Sometimes all of us need some help to break out of the loops in life.  A few years ago, I noticed a strange change in myself. There was a constant feeling of unease..I felt like danger looming... a catastrophe going to happen. I tried hard to track down the reasons, but my mind was not giving me answers. I realized there is no apparent reason to feel this way if I can't point to it, right away. I thought to myself, "After all, there are scores of people in real situations at hand, and they don't worry! Why do I?" It was a valid point, and my logical self wanted to believe it badly but somehow I wasn't convinced. Soon, I started showing physical symptoms like feeling shortness of breath and general hot flashes. This is when I paused and thought to myself - "This can't be normal". I do realize now that when my mind space was such, I would also have been defensive in my demeanor in public. I tried to shoot back counters to anyone who wanted to judge me ...

Photo by  Patrick Hendry  on  Unsplash Life rewards us in mysterious ways. You "blend in" and get immediate results that amount to gratification and happiness. You may "Stand out" because you are a natural, but the world will question your worth.  "Standing up", is the real deal.  Just like fitting in, Standing up is also a choice... the tougher choice that we make to be true to ourselves. At first, it gives nothing back to us except fear, hate, and friction. But if we hang in there using this friction, we will start to see us as an evolved version of ourselves. We will be someone describable in a few good words. We will find our identity. Even in the literal sense, Friction is the force that opposes motion. But we know that it eventuall y   helps us. Without friction, we would touch but won't be able to feel, would draw but won't be able to leave the impressions of it, would try to climb but won't move upwards, would flow with the current but ...

Photo by  Ladd Greene  on  Unsplash There is an old story of a frog in boiling water. It is relevant even today in the context of how we look at our jobs. It might be useful to learn a thing or two, looking back at this story in new light. The stories goes like this. There was a frog that deliberately hopped into a pot. The pot had fresh water so it indulged in swimming around a bit. Not too long later, the pot of water started getting warm. Frog didn't know that the pot was set on flame to warm up. The water was getting warm, warmer and so on. Frog could now foresee that its only going to get hotter from here on. It contemplated taking the leap out of the pot but, since frogs have the skill to withstand temperature up until boiling point, it stayed on waiting for that point. Once it got too hot to handle, coping with heat was getting difficult. Soon the frog got to a point of exhaustion and it simply succumbed. It could no longer make the leap. All its energy had been sp...

jozefmicic/Adobe Stock Disclaimer : I am not an aspiring shrink. I might be a few years too late for that attempt Hi my readers! ( yes, all 4 of you out there! :-) ) I often think about why people suffer Identity Crisis. All of us have or do face it on and off. The key, I feel, is in how we answer just one question. A very important question; How do I describe myself ? It might be fruitful to introspect and find out what our answer to that question has been. More importantly, if we have answered it ourselves. Is it our own authentic answer? when someone asks us to describe ourselves, the first few things that pop into our head might be: 1. What job do we do? 2. How good or bad we are at it? 3. What belief do we relate to - religious, political or others 4. What is our role? 5. What is our social status? 6. How we look? and so on. But think about who has actually answered these questions. We rely on our boss to tell us what role we play and how good or bad...

Are you a parent yet? Most part of childhood, our children equate their parents to Superheroes. In your child's eyes, a Superhero doesn't err. And I am sure we parents recognize and agree to Spiderman when he says  "with great power comes great responsibility". I do believe that parenting is a scientific process as much as an emotional journey. Every action has an affect on our child's brain. You might notice, there are famous parents' children who are infamous for the way they are handling their life. On the other hand there are celebrity children who are as driven as their parents. We also see most successful people are self-made. As a parent, I wonder, if we are doing all the right things or are we doing what we know as "right"? A Seal , starts teaching its young one, from the age of 2 weeks, to swim in the sea and identify the right air holes in ice to pass through. An Orangutan  makes its child a young apprentice to learn to pick th...

My fellow rational animals! We may be in the middle of a Pandemic. We may even be in the middle of the biggest global crisis. But you see, all you really have to do is;  be that Tree.  Be the Tree, you see outside your window. Rain or shine, just like that tree, the only thing you have to do is, Grow . This is the most natural way to respond, so be that Tree. Keep taking in the fuel even though no-one waters you, shed the leaves you don't want anymore, strengthen the branches that make you what you are. I am convinced that this is the only way. Freedom of movement is taken away, for our safety. We are huddled up in our homes. Some of us might have material losses that are not in our control. But for most others, its a new and uncomfortable time of crisis that we can control through our rational brain. What has really changed for us? We have lost full control of our plans Our routine is disturbed We are wary about what future holds We might have more fre...