What Do I Want?

We always know what is it that we don't want to do.
"I don't want to clean my room."

"I don't want to go visit relatives. They are boring!"

"I don't want to fail my exams."

These are statements each of us uses in everyday, mundane life. Life can be monotonous for a lot of us and nobody wants a monotonous life. We always keep complaining and cribbing about having what we don't want and about not wanting to do a lot of things.

But how many of us actually know what is it that we want? Not many, I believe.
You may not want to clean your room and you prefer a neat and tidy room but is that what you want?
You don't want to waste your Sunday visiting a bunch of relatives as they bore you to death but do you know what you want to do on that Sunday?

You don't want to fail your exams but is your goal just to pass that exam? What is your goal?

These are questions not many of us ask ourselves. If I give you 1 minute, a pen and a piece of paper and ask you to list all the things that you want, it may seem to be a very easy task but trust me, it's not going to be easy. However, if I repeat the task but ask you to list the things you don't want to do, instead, that task is going to be much easier, I believe! Try it for yourself...
Most of us end up focusing on things we don't want. We never concentrate on the things we want. Most of the times, we are not sure what we want. How can we expect to achieve our goals (wants and desires) when we are only clear about things we don't want? What we want is never the focus of our attention...


We all have heard,

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.

So, today, aspire and want something. Only then will you have a chance of getting it!

21

Tomorrow, I turn a year older!! Unlike last time, this time I am actually looking forward to my birthday: I shall soon be legally an adult in all the nations of the world! Ha! Ha! Feels good....
Of course, unlike last year, there are no grand-scale celebrations but still I shall try making the most of my birthday...

After having lived 21 years of life with mostly ups and a few downs, I feel thankful. I have achieved a lot of things but I still have 'miles to go'. I am grateful for having a wonderful, supportive family; a lot of true friends who genuinely care a lot about me. I am fortunate enough to have scored well in the academic field and am pursuing something I have always wanted to do. 

I hope life continues to shower its blessings on me! I could also do with the good wishes and blessings of all the people who drop in even though am not at all regular anymore - Thank You for all your support and love so far, And I hope you continue being by my side, even if it is in a small way, in the future as well!!

A Lesson Well-Learnt

There are no strangers. Only friends you have never met.

No matter how cliched it sounds - this is so true!

It has been almost two months since I joined my new course in a new college in a new city. In this span of two months, I have not really made any new friends. My hectic schedule prevents me from spending quality time to bond with someone new, and catching up with some old friends of mine in the city is how I end up spending all my leisure time. Also, most people in my class are 'nerds' and are, most of the time, immersed in books!

Hence, what happened yesterday was something I never anticipated: During a class, my teacher was talking about traumatic events and how difficult it is for an outsider to truly understand the feelings of a person who witnessed such an incident.
Many of my classmates were reminded of some tough times they had undergone and one girl's experience was so similar to mine that I somehow lost control of my emotions and broke down completely - my wounds were, after all, still fresh as it had happened less than a year ago!
I had never expected my classmates to try so hard to cheer me up and help me calm down. They were all very nice to me. Of course, there were one or two exceptions, but I choose to concentrate only on the perfect things! Yesterday, I realized that all people in my class are basically very good and I should give them a chance and try knowing them better. They may be book-worms and I am not one but I should not hold that against them. Inside, they are all wonderful people who want to help and shower warmth and affection, and be friends...

Let's Talk Of Distances

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

Really?

The most important part of any successful relationship involves being there for each other and being able to share those small inconsequential details of your life with the other person; and when, according to me, one is not able to do that, the distance separating the two of you actually causes a gap in the relationship - something which, if not bridged immediately, could severely affect the relationship. 

When someone is away, we miss that person immensely. At first, we may try cheering ourselves up by thinking of the privileges we can enjoy in that person's absence: for example, I don't need to fight with someone for the television remote. I can order pizza and not worry about having to order something you like. But after a while, we tend to focus on all the good times we had with that person and start appreciating them and missing them. So, yes, in a way, distance definitely makes the heart grow fonder.

However, distance hampers the process of effective communication.  Even though we live in an era where we can remain in touch without spending a lot of money through Skype, Facebook, e-mails and telephonic conversations, eventually, one does realize that it is not the same as being with that person. I would gladly exchange a two-hour long phone conversation for being with that person for a mere fifteen minutes. 

