I am a Secular Carmelite

Yesterday I joined the group of secular Carmelites in my parish. On Sunday 29th November I was waiting for my kids at the church. They were at the altar servers stall selling things for Christmas when I got talking to Fr. Lancy. After asking few questions, he told me to join the OCDS in my parish. Yesterday morning I went to meet him and in the evening I became a secular Carmelite.

Now, who are these Secular Carmelites?

The Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS) are those faithful lay people, who by special vocation, undertake to live, in the world, an evangelical life of fraternal communion imbued with the spirit of contemplative prayer and apostolic zeal according to the example and teaching of the Carmelite saints. Secular Carmelites come from all walks of life. They are business owners, public servants, clerical staff, professionals, homemakers, retirees, students, men and women, young and old, married and single. Each one is tries to respond to God's call to "meditate on the Lord's law, day and night" while working, raising families, etc. Secular Carmelites usually belong to a local community. Where such communities exist they gather once a month for fellowship, prayer, and the study of Carmelite spirituality.

A Secular Carmelite endeavors to devote a minimum of a half-hour each day to mental prayer or meditation, to recite Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, and if possible, Night Prayer before retiring. They attend daily Mass if possible, and wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as a sign of one's devotion to Mary and membership in her order.

Those interested in becoming a Secular Carmelite first undergo a period as an Aspirant. An Aspirant will meet regularly with a Secular Carmelite community for a period of six months. During this time, the Aspirant will receive a broad introduction to the order and its spirituality. At the end of six months, an Aspirant may request to enter into formation.

The initial formation period begins when an individual is clothed with the Brown Scapular of the order and given a copy of the Gospels and of the Rule. This period of formation lasts two years and may be extended a year under certain circumstances. During formation a member will more fully study the Rule, Carmelite saints, Carmelite writings, the Liturgy of the Hours and contemplative prayer. Gradually, the person in initial formation will integrate the Rule into their daily life as he/she develops the habit of prayer.

After initial formation, the individual may request permission to then make public Temporary Promises. The Promise is a commitment "to tend towards evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, obedience and the Beatitudes, according to the Rule of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, for three years". After three years, an individual may request permission to make Final Promises.

One year after making the Final Promises, a Secular Carmelite may be permitted to make vows of chastity and obedience. The vow of chastity does not affect the rights and duties of married people, nor does it prevent a single person from entering into marriage. The vow does not add any obligation which is not already binding under God's law. The vow of obedience binds the Secular Carmelite only within the limits of the Rule. The vows "constitute a more complete oblation of self to God, and add the merit of the virtue of religion to the observance of chastity and obedience."

The secular Carmelites are also called as the Third Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel who respond to a call from God and promise to live the Gospel in the spirit of the Carmelite Order and under its guidance.

Courtesy: http://netti.nic.fi/~carmel/who_are_the_secular_carmelites.htm

My identity in Christ

Deuteronomy 30:9-10

9 The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

In the morning, I received this beautiful Bible passage on Whatsapp and since then I am feeling so good. I have always known that God blesses those who are faithful to Him but receiving the exact passage from the Bible with the right words always make me feel good.

There’s nothing to elaborate on this – those who have the understanding power, will surely understand this passage – nothing can be crystal clear than this!!!

24th October, 2015 (Saturday)

This day has been yet another epic days of my life. It is a perfect day for me – a day when everything went well – right from the morning till the night. It is the day which will have a lot of fond memories for me for a long time to come.

In the morning of 24th October, for the lunch I had cooked two special Bengali dishes – aloo poshto and pyaaz poshto – something I always thought my mother could only cook. But my daughters and even my hubby told me that I had cooked better than her. So that made my afternoon.

Then around 4o’clock came two parcels and they contained two beautiful sarees – surprise gift from my hubby – I was dancing with joy when I saw the sarees; they are just awesome. So that took care of the evening.

