An era has passed with the demise of MJ - the king of pop. The world of music will never ever be the same. I still remember my childhood days spent listening to his songs, trying to mimic the awesome dance steps, time spent learning the lyrics of his amazing songs and then singing them all the time.
I still remember the time when i saw Thriller, Beat it for the first time. Man what a day it was. I got so excited that i not only bought the cassette(yes cassette then) but also got the video's of the songs taped to play on the VCR.
The first music cd i bought after moving to US was of MJ - the collection of all his great songs. So i am sure my weekend will be filled with listening to his CD's at loudest possible volume with all windows rolled down on 403 while moving my household items to the new location(Yes i am moving this weekend).
Long live the king of pop.... MJ we will miss you
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Is being materialistic the way to happiness?
I often find myself asking "is being materialistic the way to eternal happiness?" I have never found the answer and yet i end up moving forward on this path to find happiness someday.
I love reading quotes and phrases. There are innumerable quotes on several websites about happiness. They will give you millions of reasons to feel happy and content but are they real?I don't even know how to define happiness anymore because the definition is so convoluted.
One often finds oneself buying materialistic things thinking it's gotta make me happy like clothes, cars, electronic gadgets, house etc. One often find oneself comparing to the next well known person , thinking that if i can get what he has I will be so happy. The grass is always greener on the other side. Well i do this all the time but this sort of happiness has a very short lifespan. You eventually loose the interest in the thing you sought and then again start searching for the next best thing and then this cycle keeps on going. Its a vicious circle.
"Money can't buy you happiness ... but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery"
The real happiness lies in small that happen in our life which we tend to ignore or don't even take notice of for e.g. the day your child walked for the first time, the day your child accomplished something on his/her own for the first time, the day your wife smiled and reciprocated her love because you noticed the change in her hair style or complimented the dress she was wearing etc. We(mostly men) all complaint if the food on the table doesn't taste good but do we ever appreciate if the food is delicious. We tend to take it for granted that our better half will always make it right and that this relationship gives us the right to complaint. Instead if we change our attitude and learn to appreciate life better then it will result in an enormous change.
Think about it............
I love reading quotes and phrases. There are innumerable quotes on several websites about happiness. They will give you millions of reasons to feel happy and content but are they real?I don't even know how to define happiness anymore because the definition is so convoluted.
One often finds oneself buying materialistic things thinking it's gotta make me happy like clothes, cars, electronic gadgets, house etc. One often find oneself comparing to the next well known person , thinking that if i can get what he has I will be so happy. The grass is always greener on the other side. Well i do this all the time but this sort of happiness has a very short lifespan. You eventually loose the interest in the thing you sought and then again start searching for the next best thing and then this cycle keeps on going. Its a vicious circle.
"Money can't buy you happiness ... but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery"
The real happiness lies in small that happen in our life which we tend to ignore or don't even take notice of for e.g. the day your child walked for the first time, the day your child accomplished something on his/her own for the first time, the day your wife smiled and reciprocated her love because you noticed the change in her hair style or complimented the dress she was wearing etc. We(mostly men) all complaint if the food on the table doesn't taste good but do we ever appreciate if the food is delicious. We tend to take it for granted that our better half will always make it right and that this relationship gives us the right to complaint. Instead if we change our attitude and learn to appreciate life better then it will result in an enormous change.
“You may have occasion to possess or use material things, but the secret of life lies in never missing them.” ~Gandhi
Think about it............
Monday, June 22, 2009
Are we overprotecting our children?
As a kid i was always pampered by my mom and my grandfather. To a large extent i enjoyed being treated that way. Its always a nice feeling to know that there is someone who will be there for you no matter what the circumstances be and will be there to protect you if things go wrong. It's that feeling of being protected which a child gets from being in the mother's laps by clinging on to her.
But the questions I ask myself now , having become a parent are:
1) Are we over protecting our kids?
2) Is providing a shield to our kids all the time the right way to go about it?
3) Will it actually help build the personality of our children or will it make them weak?
4) Will they be able to face the challenges of life independently when they grow up or will they chicken out and quit?
5) Do they need to experience every situation before they will learn from it or can they just learn from our experiences?
The answers to most of these questions aren't always as easy as "Yes/No". It sometimes takes more than just love, affection, feelings to be honest and answer them correctly.
So how do you decide what is too much and when to just take a step back and let your child figure it out on his/her own? Does having more gray hair make you the best judge in all situations. I know its hard not to try and solve every single problem of your own child, I mean how can you not? Its your own blood, a mother has had to nourish the child in her womb for 9 months and then go through the intense child birth experience before even getting to see and hold the child. Does having the cord attached with your child for 9 months mean that the parents have an invisible cord attached with the child for the rest of their life?
Sometimes its more than important to let the child fight their own battles. Sometimes it necessary to let them fall and get hurt and then give them Band aid rather than just describing what it means to get hurt. Its the only way they will learn to face the world. Its critical step to help develop the child's personality. The feeling of fulfillment that your child will get from accomplishing something on their own is hard to describe in words. Sometimes letting go is much important than holding back....
But the questions I ask myself now , having become a parent are:
1) Are we over protecting our kids?
2) Is providing a shield to our kids all the time the right way to go about it?
3) Will it actually help build the personality of our children or will it make them weak?
4) Will they be able to face the challenges of life independently when they grow up or will they chicken out and quit?
5) Do they need to experience every situation before they will learn from it or can they just learn from our experiences?
The answers to most of these questions aren't always as easy as "Yes/No". It sometimes takes more than just love, affection, feelings to be honest and answer them correctly.
So how do you decide what is too much and when to just take a step back and let your child figure it out on his/her own? Does having more gray hair make you the best judge in all situations. I know its hard not to try and solve every single problem of your own child, I mean how can you not? Its your own blood, a mother has had to nourish the child in her womb for 9 months and then go through the intense child birth experience before even getting to see and hold the child. Does having the cord attached with your child for 9 months mean that the parents have an invisible cord attached with the child for the rest of their life?
Sometimes its more than important to let the child fight their own battles. Sometimes it necessary to let them fall and get hurt and then give them Band aid rather than just describing what it means to get hurt. Its the only way they will learn to face the world. Its critical step to help develop the child's personality. The feeling of fulfillment that your child will get from accomplishing something on their own is hard to describe in words. Sometimes letting go is much important than holding back....
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