Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Be positive.. Not Negative!

WoW brings you tips that will help you not just improve your writing but also your lives... Simple steps make all the difference! :)

Be positive, not negative!
WoW Writing...
The power of positivity can never be underestimated, so how do you bring about this positivity in writing? Try saying what something is, rather than what it isn't. Focusing on the negative leads your mind towards it and emphasizes the negativity. If I told you a particular brand is inexpensive,  your mind will still automatically focus on the "expensive" in "inexpensive". A better way to put it would be to say - this brand is quite economical!
If you want to say "writing is not difficult" try saying "writing is relatively simple". Similarly, if you want to say that "this process is error-free" , you can express it positively by saying that "the process is consistent"!
Conscious effort for a few days will lead to a positive change in your writing.

WoW Life!
Day in and day out people talk about the importance of positivity. Positive attitude brings about more positivity to your life whereas thinking negatively attracts unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Lost your job? Be positive and reflect on the many doors that this situation opens - spending more time with family, focusing on doing what you really want to do. Didn’t get something that you really wanted? Maybe there's something better in store for you!
Every cloud has a silver lining to it, look for your silver lining and keep shining. You need not be the cheeriest person in the world, but simple efforts will lead to profound changes in your life.


saloni@wonderofwords.org
Wonder of Words

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Simplifly... Simply FLY

Who says that time cannot be turned? Look at me, I have taken the wheel of hours in my hand and gently tipped it backwards. It moves slowly, gracefully, round and round- anti- clockwise.

I became eight years old once again. It happened a few months ago. I chanced upon an old copy of my favorite fairy tales book. I read of Cinderella, I became Snow White, I danced with Thumbelina, went through adventures of Hansel and Gretel and felt like I am in heaven once again. The beauty of fairy tales and almost all other ‘kiddy’ books that one reads is in its simplicity. No, not just of language but of the thought. I realized that all the characters in fairy tales go through their share of mishaps and challenges but they remain absolutely untouched by them. The characters remain good. They remain beautiful. They remain simple. Little wonder, all of them in time, live happily ever after. I loved every page of every fairy tale because I knew, I had complete faith that ultimately it would all end happily. As I stared out of my balcony that night, in to wonderland, or so it seemed since I had just completed the entire book I realized..

Everything in life had become such a big deal. Taking a string of relationship, another of health, one of profession and yet another of positive thinking I had knotted all of them around me so tightly that without realizing I had strangled and tangled my spirit. Having a beautiful relationship and sustaining it seemed impossible. Feeling healthy, pain free and blithe again seemed hard. I loved my work as a writer but often doubts and fears clouded the dreams. Over the years I had complicated my life so much. And yes, I had done it. No one else. As I gazed at the stars I realized about ninety percent of my problems were self created. Beautiful relationships seemed impossible because my relationship with myself was not all right. I was constantly judging myself. Constantly wondering if I was all right? The only consolation was that most people around me seem to be doing the same. Indeed, if you just look around you will realize half of people’s lives get wasted in questioning themselves. I realized a simple solution to this would be to love myself. Yes, I would strive to become better each day… that makes life exciting but at the same time I will constantly remind myself that I am one of God’s most beautiful and precious creations. The minute I start thinking like this, a lot of self doubts and question marks clouding over would disappear.

I desire health. Yes. Do I deserve health? No. I realized my sleeping times were irregular; I ate almost everything I could lay my hands upon and exercised my mind much more than my body. I wanted to feel vibrant, I wanted to feel energetic. That night I realized that all I need to do is give my body the little attention it deserves. And the way to health can actually be fun. Eating healthy and fresh food, regular walks and sleeping times. It’s so simple. Health became an issue only because I made it one- but by taking simple, progressive steps towards my body so much can be achieved. ‘It’s not so simple okay…’ your mind may start thinking. Look at all the healthy people around you and you will know it actually is that simple.

Doubts. Depression. Dullness. Dread. The four deadly D’s in my life. I found a very simple solution to these, meditation. By beginning and ending my days with concentrating on my breathing and introspecting all these four, and much more, could be taken care of. Clarity shoved doubts away. Cheerfulness occupied the space of depression. Energetic enthusiasm became a part of who I am and fear is gradually being replaced by faith. There is so much meditation can do and yet for years I resisted sitting still and silent for just a few minutes in a day. The solution was so simple that I was unwilling to accept this could be the answer to all my woes- but well, life is actually so simple. I only complicated it because I could not accept that it was actually so simple. Somewhere I had heard that life was tough, life was a challenge, life was a struggle and I made that my reality. The illusions shattered and today I know life is only a series of experiences… to make them appear simple or complicated is the function of the mind.

K.I.S.S. , KEEP IT SIMPLE, SWEETHEART, has become the new philosophy that I abide by.