Night came and I had to go for the community meeting. I was unwilling to go but I went only because our parish priest had asked me to attend it – if it was someone else, I wouldn’t have gone at all. So I went unwilling for this community meeting as our existing community has been in the process of getting divided for some time now – and the meeting was for the formation of a new community.

One thing I was sure of – that I wouldn’t be just the animator – I will take up something more responsible. And as I expressed my desire to my parish priest, he made me the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) member of our newly formed community – St. Bonaventure.

So I am the PPC member as well as the animator of St. Bonaventure community. Now I believe that though I went unwilling for this meeting, God had a wonderful plan for me and forced me to attend this meeting. Thus, 24th October became yet another memorable day of my life as everything went well on this day.

As a PPC member, my motto will be to discuss and plan the pastoral activities of the parish. I will be reaching out to the parishioners by meeting once a month regularly to discuss and evaluate the pastoral plan. I will be discussing the Small Christian Community (SCC) activities in the parish and giving feedback. Also, I will be discussing the activities of various other cells and associations in the parish and giving the feedback.

My research on St. Bonaventure says that St. Bonaventure was of the Franciscan Order who was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in the year 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. He is known as the "Seraphic Doctor".

St. Bonaventure feast day was included in the General Roman Calendar immediately upon his canonization in 1482. He was born at Bagnorea in Tuscany, in 1221 and is known for his leadership of the Franciscans and his great intellectual contributions to theology and philosophy. He was very influential in the development of scholasticism in medieval thought.

Little is known about Bonaventure’s early life. During his childhood, he fell severely ill and according to Bonaventure, he recovered due to the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. At the age of 14, he went to Paris to study at the University of Paris. In 1243, he was awarded Master of Arts degree and in the same year, he joined the Franciscan Order and took the name Bonaventure.

Christian Fasting

This write up is an answer to that person’s question who asked me about Christian fasting. “Aap logo mein toh fasting nahi hota na?” Interestingly, this person is not the only one asking questions about Christian fasting. Long time back, when Jesus Christ still walked on the earth with His disciples, there were people raising questions about their fasting -- “Why are we and the Pharisees fasting much, and your disciples are not fasting?” (Mathew 9:14)

Well, let me begin by saying that fasting is the most powerful spiritual discipline of all the Christian disciplines. Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit transforms the life of a Christian. Fasting for Christians is “denying something physical” to glorify God and go deeper with Him in the Spirit. Fact is, fasting is the most recommended lifestyle for spiritual growth.

Though God does not require or demand it of Christians, at the same time, the Bible presents fasting as something that is “good, profitable, and beneficial”. For all those who don’t know, fasting is a common practice in Christianity. When Jesus talked with His disciples He always taught them about fasting. Fasting is a sacred time in which Christians abstain from food, or other pleasures, and take the time to focus on God. In fact, there has been a resurgence of fasting in recent decades, as the Church calls her people to regular fasting as part of a normal Christian lifestyle.

Many of us believe that fasting as a spiritual duty to God and not just depriving ourselves of food and drink for a period of time in order to prove our love for Him. Early Christians weren't required to fast, but there's nothing in the Bible forbidding it. New Testament believers regularly observed prayer and fasting. Jesus fasted for 40 days to begin His public ministry (Mt 4:2). The church of Antioch fasted to begin the first missionary journey (Acts 13:2).

Yes, Christians fast not so much but fasting from food is not the only kind of fasting – it can be done in a variety of ways – so abstaining from food alone doesn't constitute a Christian fast. For this, I urge you to visit http://thevinecommunitychurch.com/fasting-recommendations/

The most common form of Christian fasting is the normal, private, occasional fast. Jesus' instructions on fasting (Matthew 6:16-18 – Matthew 9:14-15) include: “keep your fasting private” so that “God will reward your fasting”.

The Bible records that great men of faith such as Moses, Elijah, Daniel, Paul and Jesus Himself fasted so that they might draw closer to God. In fact, after being baptized, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the Judean Desert. Jesus' disciples fasted and prayed after the Resurrection. Please note here that for Christians fasting can bring them closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Christians fast and pray for special blessings as fasting needs to be accompanied by prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

So, for Christians, fasting and prayer are linked together and whenever Christians fast, they are admonished to pray, which facilitates their spiritual growth and so, normal Christian fasting means “privately” and “occasionally” because Jesus told His followers: "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:16-18).

