No matter how much I try, am just not able to give up coffee! The moment I reach office I head for the coffee dispenser. Somehow, nowadays, I am unable to get through the first part of my day without my coffee. After lunch, I yearn for my green tea.
I don’t know and just don’t want to know about the adverse effects of this drink as I feel that as long as am not behaving like a bad penny, there’s really no harm in my having a simple cup of coffee everyday. What would my world be without my Lattes and Mochas and Cappuccinos – coffee is undoubtedly the elixir of my life!
I have read that coffee is much healthier than it is thought to be, and can actually work wonders for health if taken in moderation. I guess having just one cup every morning is a sure sign of moderation! Every morning it increases my alertness, is extremely rich in antioxidants and obviously helps in burning all my extra calories (which I have been gaining because of the leftover cheese sandwiches I gorge blissfully). Today also I had to eat that irresistible cheese sandwich which Goldie left while going to school!
So honestly though my one cup of coffee in the morning gives me instant energy I am definitely not addicted to it. So as long as I restrict my coffee intake to just one cup, I guess my love for coffee should not be considered that big a problem as people feel coffee is not all that innocent in nature.
And hello! The caffeine content in coffee is a vasodilator (a drug that causes dilation of blood vessels) which works to firm and tighten the complexion. Ahem! My Olay has a helping hand here!!! And you know what? Besides my skin, another beautiful aspect of my body seems to be benefited from coffee! I just found out that coffee helps in improving hair and can also minimize hair damage. Yippee! My Dove too has a companion here!!!
So now I will continue to have my daily dose of elixir with less guilt as it also believed to be a reliever of headaches. Therefore, I will continue to have coffee guiltless – coffee, my dearest, I love you!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
PRAYER
St. Paul’s Letters illustrate the importance of prayer. He tells us that we should “pray without ceasing”, yet sometimes or most of the times, our prayer takes a back seat. But majority of the time I insist on praying before going to sleep – it leaves all of us peaceful!
There have been times when we struggled with prayer. It seems even the Apostles turned to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray”. But I am trying to teach my children that they don’t have to say lengthy prayers and use too many words – just one line will do – Jesus will surely hear it!
I want to make prayer central to our life so that it can open the doors for us. God is waiting patiently on the other side of that door, at all times, in all situations, to join us – we just have to pray and call out to Him. He is forever there for us!
Prayer formed an important part of life for St Paul – he prayed at all times, night and day; he even remained awake late in the night to pray. We want to pray everyday and thank the Lord God for all the beautiful things He has given us.
There have been times when we struggled with prayer. It seems even the Apostles turned to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray”. But I am trying to teach my children that they don’t have to say lengthy prayers and use too many words – just one line will do – Jesus will surely hear it!
I want to make prayer central to our life so that it can open the doors for us. God is waiting patiently on the other side of that door, at all times, in all situations, to join us – we just have to pray and call out to Him. He is forever there for us!
Prayer formed an important part of life for St Paul – he prayed at all times, night and day; he even remained awake late in the night to pray. We want to pray everyday and thank the Lord God for all the beautiful things He has given us.
The Gospel Bells
The Gospel bells are ringing
Over land, from sea to sea:
Blessed news of free salvation
Do they offer you and me.
For God so loved the world
That His only Son He gave;
Whosoever believeth in Him
Everlasting life shall have.
Gospel bells, how they ring;
Over land from sea to sea;
Gospel bells freely bring
Blessed news to you and me.
The Gospel bells invite us
To a feast prepared for all;
Do not slight the invitation,
Nor reject the gracious call.
I am the Bread of life;
Eat of Me, thou hungry soul;
Though your sins be red as crimson,
They shall be as white as wool.
The Gospel bells give warning,
As they sound from day to day,
Of the fate which doth await them
Who forever will delay.
Escape ye, for thy life;
Tarry not in all the plain,
Nor behind thee look, oh, never,
Lest thou be consumed in pain.
The Gospel bells are joyful,
As they echo far and wide,
Bearing notes of perfect pardon,
Through a Savior crucified.
Good tidings of great joy
To all people do I bring,
Unto you is born a Savior,
Which is Christ the Lord and King.
Over land, from sea to sea:
Blessed news of free salvation
Do they offer you and me.
