Thu28Feb19

1. Don’t call someone more than twice continuously. If they don’t pick up your call that mean they have something more important to attend to.

2. When someone drops something on the floor by mistake or drops food from the plate or doesn’t know how to use a knife/fork don’t stare at them. The same goes to people sneezing, coughing or even an uncontrollable fart. It’s an involuntary reaction.

3. Always skip using the washroom beside the occupied one. It makes it uneasy for the person in the occupied washroom as well as yourself if you occupy the one right next to theirs.

4. Return money that you have borrowed even before the other person remembers lending it to you. Be it 1Rs or 100Rs. It shows your integrity and character. Same goes with umbrellas, pen, lunch boxes, books.

5. Never order the expensive dish on the menu when someone is treating you for lunch/dinner. If possible ask them to order their choice of food for you.

6. Don’t ask awkward questions like ‘Oh so you aren’t married yet?’ Or ‘Don’t you have kids’ or ‘Why didn’t you buy a house?’ For god’s sake it isn’t your problem.

7. Always open the door for the person coming behind you. Doesn’t matter if it is a guy or a girl. You don’t grow small by treating someone well in public.

8. If you take a taxi with a friend, and he/she pays now, you pay next time.

9. Respect different political opinions.

10. Don’t call people on the phone very late if it’s not really important.

11. Never interrupt people talking.

12. If you tease someone, and they don’t seem to enjoy it, stop it and never do it again.

13. Say “thank you” when someone is helping you.

14. Praise publicly. Criticize privately.

15. If you’re talking to someone and notice any of the following, they’re trying to end the conversation: Their eyes keep darting away. They angle their body away from you. They give you rapid one-word answers.

16. There’s almost never a reason to comment on someone’s weight. Just say, “You look fantastic.” If they want to talk about losing weight, they will.

17. If you’re getting a long flight or train, shower before. The person next to you will appreciate it.

18. When someone shows you a photo on their phone, don’t swipe left or right. You never know what’s next.

19. If a colleague tells you they have a doctors appointment, don’t ask what it’s for, just say hope you’re ok. If they want to talk about it they will and you don’t put them in the uncomfortable position of having to tell you their personal illness.

20. Treat the cleaner with the same respect as the CEO. Nobody is impressed at how rudely you can treat someone below you but people will notice if you treat them with respect.

21. If a person is speaking directly to you, staring at your phone is rude.

22. Never give advice until you’re asked

23. Do not make plans in front of those you are not involving.

24. Don’t talk to someone if they are wearing headphones.

25. When meeting someone after a long time, unless they want to talk about it, don’t ask them their age and salary.

26. When a friend/colleague offers you some food, you can politely say No. But, don’t do this after tasting or smelling it. It’s an insult to the one who has offered it to you

27. When someone starts talking about their ailments, don’t start talking about yours.

28. When someone you know has an obvious change in appearance, e.g., weight gain/loss, bald spot, acne. never comment on it until they talk about it to you, they already know what is happened to them.

29. Never kiss a baby that’s not yours.

30. Mind your own business unless anything involves you directly — just stay out of it.

31. Do not view every post on Facebook as an opportunity to argue/debate, even if does not conform to your views or beliefs.

*Credits to the content writers. Not my original content, uploaded as received ;-)

Wed01Aug18

How many of you have ever over packed for a trip on an air-plane? How many of you, once you reach at your destination, realise that you don’t need most of what you brought? You make a mental note for next time not to bring so much.

But, now with all the new luggage rules and regulations, you really can’t take too much with you anymore. So, the decision has been made for you. Isn’t life like this too? When we were children, our parents made decisions for us. But, when we become adults, we start making our own decisions.

Needless to say, some of these decisions are not always the best. But, this is how we learn. Picture your life as the backpack.

We are born, we go to school, we play and we grow. Our backpacks are pretty light as we have others taking on responsibility for us. Our parents, teachers, siblings and extended family members are all helping us to carry our backpacks for us.

Then, we grew up, graduated from school, got a job and started taking on responsibility for carrying our own backpacks.