Again, Christians just don’t have simple fasting – it is not only accompanied with prayer but alms-giving as well. Since Jesus fasted, His true followers also fast, if they indeed follow His teachings. He said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed" (John 8:31). So, all you know, fasting is the most powerful and potent weapons that Christians have.

In fact, there’s something called Eucharist Fast as well wherein believers are required to fast one full hour before receiving the Holy Communion.

Finally, I recommend everyone to check out these fasting tips on http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/10-fasting-tips-a-christian-guide/

It’s truly amazing…

Last but definitely not the least, fasting, prayer and alms-giving are the greatest weapons for Christians as they are the key to humility and enable them to hear God speak to them.

Are you a real woman?

All my life I have loved jewellery. Whenever I had any kind of disposable money, I would buy jewellery. In 2006, I got the opportunity of writing exclusively on jewellery when I joined an US jewellery magazine which was newly launched in India. I was in the editorial department and since then, I have been writing exclusively on gems and jewellery.

Then in 2008, I was able to buy my first diamond earrings. So from plain gold jewellery I graduated to diamond jewellery. Since then I have been an out and out diamond jewellery fan. It was a dream come true and every woman aspires for that one diamond jewellery piece in her treasure trove.

But I find this diamond jewellery ad derogatory. What do they mean by a ‘real’ woman? I want to ask them how one differentiates between a 'real' and 'unreal' woman. Whoever could think that a woman could be 'unreal'? You are either a woman or a man. How can there be 'real' and 'unreal' women? Who are these 'real' women and what are they made of? What is the brand’s definition of a ‘real’ woman?

Most importantly, who created them? Did God create them differently? Without the flesh and bone? Did God create them using some special material? But aren’t we told that God created just man and woman. Does the brand have a different idea of creation? Is it that God created 'real' woman and 'unreal' woman especially keeping in mind this high-handed diamond jewellery brand?

Well, there are other ways of promoting diamond jewellery brands. Is it that all other women who wear a different brand of diamond jewellery are unreal? What about the ones who cannot afford diamond jewellery at all? What are they?

And we are talking about gender equality...firstly, let’s get the definition of a woman clear and then talk about everything else.

Please don't relapse...

Let us pray for the Synod of Bishops for the Family...

Good Morning

I am awesome...

Good Morning :)

Baptism of love

I am reading this book titled CO-HEIRS WITH CHRIST written by Dr. Fio Mascarenhas. In the fourth chapter it is written that “the ‘baptism of love’ which is the experience of the Holy Spirit pouring the love of God into one’s heart, inserts one into a new faith-dimension”. At the end of the chapter, Dr. Fio writes, “…I can more easily perceive the wisdom and the beauty of God’s plan for the world, and for me personally. I now feel thrilled and greatly privileged to say ‘yes’ to the Lord’s call to partnership”.

Again, the story of my life! Though I was baptized in 2001, it was not before 2010 that I experienced the actual pouring of God’s love into my heart which inserted into me a new faith-dimension. Since 2001 to 2010 – nine years – I was just an ordinary Convert into Christianity. I went to church because I had to but I didn’t have the required faith. I didn’t disrespect and hate Jesus but I didn’t love Him the way I was meant to.

But Jesus always loved me and had a plan for me – He had not brought me out of darkness into His marvelous light for no reason at all – He had big, big plans for me which I was obviously unaware of. So in mid-2010, He put me into an exile and for two years made me suffer – but as per the beauty of God’s plan, this suffering was only to purify me – having undergone this suffering, after the end of two years, I was “greatly privileged to say ‘yes’ to the Lord’s call to partnership” in His ministry – first as an Animator, then Catechist and then the biggest privilege of all – Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion.

