Preparing for a Trip of a Life time

Life has its unexpected turns, we are not usually prepared for the things to go in a different direction than was expected. A week ago I was ready to quit, quit from everything that I had planned on doing, my trip , job search and just sit and let life take the decisions for me, let the life take its own course because thats what I have been hearing that whatever is written in your fate you will only get that no matter what you do and desire. I was depressed and was not feeling well. I didn't want to talk to anyone and anybody. I was mad about everything and everyone, but then i realized that its okay to have emotions, its okay to feel a certain way but that doesn't mean that I move away from the driver seat and be the passenger. When we are on a road trip, it gets tiring. Rain, snow, traffic all these things make you tired. That doesn't mean that you come back to where you were, you either take a detour or you stop at a rest area for sometime. If the weather is bad you st...

I was driving home from work when I stopped at the gas station to fill up my car. In the car next to me was a young woman with a very elderly gentleman in the passenger seat. I saw that and it reminded me of these recent months when I would drive my maternal granddad to his medical appointments. Before my maternal grandfather moved to USA to live with us, after the sudden demise of my grandmother, I used to be a travel buddy of my paternal grandfather. I used to fly to where ever he was and would fly him to where ever he wanted to be. My dad is seven siblings all spread across the USA. When my paternal grandmother passed back in 2011 our lives were around my grandfather. He was suffering from Alzheimers and would remember only a few people. I was lucky enough to be his travel buddy. My paternal grandfather left us for heavens in 2016. I am very blessed to still have my maternal grandfather around. Thinking about all this made me smile and teary. That caught that woman's attention....

Growing up we are pre-programmed to be accepted in the society. We have a timeline for everything. High school at 18, undergraduate degree at 22, graduate degree by 24, married at 25, kids at 27, buying house by 30 and well settled after that. We run the mad race of the timeline and if the things dont work that way we get upset. We have poor self esteem and start labeling ourselves as a failure. To be honest the society helps you label yourself and be in the miserable position. People judge you if you dont do things according to the time line. They start judging you if you dont complete your degree on time, if you dont find the love of your life and get married at a certain age. Everyone points fingers at you that how your obesity might be a reason for you not having a husband. People tell you all weight reducing tips, or give you tips to look "pretty" for a man. I was subjected to that pre conceived notion too. My parents were not like that but many people who I call my fami...

Why do I have to struggle so much? Why am I not rich? Why cant I buy the house I really like? Why did my friend say that? Why does God keep punishing me ?  Why am I so alone? Why did my boyfriend/girlfriend cheat on me? Why is my boss treating me like this? Why do I have to pay my bills when my friend gets everything handed to her? Instead of asking why about the things around us and things that we have no control over we need to ask this question about ourselves. Why did we wake up in the morning? why are we living in a condition that we are? why are we in this certain place in our career so on and so forth. When we are struggling in life or not getting where we want to be we tend to blame each and everything in the world except ourselves. I understand that many things are not under our control and we cannot do anything about it but I think we can. We cannot just sit and remorse at the situation that we are in. We need to make sure that we are focusing on what to do next. What i...

Everyday we have to take decisions that are not always easy. We have to see the requirement of the situation we are in at that time and take the decision. Back in 2014 when things seemed to be impossible for me, and I felt like I wont be able to live anymore, ending my engagement of two years and a six year relation before that, I took a decision too. The decision I thought that I wont be ever able to take. I am 31 years old and have not dated anyone in my life other than him and I always thought that he will be it for me forever but that was not the case. Being married to my best friend and then having a family with him was all I saw for my future. I was ready to face any problems and any difficulties that would come our way and I did. I went through a lot of hurdles before we got engaged. There was a lot of tension on both sides but then we figured it out. I had my whole life planned with him but then instead of signing the wedding contract I took the decision of sending the engageme...

Its a common saying that if life throws lemon at you make lemonade. Basically, a sour juice can be converted into a nice drink. I think a little differently. I think its the denial stage from the five stages of grief explained by Elisabeth Kubler Ross.We should face the things that come to us as is. It is because not every time we will have the ingredients to do that and if we are not used to accepting the sour juice we are basically not handling the situation well. Lets talk about an example here. Ms. X went for a gynecology appointment and finds out that the pap smear is not regular. She goes through tests and now docs think that she might have uterine cancer. She is in denial and doesn't share it with anyone because she knows that it will be nothing. She stays "positive". She goes into the fantasy land which is cancer free and thinks nothing can happen to her, tests are false positives all the time, doesn't want to go to a oncologist to get the diagnosis but after...