For God so loved the world
That His only Son He gave;
Whosoever believeth in Him
Everlasting life shall have.
Gospel bells, how they ring;
Over land from sea to sea;
Gospel bells freely bring
Blessed news to you and me.
The Gospel bells invite us
To a feast prepared for all;
Do not slight the invitation,
Nor reject the gracious call.
I am the Bread of life;
Eat of Me, thou hungry soul;
Though your sins be red as crimson,
They shall be as white as wool.
The Gospel bells give warning,
As they sound from day to day,
Of the fate which doth await them
Who forever will delay.
Escape ye, for thy life;
Tarry not in all the plain,
Nor behind thee look, oh, never,
Lest thou be consumed in pain.
The Gospel bells are joyful,
As they echo far and wide,
Bearing notes of perfect pardon,
Through a Savior crucified.
Good tidings of great joy
To all people do I bring,
Unto you is born a Savior,
Which is Christ the Lord and King.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
"Know whom to avoid"
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matthew 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
“To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls” - (St. Thomas Aquinas)
So, the question here is what causes me to sin?
Music – it stirs up my soul; so I have been avoiding songs on FM. I am trying to listen to more of hymns and spiritual songs.
Reading – I guess the same reason as above; so trying to read more of scriptures and Christian spiritual books.
Facebook – Trying to concentrate more on blogging. But I still love facebooking; and will continue to do so. Here St. Thomas Aquinas’ quotation (three lines above this) summarizes my thought process.
Well, I can’t think of anything else right now. I will go on big time penance from Ash Wednesday which is on 22nd February till Easter Sunday (8th April).
Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matthew 18:8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
“To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls” - (St. Thomas Aquinas)
So, the question here is what causes me to sin?
Music – it stirs up my soul; so I have been avoiding songs on FM. I am trying to listen to more of hymns and spiritual songs.
Reading – I guess the same reason as above; so trying to read more of scriptures and Christian spiritual books.
Facebook – Trying to concentrate more on blogging. But I still love facebooking; and will continue to do so. Here St. Thomas Aquinas’ quotation (three lines above this) summarizes my thought process.
Well, I can’t think of anything else right now. I will go on big time penance from Ash Wednesday which is on 22nd February till Easter Sunday (8th April).
Sixteenth year
Today’s the day; sixteen years ago in 1996 I started my career in journalism.
Since the time I had become a big time admirer of cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar in 1991, I wanted to be a journalist so that I could meet him. This coupled with my craze for ace reporter Rajdeep Sardesai during my college days in 1994-95 were the two main reasons for this decision of mine. I would take journalism books from my college library and read them to know more about journalism. Somehow the craze for journalism was just too much!
Then I came across a classified ad in Midday for trainee journalists and I just jumped for it. I had to get this job (by any hook or crook) and I just applied for it. Since I was still studying, I requested to be a part timer! The management agreed and I was asked to join them from 1st February, 1996 – my joy knew no bounds! I wasn’t worried about anything – the only thing I knew was that I was on my way to becoming an eminent journalist! LOL
Today, sixteen years down the line, nothing of that sort has happened. I am no way close to becoming an eminent journalist. Sadly, I have had a fragmented career (which shows poorly on my resume) because of various reasons and mainly due to motherhood – I kept getting in and out of jobs all the time for my kids! My family and kids have always been my priority and for this very reason, I have never aspired for top notch journalism jobs wherein I will have to give a lot of my time and endeavor – I preferred giving it all to my kids! That’s the reason I still work part time though three years back I was working full time. I would come across hundreds of problems which would work against me – so I have stuck to low profile b2b writing! I like this kind of arrangement as it gives me the liberty to manage my time at both the places – at work as well as at home!
This way we all feel happy – I can give my time and energy to my kids, teach them, cook, and also do various other things – now I feel I am able to juggle everything in a much better way! I guess there are no more guilt feelings of neglecting the kids as it used to be with my earlier jobs.
But honestly speaking, it’s a humongous task to be a mother – I still don’t know what to do when they both start growling at each other like mad dogs and are just ready to pounce, paw and scratch each other! It’s so difficult to handle them in these situations – it’s so difficult to wake them up in the mornings for school – it leaves me flustered till today!