Megha Bajaj
megha@wonderofwords.org

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Practice makes one perfect~

WoW brings you tips that will help you not just improve your writing but also your lives... Simple steps make all the difference! :)

Practice for perfection..!
WoW Writing….

Not everyone who is talented, was born with it. Many times, greatness comes through practice. Incessant practice and the will to go on without giving up. Its the same with writing. The more you write, the more you will learn about writing. Most writers will advice you to set aside some time to write everyday. Or set a goal for each day, for eg. writing a page everyday. Keep reading your previous work after a few days and you will see the difference in your writing. It will get better and you will feel much better about it as well. After all, how can you improve something if you don’t practice it, don’t work on it?


WoW life!

Effort never goes waste. Half the battle is won the minute you make up your mind to get better at something. You want to cook better, spend some time reading recipes and the various techniques about cooking - then practice what you have learnt. Want to get healthier, spend some time exercising and eating healthy - then practice what you have learnt. Want to ace that interview, practice, practice, practice; catch hold of anyone and everyone willing to hear you and hold some mock interview sessions. Want to get better at presentations, its the same thing, practice, get up in front of that mirror and talk away. One of the keys to success is practice. Every iteration, every practice session take you one step closer to your final goal.


Saloni@wonderofwords.org

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Living life Inside-Out...


We believe we will feel healthy when our health becomes okay. Conversely, I have realized, the more we feel healthy, the better our health becomes. We believe that if we find that one person to love us, we will fall in love with ourselves; conversely, I have discovered that when I love myself, the entire world around me automatically finds itself in love with me. We live life outside in – and struggle on to find peace and happiness when the answer lies inside out. Peace and happiness, after all, are not commodities available in a shop. They are the bounties of the inner world.

I realized that in all the areas of my life which were going great, I was subconsciously using this ‘inside out’ formula. A while ago I had read somewhere that feel rich to become rich. Each day, I was consciously imagining abundance and ‘feeling’ it and indeed, to my astonishment, within a few months my income had grown 100 per cent. I wasn’t following the formula in relationships. Too often I depended on Arun to make me feel ‘happy’ and ‘complete’ and if ever he failed to listen to me, or understand me, I went into Being angry.

I smiled at a thought. Life is indeed like a cosmic kitchen. We are the guests who have come here to fulfill our hunger. We are ordering dishes to make us feel a certain way. We believe if we order the wonderful spouse, or the Mercedes car, or the fame we seek, or the love of the world, we will feel happy and peaceful. When the dish arrives we do feel satiated – for a moment. But, the feeling is short lived. Either we get bored of our dish or watch someone ordering a bigger and better dish and start believing now that if only we order that dish we will become happy. Wouldn’t it be so much simpler to order the feeling you want to feel instead? And grow into it, so much so that it becomes you?  In peace, in happiness, you are bound to enjoy every dish served to you – be it small or big, sweet or salty.

 I admire some people around me for certain aspects, and on closer observation I realized, they take care of their state of being in that particular areas. I have rarely ever seen my dad in a state of depression – he is usually cheerful and jokes are always in the air when he’s around. The result? I have seen so many things just go his way – reducing the chances of him feeling low altogether. Inside out. Whenever I ask my 85 year old granddad how his health is, he shows me a thumbs up. The result? He continues to remain radiant and glowing. Even when he had a kidney problem five years ago and the doctors said he wouldn’t make it through – he bounced back, full of life, because he kept telling everybody (and more importantly, himself) that he is simply waiting to eat some of his favourite delicacies (Jalebi and pizza, if you please!). Inside out.

The more a person feels good – and makes it into a permanent state of being, the more Life presents reasons for him to feel good. Unfortunately, the opposite also is true. The more a person feels miserable and dejected – and makes it into a constant state of being, the more Life presents reasons for this to be so. Change The Being – and life undergoes a change. There is no other way.

The problem with us humans is that the state of Being is our personal responsibility and too often, we don’t want to take it. We want to feel low because of him, we want to feel angry because of her, we want to feel we never became what we could because of them. It’s too easy to pass the buck on – but I have decided, I won’t do this anymore. After all it’s my life, and I want to experience abundance flowing, nay gushing, towards me from all directions.

Another issue, I recognized was that often I didn’t strive long enough to remain in a desired state of Being. Say, for five days if I tell myself to feel positive, and on the sixth day something goes wrong with my life, I started to believe the Law is not working for me. I now realize that the Law is immaculate. The thing that went wrong on the sixth day, went wrong because of my thinking before these five days when I decided to become positive. To ensure my life is amazing – I will have to constantly strive to feel amazing within. It’s not a day’s agenda – but a lifelong striving. However, the superb news is that the longer I stay in a particular State of Being, the easier it starts becoming to be there. For so many people they don’t have to try to BE happy – happiness BECOMES them.

Megha Bajaj
megha@wonderofwords.org
www.wonderofwords.org
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