Wow, what a feeling, what a privilege.

The baptism of love!!!

So, it took me nine years to experience this baptism of love, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the pouring of God’s love into my heart which inserted into me a new faith-dimension. I am so glad of all these – I am indeed privileged…!!!

Feast of St. Mathew

Yesterday was the feast of St. Mathew, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ.

In the daily Bible diary, it was written about Mathew that “there was something strange and compelling in the way that Jesus looked at Mathew, invited him to follow Him, and led the way forward. Mathew, for his part, never turned back, once he met the Lord”.

That made me think. Well, isn’t this true for me as well? Since the time Jesus has invited me to follow Him, I have led the way forward. I have also not turned back since the time I have met the Lord. I have kept moving forward in my life in full faith. Jesus has been the biggest source of inspiration in my life.

It was also written that Mathew is “one of the greatest instances in the New Testament of Jesus’ power to see in a man, not only what he was, but also what he could be. No one ever had such faith in the possibilities of human nature as Jesus had”.

Well, Jesus must have had that very faith in the possibilities of my nature as well – and trust in my potential – He must have known from the very beginning that He could use me in His vineyard. That’s why He must have kept me safe from the snares of the world and didn’t allow me to waver much in life. In order to purify me for my role as His disciple, He tested only till the point I could bear – He must have known my capacity and restricted my waywardness.

Like I wrote in my earlier post, it was a purification time for me, the exile of my life wherein I was able to come out a renewed person, just after the requirements of Jesus’ heart so that He could rely on me as His disciple. I am so very glad that I went through this testing time and with the guidance of Jesus, have become what He wants me to be.

I am also sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg – Jesus has a lot of wonderful plans for me and preparing me for it – He will reveal all these plans in His time!!!

the LORD loves the righteous...

She hated going to work...

She went out of compulsion -- the not-so-good financial situation at home...

She was actually a homebird...she loved to be at home...to cook, to clean, to be with the kids, to wait on her husband...but she had to go to work...

Return from Exile

Yesterday, while I was teaching my catechism class of standard VII on the above topic, I found myself saying that “we all go through an exile in our life which is the purification time for us”. I don’t know what made me say this. I had been preparing for this lesson for such a long time and during the preparation time, this thought never occurred to me. It was only in the class while teaching that I found myself saying this.

And I like what I said.

Later on when I was evaluating myself for this class, I was feeling happy that I said this. I also told the students that we should purify ourselves during this exile and return to the Lord who loves us so very much.

I kept thinking about this all throughout yesterday. I felt nice to realize that in 2010 I had gone into a similar kind of exile – I was a captive of my own thoughts and deeds and when I finally returned from this by mid-2012, I was somewhat a purified person. I was in an exile for close to two years but God must have seen something worthy in me and didn’t allow me to remain in exile for too long – I was returned to my native land through a conversion of my heart – I was purified and made into a new being – a Catechist.

Since then I have grown from strength to strength and reached where I am today because of my faith in Jesus Christ and His blessings upon me. I am a changed person because of the exile experience in my life…

2nd August, 2015 (Sunday)

Reading 2, Ephesians 4:17, 20-24

So this I say to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life that the gentiles live.

Now that is hardly the way you have learnt Christ,

unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus.

You were to put aside your old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is corrupted by following illusory desires.

Your mind was to be renewed in spirit

so that you could put on the New Man that has been created on God's principles, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth.

All alone…

She thought that it was a dream…

Everything around her was so blurred…

She could not understand a single word he was saying. He was saying everything so fast. Nothing was making sense. She wanted to run away from him. She wanted to run away from the students glaring and laughing at her. Her eyes were fixed on the floor. But she knew he looked at her menacingly as he read aloud from the piece of paper in his hand. She could recognize her handwriting. She was in tears. With her teary eyes she was trying to search for the rascal to whom she had written those words. She looked past the students laughing at her. He was nowhere to be seen. How ashamed she was of herself. She was all alone while the rascal whom she had written the letter was probably enjoying in some corner of the school.