At this point of time, the weight is bearable as we embark on what is called the Journey of Life.

The funny thing is that most of us could not wait to get here! Somewhere on the way to adulthood, we may have had heart-breaks or loss that weighs our backpacks down, but we are young and strong and keep going. Eventually, most of us get married and start families.

This increased responsibility starts adding more weight to our backpacks. But, we are oblivious of the added weight, as our hearts are light with the love for our spouse and our children.

Time goes on and the roles that we play within our relationships start to take their toll. We are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles and so on. The straps are getting uncomfortable. The added stress starts putting impact on us, and we react by overeating, overworking, drinking, taking drugs, indulging in infidelity, or just plain checking out.

Our bodies become heavy, tired and sluggish.

Then, as we go along, comes more to add to the backpack: problems in our relationships, at work, with our children or our families. The straps start digging in, can you feel them?

Just when we think things are getting better, our parents start having health issues. Now, we are juggling our own family, our parents, and whatever else is going on. Can you feel the weight? Are the straps leaving gouges on your shoulders yet?

Sometimes, it gets to the point when the weight is almost too much to bear. We cannot take and go on anymore. Our strength is gone. Some may give up at this point, some may check out, using drugs or alcohol to numb themselves to the world around them. Some will walk away from their responsibilities, or wish that they should.

What is the difference between those who walk away from their responsibilities and those of us that carry our backpacks fully loaded, so to speak, and still get up every day and still take care of our families, do our jobs, visit our parents or hang out with friends?

The answer is simple.

The former ones lack spirituality and values like faith, love, compassion, forgiveness whereas the latter ones keep these values intact in their life. They make a choice everyday of what they put into their backpacks to offset the weight.

They make a choice everyday to lighten their load. They choose having faith in God, their coaches and their family members, and, most importantly, in themselves also.

What are you choosing to put into your backpack, called life?

Is it anger, pain and suffering, or is it love, compassion and forgiveness?

If it is the latter, you are well on your way to lightening your backpack. So, take care of and be conscious of what are you choosing today? What are you putting into your backpack? I know what is mine. You can remake or repack your backpack by choosing and putting values in it I leave you with an option to repack.

Don’t let what is in your backpack at present define your life. You can redefine your life by choosing or putting values and spirituality in it and thereby lead a value-based life.

Sat23Jun18

People are on the right track.

Turning off notifications is a good idea as a way to avoid constant reminders that someone, somewhere, has said something that may require our attention and remove it from the people who are in front of us.

Limiting use of phones at dinner is another simple way to take a small break from social media availability and focus on the people you are with in real life.

This can also be a way to practice limiting use at other times, as you become more used to having your phone turned off or in another room.

Here are some additional strategies that can work:

•Go Offline at Certain Times of Day: If you create windows when you are not available (like dinnertime, after a certain time of night, or even every other hour), you begin to teach yourself how to limit your availability. You also teach others not to expect you to be constantly available. This small boundary may make it easier to disconnect at other times and in other ways.

•Become Comfortable with "Sleep Mode": Putting your phone on "sleep mode" and only checking it once an hour is a good way to keep notifications functional but silent, so you can choose when to let them interrupt your day. This puts you in greater control.

•Ask People to Call You On It: Enlist help by announcing that you’d like to check your phone less when you are with people. You can even make a pact with others that none of you will be on your phones when you are together, as in "olden times" (like 2005). This can help you to stay connected with those you’re with, and make it into a game of sorts, rather than something you try to do alone.

•Delete Your Apps: If you delete social media apps on your phone, you’ll be forced to only use them when you are at your computer or tablet. This makes it more challenging to maintain a mindless habit of checking your phone, but it doesn’t cut you off entirely. The idea is to make yourself think about it more, and to make social media less available—but not completely inaccessible.

•Try Meditation: Because checking your phone can be such an insidious habit, it’s easy to do it without thinking. Getting into a new habit like meditation can help you to become more conscious of the present moment, the here and now. That can also help you to get into the practice of being here, now, rather than wondering who else is saying something online. Practice being fully present and it will become easier to keep your phone in your pocket.