Emotional and Mental Health

Contentment is the realization of a beautiful soul. It is a feeling which resides within every individual, but only a few are able to explore it. It's completely different from materialistic happiness dependent on the outside world. Counting your blessings is the best way to reach there! A hungry person when smells the aroma of food, it is contentment. A mother while feeding her child sees a smile on his/her face, it is contentment. Father, when he sees his daughter in her wedding dress, is contentment. Contentment is not a thought. It's an unmatched feeling that awakens the lively buds of your soul. You cannot buy contentment; you earn it! When you see a flower, it's beauty and scent fills your heart with positivity. At times, you want to become that flower by aromatizing the life of others and spreading happiness. When one small act of yours brings a smile to someone’s face or a tear of joy in those eyes, that compassion within you is nothing but contentment. Even in your work sphere, the feeling derived from doing work that makes you happy is contentment. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail. When you succeed, you feel a sense of joy, it is contentment. Even when you fail, a proud feeling must arise that you fulfilled the demand of that particular situation by giving your best. That feeling is nothing but contentment. However, you have to make sure that blissfulness derived out of contentment should never lead to complacency. It must always make you stress-free rather than making you carefree. It must push you further than to pull you back. Remember, standing water gets dirty quickly. So, never stop and keep flowing.             

Even if you are not a winner, appear like one. It is one of the most important traits of your personality to lead a healthy life. It is the reflection of your self-belief. A confident person lives far better life than a person with low self- confidence. Well, there are simple things that help in acquiring this particular trait. One is your lifestyle. Most of the times, your physical appearance reflects your self-confidence. Now, do not confuse between your looks and appearance. Your looks are not under your control, but you can always monitor the way you appear. Your presence creates your aura, which always has to be compelling to look self-confident. Always keep in mind that an early bird catches the most worms. A fit person appears more confident than others. Therefore, your appearance makes a lot of impact on the people you meet. Moreover, a smile can do wonders. A smile welcomes a smile. A happy person invites others to converse with him/her. Make eye contact and maintain your body posture while talking. You can practice it in front of the mirror. Rest assured, it helps. Moreover, you must know what to speak. Never try to impress others with false statements. At the same time, never try to impose your ideas on others. There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance.   Be confident in thinking and attitude. Talk to random person whenever you get a chance. Be generous and kind but don’t over apologize. Don’t worry, nobody is perfect, so tie your laces and take on the world.          

Morals are the basic understandings, values, and beliefs of a particular person or a group or a culture that defines how we should live our life. Sometimes, these are written or expressed in books; sometimes these are words of great people whom we believe.   Morals are universal teachings that we try to practice every day. Morals are ideal in themselves. They help us in choosing a response to a particular situation. Ideally, they teach the concept of right and wrong. Now, when a person believes in these teachings or values and acts accordingly in his day to day life, then these beliefs become a trait of that person. For instance, one should be loyal, is a belief. Loyalty becomes the character of that person. Therefore, we must summon into minds that we build our character on the ideas of our morals. Building a morale is a continuous process, which takes time. It is not a one-day phenomenon. A person's upbringing also plays a dominant role in the cultivation of values and morals. Therefore, it also becomes the responsibility of the parents to nurture their child well. Also, guide them to follow the right path.

 The world is full of negative energies and negative people around us. There are many instances which we see, hear, read and subsequently feel every day. The unnatural deaths due to deadly diseases, sudden accidents, brutal rapes, fatal crimes; moreover the betrayals, hypocrisy, jealousy and many more…you are bound to feel negative. But, this is one way of feeling it. Let us introduce ourselves to another way of looking at things. Despite all of the negativity happening around us, we also have all the reasons to feel content. We have a shelter to shed, food to eat, water to drink, money to spend. On top of that, WE HAVE TIME TO THINK AND TALK ABOUT NEGATIVE/ POSITIVE while most of the people do not have time to breathe freely. Compare yourself, but with the ones who can only dream of living your life. STOP COMPLAINING. You have all the right reasons to feel positive. Start feeling and enjoying happiness NOW. Last but not the least, follow compassion. Helping others and making others happy is a definite way to feel happy and positive.  

