Pratima Shah

   One is mostly hurt by the expectations which he / she has from someone in life. The rash of expectations has the power to lead us towards despair. Once we experience despair we begin dissecting ourselves and the situations that led to despair. On reflecting, one finds that even though there is anger towards the situation and the person, the heart does not quit. It goes on and on with the memories / thoughts / conversations / and the roller coaster ride in that vicious cycle. Estrangement does not come that easily to many of us. One longs to be in the situation even though in despair. This is witnessed when you are in love with someone to the extent that you do every little thing for the person but still get no affection in return.             Many times things take a drastic turn and relations may even turn into hate stories. When so, one needs to reflect over the reasons - like the kind of words used / actions of the past and behavio...

     The geography of your face and the body which one sees has a dramatic impact in a face to face encounter. Due to this importance, the gaze can be classified into 3 types: Social Gazing, Intimate Gazing and Power Gazing. 1. Social Gaze : In a social encounter, the gazer's eyes look in a triangular area on the face of the other person, i.e between the eyes and the mouth almost for 90% during the encounter. The environment is non - threatening and you will be perceived as non - aggressive by the other person. The gaze is more focused in the area under the eyes. This is often used by people when they are with family and friends while in conversations with them. It is also known as the best responding gaze when your gaze meets the gaze of the other and is also perceived as being open and approachable. 2. Intimate Gaze : This is the gaze which one gives in the triangular area between the eyes and the chest when one is close to the person and when a person is at a ...

   The basic instinct of a person in grief is to shake off the pain as early as possible. The advice we get from others is to 'move on', 'do not brood over the past', 'forget it and continue with the flow of life'. Experts say that this is bad advice as due to this we blame our uncomfortable relationship with grief / bereavement. Actually none of us seeks unhappiness of any kind but the bitter fact is neither can we avoid it.    Grief is not a negative emotion but an amalgamation of polar opposite feelings that have struck our life and which makes our life a conflict where we have to live a life without the presence of our loved ones. The reasons for grief could be loss of some near and dear one / loss of our relations / loss of job / failure of any kind. Grief causes numbness, pining for the person, makes us disorganized and puts us in despair and finally we begin to reorganize ourselves. During this phase we lose control over the urge to look back and kee...

   Aristotle is considered a prolific and brilliant writer among the Western philosophers. He has his impact in many fields but the observations that he made on friendship and why it matters are still relevant. Aristotle regarded friendship as one of the truest joy of life and always said that a life of any human is a well - lived life only if it has meaningful and lasting friendship to enrich it. According to him there are 3 types of friendship: 1. Friendship of Utility - this is the friendship that arises out of the need to gain some benefits. The persons who are involved in it do not have any affection for one another but are concerned only with the fulfillment of the tasks; once the benefits stop this friendship also wanes as it is temporary. The relation ends once the benefits have stopped. Such friendships are more or less observed among older people. Some time is enjoyed together for some time but once the situation changes; the nature of connection changes too. T...

   Ninety nine times before today when I equipped myself to begin writing; little did I know that I would continue to write with utmost discipline. Today as I write this hundredth blog I am filled with gratitude. I wonder how did I do this, when did I get the time to write and what did I lose in the process.    Truly speaking, whenever a person begins a new venture and continues with it, lot of discipline and diligence is required and he / she has to abstain himself / herself from so many things to focus on the new venture. A painful yet fulfilling experience. Sometimes it becomes difficult to cope up with the noise - physical / psychological that arises in you. One requires immense perseverance to remain glued to what one started. There were times when I was busy throughout yet could not sleep as I had not written my blog for the week. But I was determined not to quit. I was intrinsically motivated and that helped me to continue with this journey of blogging. ...

     We humans are all conditioned to live a life with the same age old beliefs, rituals and a herd mentality that makes our mind function on a set pattern. Our education system is a good example of this because the knowledge that is imparted from generation to generation is barely modified / updated. The conditioning which are within us never give us a holistic perception of our existence due to which we live a fragmented life wherein we have compartments. These compartments are never in sync with each other but always in opposition to the other compartments. The result is that every human suffers from opposing thoughts and emotions due to which our decisions oscillate between extremes. The conditioning has deformed us in many ways.    Instead of oscillating between extremes why don't we try to understand the push and pulls of life. To dissolve confusion and gain clarity we need to have an understanding that helps us discern right from wrong. This discernm...

     High achievers are those who are highly disciplined and have a daily routine. Their secret of success lies in waking up early, exercising to take care of their health, being well informed - through reading / internet and organizing their day. High achievers follow their routines with utmost discipline and feel guilty when they are unable to do so. According to sources, all the topmost successful personalities on this earth meditate, exercise and read in the early hours of the morning. This gives them the boost and energy to go about peacefully, cheerfully and positively with their daily routine. Rising early and performing such a routine gives you the confidence and strength to face anything negative that comes your way. These habits will leave you rejuvenated after the night and help you to focus on the activities which need to be performed during the day. Inhale every joy that comes your way and exhale it with loads of gratitude to God.    To live he...