I do not believe in long-distance relationships ever working. Personally, I have never met anyone who has managed to survive a long-distance relationship.
The only scenario where I feel distance is not an issue is with online friends. While referring to online friends, I do not mean random strangers we talk to but in fact, those people whom we have met online yet whom we consider to be an integral part of our lives. These people understand us; we can pour our hearts out to them and sometimes, even tell them secrets we do not feel like sharing with people we know in the 'real world'. The fact that our net-friend lives in probably another city, another country or maybe, even another continent, does not seem to be much of a bother.
However, I feel, even here, distance can affect the friendship:

For example, we often meet our online friends once we have established a good rapport with them and have managed to trust our judgement that this person is worth meeting. If we are very attached to this person and one meet results in another and so on, later, we do not find ourselves wanting to go back to being friends in the virtual world alone...

I feel once we meet people in the real world, we end up having too many expectations and when they cannot live up to those expectations, our relationship takes a toll. While it is good to have hopes, I feel expectations should be minimal. 

I have found even the best of my friendships getting hampered by distance...I have never been a person who can settle down at one place. After having moved to three cities, I realize that as I move to a new place, the strong bonds of friendship that I had with the friends in the previous place start weakening. We all keep in touch and are updated about what is happening in everyone's life but it is never ever the same as being there...even in times of crisis, they can never really be there for you although they want to because of the distance. While that is completely understandable and you can convince yourself to not harbor any hard feelings, it is very difficult to actually accept the fact and admit it to yourself that the relationship has undergone a change and it will never be like before...

Based on my experiences, I have developed a somewhat pessimistic attitude and resolved never to become close to anyone because I know that it's not going to be permanent: I am not suggesting that I will be anti-social; just that I will not be getting too attached to anyone because I do not think my relationships can stand the test of distances.
What is your take on this??

65 Things To Do

This is one To-Do-and-Have-Done List...All the scratched through are the ones that are YET TO BE DONE, as this is more of an 'I have achieved' list rather than an' I have missed things' one. And there's still hope, of having the list completely unscratched, which doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing!
I am taking this tag from Guria and anyone reading this post is welcome to carry it forward...

1. Graduated high school.
2. Kissed someone.
3. Smoked a cigarette. 
4. Got so drunk you passed out.
5. Rode every ride at an amusement park.
6. Collected something stupid.
7. Gone to a rock concert.
8. Helped someone.
9. Gone fishing.
10. Watched four movies in one night.
11. Lied to someone.
12. Snorted cocaine.
13. Smoked weed.
14. Failed a subject.
15. Been in a car accident.
16. Been in a tornado. (Does Cyclone Aila count?)
17. Watched someone die.
18. Been to a funeral.
19. Burned yourself.
20. Run a marathon.
21. Cried yourself to sleep.
22. Spent over 10,000 bucks in one day.
23. Flown on an aeroplane.
24. Cheated on someone.
25. Been cheated on.
26. Written a 10 page letter.
27. Gone skiing.
28. Been sailing.
29. Cut yourself.
30. Had a best friend.
31. Lost someone you loved.
32. Got into trouble for something you didn’t do.
33. Stolen a book from the library.
34. Gone to a different country.
35. Watched the Harry Potter movies. 
36. Had an online diary.
37. Fired a gun.
38. Gambled in a casino.
39. Been in a school play.
40. Been fired from a job.
41. Taken a lie detector test.
42. Swam with dolphins.
43. Voted for someone on a reality TV show.
44. Written poetry.
45. Read more than 20 books a year.
46. Gone to Europe.
47. Loved someone you shouldn't have
48. Used a colouring book over age 12.
49. Had a surgery.
50. Had stitches.
51. Taken a Taxi.
52. Had more than 5 IM conversations going on at once.
53. Been in a fist fight.
54. Suffered any form of abuse.
55. Had a pet.
56. Petted a wild animal.
57. Had your own credit card & bought something with it.
58. Dyed your hair. 
59. Got a tattoo. (Got Three, actually!)
60. Had something pierced.
61. Got straight A’s.
62. Known someone personally with HIV or AIDS.
63. Taken pictures with a webcam.
64. Lost something expensive.
65. Gone to sleep with music on.