I know how irritating it is when people try to give you advice when things are going bad. Every advice seems like another punch on the chin. The entire world seems against you. I am not going to take that path here. I am just talking about what I have learned during the many phases of feeling low and defeated. For starters, accept that you are going through a bad phase. There is no shape in acknowledging that your plans have gone kaput or that you are running a rather bad patch of fate where nothing seems to go right. Accept that things will remain difficult for some time. Treat this phase in your life as something you should go through to emerge as a stronger, more composed person. Mentally, talk to yourself that despite what hardships might come along during this unpleasant journey you will stick to the things that define you as an individual. This might mean being honest or speaking your mind. Don’t dump the things that have become a part of your persona. Realize that you have to do something when life sucks - the solution has to come from you. Let the unhappiness merge with your usual self for some time. Don’t abandon your good thinking. Keep your composure and your sensibilities sharp without throwing in the towel, not yet…

More Mental Health Discussions Here

Fruity Ice-creams are Healthy...really?

We were shopping for some home decor accessories and it just came to my mind that there is an entire world of home decorative accessories that don't use strong colors or weird shapes to impress you. The Japanese have created many living room and garden items that are supposed to harmonize the flow of energies around you. Now, don't get uptight about words related to aura, energies, chi, cha and what not...this is not some product peddling blogger trying to promote his inventory. I am sharing with some real connection to the subject. The Japs have relied on the home decor items that use running water to infuse a sense of calm. The feeling is real. There is no metaphysical phenomenon at play. if you have found yourself to be calmer than usual, less anxious, when seated alone near a serene river bank, you have already experienced it. Flowing water seems to overcome time and speed calculations. It seems to carry away the negativity and apprehensions you have. In a way, it is healing. It keeps you hooked as long as you are ready to appreciate its simplicity, the beauty of it. However, small contraptions that use this running water concept are not the ones I am talking about - you need something bigger, more expensive to get the right stuff. Yes, money plays an important role here!

Not Doing the Everyday Basics = City- wide Mayhem

If you have ever ridden the Delhi Metro, even for the shortest possible route, chances are that the announcement requesting people not to eat or drink within the Metro premises or on the train would have been heard in the most comprehensible manner. However, it seems that some people are persistent upon breaking the easiest of rules-to-follow. I should say the culprits here are often  parents, usually the overtly doting mothers, and not the children or adults like me. For some reason, motherhood to these women translates into force-feeding their children rather than using their maternal skills to keep their child’s attention diverted or somehow not let the small fellow feel restless.This discussion talks about and uses the Metro policing as a context to build-up dialogue about a larger issue...

You might want to read my post about using hand grippers to handle oncoming anxiety first to get an idea about this piece of writing. Essentially, after seeing all those stress balls lying around, even shown on TV and the movies, I decided to try this technique of keeping your hands busy to calm yourself. Yes, it works! Now, I am trying to find ways of using this more as a part of my daily life. Clenching your palms is easy. Yes, you can clench a lot of things but not every type of clenching is about releasing the pressure that builds up over a period. From my observations, being anxious and clenching the muscles around your gut can worsen issues like mental health-linked IBS. Now, read ahead to understand this very common but rarely talked about anxiety management tip:

Industrial styled interior designing is considered chic and I agree, there is something very likable about it and workplaces should try it. At workplaces, industrial designing has really picked but I feel the line between a workable, and productive, industrial theme and something that can actually dent the office productivity levels is thin and often misunderstood. Industrially styled spaces are more like practical living units without trying to hide anything.

This must be the simplest, somewhat savage, gym advice you have recently come across online – you need to push yourself harder at the gym for making sizable gains even if it seems that you are moving away from the rationale of making your body grow or making it stronger in a more scientific way. Does that mean you abandon safety? NO. This does mean you walk within the realms of reason-ability but push yourself every now and then to spurt the gains? YES!

I realized this when one of my colleagues was discussing a night out with her gang of girls. Apparently, it was someone’s birthday in the group, and the night out was supposed to be about visiting a bakery, getting handmade chocolates, and then arriving at a dining destination that was safely wrapped with pre-booked seats and a great deal on snacks and drinks. Even the cab routes were confirmed so that everybody could meet up in time for the day’s itinerary.

There is something very abjectly defeatist about the phrase 'leaving for work'

Why some people sweat more than others? Some Obsessively!

Yeah, this is not something I would like to boast about. It is something that has haunted my daily life for the last decade. What am I babbling about? I am talking about sweating - not too much of it, not the lack of it, not its regularity but only its copious, unending love for me. I tend to sweat from most places humans do and then, there are some more, now-researched surface areas from where my sweat profusely drains out my energy. This includes the area surrounding the nose, behind my ears and even my forearms!

- Position Yourself, Give-in, Only to Fight Back

Everyone seems to have some experience in the niche of observing facial expressions, forms and shapes in the clouds. However, that is not the only place in our immediate surroundings that provides plenty of fodder for such undefined exercises. I have found some of the most beautiful shapes, including the face of a frowning bear, a small hut, and the masked face of a big, brawny Batman in unusual places like:

Not all of us can claim that our present lifestyle, academic progress, workplace achievements, relationship status, reputation of being a good sibling or a son and the newest business venture has been a totally independent journey. Most of us have taken the liberty to extract that extra effort from someone else, ring-in a few favors or managed to polish some egos to push our life’s cart. However, this is not the case with a truly self-made man. His credentials are entirely different. He wears the scars of failed attempts with upmarket pride. Even the manner in which he orders food has this air of conviction, as if he owns the moment, as if not tending to him is breaking a social law. It seems that with time, God has been arm-twisted into helping him along the way, bowing to his will.