She didn’t understand why it was happening to her. She still doesn’t understand why it happened to her…

But it was so mortifying. It was mortifying to face the English teacher read aloud from her letter. It was mortifying to hear the rascal’s classmates giggling behind her back. It was mortifying to enter her own classroom after this incident. It was all the more mortifying to enter the school premises every day. Suddenly from that day onwards all eyes would be upon her. Everyone laughed at her.

Her friends left her. They stopped talking to her as their elder sisters forbade them from talking to her. It killed her. She was all alone. All alone in her misery. She felt miserable.

It was miserable to be all alone – everyone had rejected her. Little did she know that He too was rejected and all alone 2000 years back. Like her, He too was all alone when they crucified Him for no fault of His.

Was it her fault?

Yes, but it was mortifying…The teacher could have dealt with her differently…

How she wished that this all was just a dream…

What laments her…?

3 o’clock. Hour for Christian prayer…

The old neighborhood church was bereft of any souls…

Only one lonely soul could be seen huddled in front of the altar. She would be in this stupor everyday at this hour. Alone. Quiet. Sitting with her eyes closed. Rosary in hand. Tears wetting her peachy complexion. Only the Lord, to whom she cried out, knew what lamented her.

Quietly, she would leave the church by the next hour. Without once looking at the old grandfather church clock, she would come to know the time she had to leave. She would straighten herself from her huddle and with downcast eyes exit from the side door. This was her habit since last six weeks.

She saw no one and no one saw her…

Or so she thought…

But there was another lonely soul who noticed her every afternoon. From the time she had started this afternoon ritual, this lonely gentle soul observed her. He was the owner of the undertaker shop adjacent to the old church. He could see each and every being going in and coming out. But he had eyes only for her. Only her going in and coming out…

He didn’t know her but waited expectantly every afternoon. She didn’t see him and he saw only her. And what he saw was a sad and beautiful countenance bereft of emotions.

Oh, how he loves her. Oh, how he wants to make her his own. But how could he when she didn’t even look up. Oh, how it pains him to see her passing by day after day without even a glance towards him.

Oh, how his soul longs for her…

Oh, what laments her…?

Mary Magdalene...So close to my heart...

16th Anniversary Gift Ideas

I want to make my sixteenth wedding anniversary as blissful an occasion, like all other anniversaries. For this I am going to buy a Silver locket and Fountain pen – the modern gifting ideas. Unfortunately, unlike milestone anniversaries, the 16th anniversary does not have any traditional gifts associated with it. So I will go for these two modern gifts.

As there are no long-standing, traditional gifts associated with 16 years of marriage, I will have to happy with contemporary 16th wedding anniversary gifts of silver hollow pendant and fountain pen – out of the other options – these two I love the most.

But it seems tourmaline is a gem that come in variety of colours, and is the traditional gift to give to a wife on the sixteenth wedding anniversary. But I will be content with the above two.

19th July, 2015 (Sunday)

Today’s a landmark day in my life. Today’s the day I had my catechists training course (CTC)’s first evaluation. My group animator came to evaluate my teaching in the class and praise God, everything went well. She appreciated my way of teaching and didn’t find anything that I shouldn’t be doing in the class. I am so very happy today.

I was very nervous and had surrendered this evaluation to the Lord and asked Him to be with me while teaching. I asked Him to guide me the way I should be teaching, for His glorification, and indeed Jesus heard my prayers and everything went well. Thank you, Jesus, for being with me while teaching.

Secondly, today’s daily Bible To Do message said – list the five most important roles you play in your life and account for everything you do under each role.

So, the five most important roles that I play in my life are that of a Lover of Christ, Mother, Wife, Catechist and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. And the sequence is absolutely correct.

