100 Days of Positivity

I don't know if the word 'luxuriate' exists. If it does not, I shall coin this new word to describe what I have been doing today - no classes - neither teaching, nor learning. Cousin came home. It has been a chill day. Wore my socks and sweater and sat curled under a sheet till she arrived. Then a few hours of continuous chatting. She got me some gulab jamun, so never mind my diet. I enjoyed it to the fullest.

 

Came across this statement in the morning. Loved it.

"Teaching can no longer be about imparting knowledge. All knowledge is there at the press of a button. The focus of education has to shift from imparting information, to processing it"

 

When people visit your life, you reflect what is the purpose, value, reason for such an occurrence.

It dawns much later what a lasting impression they cast in your life. They depart. You carry on. They leave as quietly as they enter yet they enrich and rewire you so much that you burn in that replenished zeal in life. You cannot but think if their presence was solely to guide you. Their chance encounter was only to build you. Their smile was only to assure you. Their fulfilment was only to strengthen you. Their entitlement was only to polish you.

They teach you how to read books. They lure you out to compose poems. They squint at your confinement. They sigh at your limitations. They have more confidence in you than you do. They embrace you with all your promises and pitfalls. They hold you tall where you falter.

They don't give up on you. They don't let you give up on yourself. They are intimate and distal hope. They breathe into you a fire to push yourself. They entwine in your battles to combat your fears. You wonder how was life before they arrived. You are left to wonder how would life be once they leave. They arouse in you an awakening. They confront the inevitable reckoning. You slump. They make you soar!

Gratitude surges even of that fleeting presence.
What was I a year ago? Would I have been the me today if not for this person?

Events and circumstances may alter our attitudes and perceptions but it is people and their faith in you that lifts you to kiss your dreams. These people leave behind an indelible impression and burden us with a huge gratitude for their worthwhile intersection in our life.

 

Few years ago, I bought a hula hoop for myself and began to practise with the resolve of a gymnast. It took a week to get the hang of the uncooperative ring after watching several runs of YouTube material.

The videos just say, “Swing your hips”, “Rotate your body”, “Keep doing it” but those clear and plain instructions gave me the willies of mastering Sumo wrestling. How do you twirl with the ring in place? Even before the ring warms to your hips, it slumps on the floor. Somehow, in a week or two, with a chafed and reddened waist, I achieved the balance the poise.

In few weeks, after days of fun hooping, I lost interest and abandoned it. Later on, a friend was piqued with the dismantled hoop at my place and wanted to try the hula hoop. I fixed the hoop back and slipped it around his waist and asked him to balance.

“Twirl”

“Swirl”

“Sway”

“Twist your body”

“Balance it”

“Keep swinging”

“Just keep doing it”

“Left and then Right and then Left”

He paused and screamed, “What stupid instructions are they? The hoop hardly sits on my hips !! How do I swing and twist and rotate and roll if the hoop keeps falling.”

I was stumped. I could not recall how I achieved that balance and more so how that faculty emerged — like bicycle balancing where one minute you wobble and the next you evenly steer. How did you crack that? Practise? No; Method? No; Faith, No; Soreness and bruises? Yes; but mainly it just happened! You reach the befitting equilibrium. You know it. You feel it. But you cannot retract that cross-over point to re-enact and examine the transition. Once you got the hang of the act, you cross over and can only vaguely advise: “You overcome it.”

When I ask people how they accomplish things, I receive back, “I don’t know. I just do it.” At times, I am ticked off by such disregard, then I am disappointed by the unfair treatment, then I am dejected at my stagnant pace. What a lame reply! “You just do it”. But that is the fact. You just do it when you take to something. You realize the need and strive. Yet, no self-expression can insightfully capture and describe that transition. When I check my laundry list of goals, I cringe. How and where do I even start and learn? When will I transition? I recall my slightly tattered but still in good shape hula hoop and console myself, “Let me start from that proverbial keep doing it and one day the goal will secure in place just like my hula hoop.”

Positive: 30 minutes of hooping this morning. It’s been years since I took my hula hoop out.

 

We, the women, sprout possessiveness before other fairer traits are fledged.

First, we are possessive about our dolls, then our dresses, then our pencils and crayons, then our shoes and jewelry, then our sandals and purses, and once we set our eyes on the man who is enslaved to our charm for the rest of his life, we sear him with our jealousy. A man is warned of Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, hardly is he prepared for Hell hath no choking like a woman suspicious.

 

What a pleasant surprise to. See you here my dear Anna. With one eye and index finger u r rocking in. IL.

 

Now a days I use more of my mobile than my Laptop. June 1St. Started good for me. A new neighbour was to come at. 7 For doing pooja and pal kaching. The owner phoned and told me to help them if they need anything. So Instead of using my laptop after having coffee took bath. By 7. 30 am my cooking was also over. The new neighbour invited us to have milk and gave me thambulam. So today Also took bath early and by 8. 30am my cooking, doing archana was over.