or purple shade might adorn your lips, but not as much as your beautiful smile does. You don’t even need to worry if it’s smudged or gone. And it doesn’t even harm your pocket ;).

      2)   Wear your confidence:

It doesn’t really matters which brand clothes, shoes or jewellery your wear, whether it cost 500 or 5000, whether it’s western or traditional. What is important is how comfortable you are with your choices. Confident people radiate energy that is infectious.

3) Shed self criticism:

It is more important than shedding those extra calories you worry about. If there are people who criticize you for being overweight, remember they will be the first one to advise you to eat healthy if you lose weight. Too tall, too short, too thin, too fat…there are plenty of people out there to criticize you, don’t add yourself in that unwanted crowd. I am sure you would like to look real and real people have flaws. Be the person who has maturity to appreciate and see beauty everywhere. And start with seeing that beauty in yourself.

      4) Appreciate your age:

Getting older? Congrats. Everyone does. My 5 year old is going to get old and so is my new born going to. Those thin lines starting to peep from your forehead, does that bother you? Well it shouldn’t. They are just a witness of the path you have travelled, the hardships you have survived and the wisdom you have gained in those struggles. Age brings grace, but only to those who don’t fear it.

     5)  Don’t worry too much about looking beautiful:

Sounds odd? Specially in this post... But believe me no one is going to observe the slightly darker shade on your forehead or the slight crow feet appearing around your eyes except you and except people who are born to criticize.  So stop worrying about small things. Worry takes away that special glow from you face that makes you beautiful.

Beauty is not about flawless skin or perfect figure, beauty is how you feel about yourself. If you think you are beautiful you are, if you think you are not, still you are, because you are a creation of god and no creation of god can be flawed.  So admire yourself and have a beautiful day ahead.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
My main website : www.alkadimrisaklani.com

In Search of Love

Photo credit - Asha Dimri

For long she wandered in search of love, acceptance and happiness but what she found never satisfied her for it was always incomplete.

In a long silent moment she connected with herself trying hard to find the answers of the unanswered questions. Where was she wrong? What was the reason for the overwhelming emptiness inside her? Why was she never sure she was loved and cared for?

And then she realized that she had failed the single relation in her life that was the most important – her relation to herself.

She had been able to and sometimes not able to fulfil what other desired of her but did she even know what she wanted from herself?

She had been able to or not able to keep others happy but did she even know why she was never happy?

Because in loving others she forgot to love herself, she had compromised with her identity then how could she expect others to understand her? And the emptiness inside her grew manifold when she realized she had lost herself, a mere reflection of her real self was left.

She had cried innumerable times while she failed to gain love and acceptance outside but for the first time she realized what she had lost and she cried for herself. But this time it was different. Her tears didn’t carry only pain.

With the first tear she shed self doubt and self criticism.

With the second tear she shed her search for love outside.
With the third tear she shed the fear of rejection.

And it didn’t end here, she freed countless negativity with each tear…and then…after long… she smiled…a true smile and promised to accept, respect and most importantly love herself. And happiness had no choice but to follow her for she had found a long lost friend; herself. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My main website : www.alkadimrisaklani.com