And if I have to give an account for everything that I do under each role, then as a Lover of Christ, I love Jesus Christ from the bottom of my heart. I exist only because I love Him otherwise I would be non-existent. In my role as a Mother I try to be as peaceful, patient and polite to my daughters as possible. I try to be more of a friend to my daughters than a typical mother. I try hard and I hope to be successful. In my role as a Wife, I try to be as patient as possible with my husband. I try to be affectionate and cooperative with him and try to agree with the decisions he takes. I keep him informed of all the happenings in my life and try not to nag him much. I support him whenever I can. As a Catechist to Std VII ‘B’, I try to share as much knowledge I can about the lessons to be taught. I try not to make it dull for the students and not behave like a typical teacher. I don’t allow the students to take too much advantage of me. Lastly, as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, I serve the children’s mass every Sunday and take homebound communion whenever possible. We have to give homebound communion compulsorily once a month and since I am doing my CTC, from last two months I am going for homebound communion on the second Sundays as on the first Sundays I have to go for CTC. I try to be sweet to the four old aunties whom I give homebound communion and patiently handle the situation if the table is not kept ready. I try not to get flustered.

So these are the five most important roles that I play in my life and I pray to Jesus Christ to be my strength because I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.

Dress Code...

Every place and event has its appropriate dress code.

In the church, I cannot dress the way I dressed up for my birthday.

As an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, I have to foster a deeper respect and reverence at the Eucharistic Celebration or the Mass. I have to worthily serve at the altar of the Lord and for this, dress respectfully and with decorum. For us, casual dresses are inappropriate and do not meet the standards for assisting at the Eucharist. As Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, we have a very important role in the sacred action of the Eucharistic Celebration. Our attire should demonstrate our appreciation of the role we play as we are Christ's faithful. As Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion we should show the greatest reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist by our demeanor, attire, and the manner in which we conduct ourselves.

Likewise, as a Catechist, I should be dressed properly and modestly, in particular, to set an example for the students as we expect the students to dress in attire appropriate to a visit to the church. As a Catechist, I demonstrate the qualities of a person who has responded to the call of Jesus Christ and therefore, my attire should be appropriate for the Mass – modest and respectful.

Shepherd of my soul...

Shepherd of my soul
I give you full control,
Wherever You may lead I will follow.
I have made the choice to listen for Your voice,
Wherever You may lead I will go.

Be it in a quiet pasture or by a gentle stream,
The Shepherd of my soul is by my side.
Should I face a mighty mountain or a valley dark and deep,
The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide.

Shepherd of my soul Oh You have made me whole,
Wherever I hear You call how my tears flow.
How I feel your love how I want to serve
I gladly give my heart to You O – Lord.

Be it in the flowing river or in the quiet night,
The Shepherd of my soul is by my side.
Should I face the stormy weather or the dangers of this world.
The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide.

Merciful Lord

The Lord is merciful and compassionate to the people who trust in Him. And I trust in the Lord immensely and He is so very merciful to me and my family. I am jobless since March 2015 and Golu since December 2013. But the Lord has kept showing only His mercy on all of us. I cannot thank Him enough for all the good things He has been doing for us. There is a roof on our head, plentiful food on our table and beautiful clothes on our body. The Lord has been lavish with His mercies. Thanks to our store Fashion-i-Nation, the Lord has been kept providing for our clothes for every occasion. My birthday shopping with the colour theme of peach has already been completed and from today I have begun shopping for my sixteenth wedding anniversary in December. Like it has been mentioned in earlier posts, the colour theme of this year’s wedding anniversary is emerald green.

I thank the Lord for being so lavish on us and providing for our every need. The Lord doesn’t do it because I am not an extraordinary holy person – He does it because He loves me and my family so very much. And I need to love Him back because He loved us first. He was the one who showed His love, mercy and abundance – how can I not love Him back?

With a graceful heart, I thank the Lord one more time and over and over again for loving us so much and providing for our every need, want and desire!!!

Ultimate Tips for Better Life!!!

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day and while you walk, SMILE.
It is the ultimate antidepressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

3. When you wake up in the morning, pray to ask God's guidance for your purpose, today.

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli, and almonds.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Forgive them for everything!