Talking about my career, somehow this year I want to excel in my work front – since it’s the year of the Dragon, according to Chinese astrology, it’s an extremely good year for me in all fronts – so I feel like pursuing my career in a much better way!
I am getting this aspiration to be an expert columnist in some parenting magazine or have my own column in some mainstream newspaper – but I just don’t know whom to approach! Just don’t know how to go about it!
I also feel like becoming a reviewer – be it of books, music, movies – anything! I know how to do it because I have done it in the past for some dotcom.
My ambitious project of launching my own PR agency dedicated solely to the gems and jewellery industry is also in the backburner since 2009. This plan is just not taking off! May be its not destined to be!
So let’s just see what the sixteenth year of my professional career has in store for me………………
Since the time I had become a big time admirer of cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar in 1991, I wanted to be a journalist so that I could meet him. This coupled with my craze for ace reporter Rajdeep Sardesai during my college days in 1994-95 were the two main reasons for this decision of mine. I would take journalism books from my college library and read them to know more about journalism. Somehow the craze for journalism was just too much!
Then I came across a classified ad in Midday for trainee journalists and I just jumped for it. I had to get this job (by any hook or crook) and I just applied for it. Since I was still studying, I requested to be a part timer! The management agreed and I was asked to join them from 1st February, 1996 – my joy knew no bounds! I wasn’t worried about anything – the only thing I knew was that I was on my way to becoming an eminent journalist! LOL
Today, sixteen years down the line, nothing of that sort has happened. I am no way close to becoming an eminent journalist. Sadly, I have had a fragmented career (which shows poorly on my resume) because of various reasons and mainly due to motherhood – I kept getting in and out of jobs all the time for my kids! My family and kids have always been my priority and for this very reason, I have never aspired for top notch journalism jobs wherein I will have to give a lot of my time and endeavor – I preferred giving it all to my kids! That’s the reason I still work part time though three years back I was working full time. I would come across hundreds of problems which would work against me – so I have stuck to low profile b2b writing! I like this kind of arrangement as it gives me the liberty to manage my time at both the places – at work as well as at home!
This way we all feel happy – I can give my time and energy to my kids, teach them, cook, and also do various other things – now I feel I am able to juggle everything in a much better way! I guess there are no more guilt feelings of neglecting the kids as it used to be with my earlier jobs.
But honestly speaking, it’s a humongous task to be a mother – I still don’t know what to do when they both start growling at each other like mad dogs and are just ready to pounce, paw and scratch each other! It’s so difficult to handle them in these situations – it’s so difficult to wake them up in the mornings for school – it leaves me flustered till today!
Talking about my career, somehow this year I want to excel in my work front – since it’s the year of the Dragon, according to Chinese astrology, it’s an extremely good year for me in all fronts – so I feel like pursuing my career in a much better way!
I am getting this aspiration to be an expert columnist in some parenting magazine or have my own column in some mainstream newspaper – but I just don’t know whom to approach! Just don’t know how to go about it!
I also feel like becoming a reviewer – be it of books, music, movies – anything! I know how to do it because I have done it in the past for some dotcom.
My ambitious project of launching my own PR agency dedicated solely to the gems and jewellery industry is also in the backburner since 2009. This plan is just not taking off! May be its not destined to be!
So let’s just see what the sixteenth year of my professional career has in store for me………………
My body
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body”!!!
I always knew this but the realities of these words are cutting through my heart while reading the book on St. Paul.
Further, “If Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive...And when He enters to make His abode in us, our spirit is made alive”.
Still further: “Yet, even though Christ lives within you, your body will die because of sin”
We are baptized into Christ’s body and so I have no right to defile the temple of my body; for this very reason I will take care of my body in a much better way from now on. I will make it look ever more beautiful by covering it with beautiful clothes and keep pampering it all the time.
I always knew this but the realities of these words are cutting through my heart while reading the book on St. Paul.
Further, “If Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive...And when He enters to make His abode in us, our spirit is made alive”.
Still further: “Yet, even though Christ lives within you, your body will die because of sin”
We are baptized into Christ’s body and so I have no right to defile the temple of my body; for this very reason I will take care of my body in a much better way from now on. I will make it look ever more beautiful by covering it with beautiful clothes and keep pampering it all the time.
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