Courage Confidence & the Civic

Today's post is inspired by the car i drive - The Honda Civic.

Thats D behind the wheel

One day I was dropping off D to school and I wasn't quite enjoying the drive as I usually do. Even though I'm not one of those drivers who knows my car inside out, I did realise that the air pressure in the tyres was low and that's why i was feeling a very rough and rugged drive. On my way back i got the tyre pressure adjusted at a petrol pump and i enjoyed the drive back as usual.

It was a very simple incident - but yet it opened my eyes to something quite profound!!

We are like cars in a way.

We have a body that has many complex parts/organs that need to work together harmoniously in sync for us to work properly
We need fuel to run a car much in the same way we need breath to run our body
We drive along in our cars the same way we go through life

We may have the best looking car whether its Aston Martin, BMW or Mercedes and the best car accessories to flaunt,   but if we don't have enough air pressure in the tyres, we will not enjoy the drive.

I realised that Courage and Confidence play the role of tyre pressure in our lives.

We may have the best looking body and the best home, locality, job, car, clothes, jewellery, best vacations or the most happening social network to flaunt, but if we don't have the courage and confidence to face life and its challenges - we will not enjoy our lives

Courage to face life and all the challenges that it may throw at you
Courage to make and maintain friendships
Courage to be who you are - accepting your fears and insecurities
Courage to Love fully and laugh loudly
Courage to go the extra mile for others
Confidence that you will be able to get over whatever comes your way
Confidence that you have all that it takes
Confidence that you are special and you are loved
Confidence that you are blessed and taken care of

If you don't have all this, irrespective of how attractive our life may seem from the outside, we will not really enjoy it. We wont have THAT unparallelled joy of authenticity.

I'm a keen observer of my life as well as the life of others -

1) I see so many people who seem to have everything that money can buy - but are still running around from pillar to post like they're missing something very important - searching for the PEACE to enjoy the wealth and lifestyle but don't find it.

3)There are still some who don't seem to have much material comforts but do go through life with a contented smile on their face and a quiet energy that's infectious. And somehow they find that when they need something, the universe always provides for it and makes it available for them.

Its a short life - and "The Secret" says that whatever we focus on grows - we cant possibly focus on everything, we need to prioritise...

Think about it - What would you like to focus on ???

Im not saying one shouldnt have a great car - Im saying dont take the tyres lightly - they make a huge difference to the drive, irrespective of the make of the car!!

Mid-Life awakening for women

Sharing an article which i liked. Im in my 30's but i already identify with it.

Mid-life awakening for women

Vinita Dawra Nangia
29 April 2012, 09:00 AM IST

The mid-life crisis is no longer bad news for women. It’s an opportunity for new opportunities

Are you a woman in your 40s struck by strange restlessness, angst, and a feeling of something missing? Wonderful! You have hit the mid-life crisis, which today is nothing short of an opportunity to reinvent your life and live the way you wish to.
Kids flew the nest? Marital problems? Bored with your job? Lonely? Or, just irritated with the sameness of everything? You could be facing questions in your personal or professional life, or accosted by existential queries — do not just go with the flow. Get a grip on life and lead it where you want it.

I recently attended a Life Alignment group healing session with healer Jeff Levin in Delhi. Whether or not I managed to align my life through his revolutionary healing system is a moot point, but the day did turn into an interesting session that included therapy, some confessions, non-religious chanting and vibrational healing.

This group had almost all women in their middle years. The themes that emerged were: being taken for granted, forced to conform to social conditioning, arrested dreams, and unfulfilled aspirations. As Jeff encouraged each woman to speak, what reveal;ed itself was a group of women, who have purportedly lived a wonderful existence, undisturbed by major upheavals. They all considered themselves a happy, blessed lot with caring families — and yet there was a feeling of something vital missing.

Most of them had led protected lives, conforming to societal expectations. As one woman put it revealingly, “I went to college, got married, had children….and my husband has never restricted me. Yet, I always wanted to be an architect, and now I think it is too late.”

This panicky feeling of having done one’s duty to others, but not enough for oneself is a repeated motif in the lives of women of a certain age in India. As the years move on inexorably, women start feeling deprived. They have lived as daughters, wives, mothers and friends, but not really as themselves. What is it that you really want for yourself? What is the true purpose of Your life?

A tough question for women, especially Indian women, who grew up before the media explosion that brought in Hannah Montana and Lady Gaga into our living rooms. Few of us were lucky to have enlightened parents, who taught us to think for ourselves. For the rest, submission was the norm; rebellion, very rare.

Thankfully, today when mid-life crisis strikes, there are still a good many quality years left. Good education and independent incomes have ensured that women at this stage can still bring in powerful changes that give a new wonderful twist to their lives.

As natural creators and lifelong multi-taskers, women are far better equipped than men at reinventing their lives. But deep emotional attachments make it tougher for them to move on. Reaching for what you want involves a trade-off and so we tend to stick to our comfort zones.

However, so long as you are clear what you want, it is never too late to salvage a dream — so what if we can live out just certain aspects of it? And so, if not an architect, what stops you from creating beautiful spaces around yourself ? If you wished to be a doctor and couldn't, what stops you from healing now?

After all, what’s in a name?