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Help the needy, be generous! Be a 'Giver' not a 'Taker'.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. Time heals everything.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed, pray to God and be thankful for what you'll accomplish, today!

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

Thought for the day...

Every time...

Perfect...

Hmmm...

Dedicated to all women...

Some beautiful thoughts...

My birthday…

Why do I love my birthday?

Why do I wait for it for the whole year?

Why do I shop so much for my birthday?

Because...

...it is written in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

I love my birthday simply because God made me wonderfully and knew me much before I was born. I should rejoice that I am born…

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it...Alleluia!!!

Emerald Green

Well, if anyone has carefully read my earlier post, the colour theme of my 16th Wedding Anniversary is Emerald Green. The alternate colours are Red or Silver. And like I mentioned in the earlier post, I want to start shopping for my sixteenth wedding anniversary for the year 2015 and to avoid making it too much greenish, I would surely add a splash of red and silver and also leopard print. I won’t go wrong with my green attire paired with a leopard accent.

Talking about emerald, also called emerald green, it is a tone of green that is particularly light and bright, with a faint bluish cast. The name derives from the typical appearance of the gemstone emerald. The first recorded use of emerald as a colour name in English was in 1598.

Emerald is a brilliant, deep green, like that of the gemstone from which it takes its name. William Shakespeare was one of the early adopters of emerald as a colour name in the 1600s; prior to that, the term, which comes to us from the Greek smaragdos meaning "green gem," was bound to the precious green stone of beryl.

So, peach colour will take a backseat now to begin shopping for emerald green.

Birthday Colour Theme

The colour theme of my birthday this year is peach. Why peach? Well, honestly peach isn’t at all my favourite colour – nowhere near favourite. It so happens that in January I had been to Colaba and I saw extremely beautiful footwear with a colour combination of peach and gold. I bought it and from that day I decided that in 2015, the colour theme of my birthday will be peach. It’s as simple as that.

Till date, I have done a lot of birthday shopping and bought a lot of clothes and accessories in peach. My birthday shopping is almost done. Yes, I know it’s in July but the pleasurable feeling of shopping for your birthday is to be experienced to be believed and I like to experience this feeling throughout the year. That’s the reason I keep shopping for my birthday throughout the year.

Same with my wedding anniversary. I like to shop for the wedding anniversary throughout the year. This year it will be the sixteenth anniversary and the traditional colour for a sixteenth wedding anniversary is emerald green. Thank goodness, it’s one of my favourite colours and so I am very excited with this colour theme. Though I haven’t bought anything in emerald green, knowing me well enough, I will start soon.

Rejection

I am going through rejection right now and it is frustrating me extremely. I feel like speaking to my Golu right now but looks like he’s busy. He is not responding to my messages. So, instead of going mad, I thought I will write a blog post on rejection. After all, it’s been really long since I blogged and since most of the times I use it as my stress-bursting tool, I thought of using it now.

I am feeling this rejection again. I am just sick and tired of this rejection -- since 2014; this is the sixth time I have been rejected. I am unable to take rejection anymore. It’s driving me crazy. I am unable to understand God’s plan but I know that it is for our prosperity and not for our destruction. This much I am sure of and I can trust the Lord for a good future.

But what I am failing to understand now is what exactly is lying in the future. Well, no one knows that so it’s better to leave it in the all-knowing hands of Jesus Christ. With Him in our boat, there’s no fear of drowning. He loves us too very much. Though the whole world keeps rejecting us, I am proud to say that He will never reject us. He has never rejected us in the past and He will not do so in the future also.

Ah, feeling much better now. This crazy feeling is almost fading. I know blogging gives me the same pleasure which I get when I am at the church -- peaceful -- I am happy writing this blog post. Thank you, Jesus!!!

PS: Today is Ash Wednesday. The beginning of the holy Lenten season. We went to the church in the morning and I surrendered all my negativity at the feet of Jesus. I prayed to be a better person and resurrect with the Lord on Easter morn a totally new person -- without any negativity. Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!!!!!

Yes, right...