Before starting any journey, one has to know the destination.  Without a destination, the voyage is incomplete.  Let us assume that we have a set of skills. However, until we don’t know what to do with those skills, they are good for nothing. It’s like living life without a purpose. Goals are essential to move forward in life. Moreover, they help us in harnessing our energy in the right direction. Subsequently, they result in productivity from our efforts and energy.  Goals help us realize our true potential. We come to know about where we stand today and what needs to be done to raise our standards. A goal not only helps us in measuring our progress but also helps in maintaining our focus. A goal oriented person never gets distracted.  Moreover, when we subdivide our goals into small targets, it excitingly motivates us and keeps up our motivational level. Therefore, it is vital to set a goal and work for it.  

  Dear Parents, Greetings!!! My age is 32 now. I became a father of beautiful daughter four years back. I am writing this letter because now, I can fully comprehend how it feels to become a parent, just like you.  It is magical. I am really enjoying my parenthood. I have also realized that only my daughter can give me an opportunity to feel like a child again...something we always crave for, right? I can say that I am able to step into your shoes now... Apart from enjoying, I can contemplate how challenging is the role of a parent in the upbringing of a child. Seriously, it is a very tough job. Hats off to all of you. I can understand how difficult it was for you to raise us. I can relate to everything. But I realized a few more things as well... Introducing her to this world was my decision, not hers. So I need to adapt to the changes quickly. I need to understand my responsibilities towards her. I need to do the best I can in raising her. Well, every parent wants to become the best parent in the world. But what is the correct definition of the best parent? Is it a subjective question? Well, few conditions may vary, but in any case, love, respect, morals, values, integrity, ethics are the domains, which are regardless of every condition. You all are conscious of the fact that foundation of a plant is its roots, which has to be strong. The same applies to our children. The foundation here is the upbringing of the child, which is always the responsibility of the parent.  A reality check... I want to ask you a few questions. You may not like it but these questions are the need of the hour... How have times you scolded your child whenever he/she has committed mistakes? How many times have you got irritated because of them when they are curious and inquisitive? Have you ever felt ashamed and embarrassed by them?  How many times have you shown your disappointment towards them? Have you ever raised your hand on them? Have you ever compared your child with others’ children? Yes, ask yourself consciously that how many times have you tried to 'STEP INTO THEIR SHOES'? I am sure you do not like these questions. Maybe I am asking it too directly. Please ignore if you answer to the above-asked questions is 'No' or 'Never'. But believe me, if any of these questions are making you feel uncomfortable, it means you are feeling guilty.   You are uncovering a bitter realization within you... Respected parents, I don’t intend to hurt by asking you these questions. These issues are the need of the hour. Let us stop ignoring it and talk about it now. It is crucial for you to realize that your pain inflicted by these questions is minimal compared to your child's pain inflicted by you. Yes, you read it right... As a parent, it is very easy for you to express your negative emotions towards them....

The inevitable process We all are distinct individuals. We look different, think different. We respond to a given situation differently. We all have unique personal, social and professional background. Our interests, strengths, weaknesses, core competencies are all varied and diversified. We all are unique in our ways. Undoubtedly, most of us haven’t met in person and do not know one another personally. However, we all have someone very familiar around us. He is the one who clings on each of us individually and characteristically. May I present you, our omnipresent friend ‘STRESS.' I know I am personifying ‘Stress' but  to  connect well with this state of mind, pause and think; ‘doesn’t “it”, rather “he”  seem like our best friend?’ You might have got a hint….with a realization. I know it is not easy to admit, but it is a venomous truth. We shall try to face it, accept it and seek solutions. Most of us might also be wondering that how can we be friends with stress, let alone being best of friends. We all want to keep stress away from our lives, but how many of us have succeeded in doing so? Well, I don't think this question needs to be answered.  Fine, let us try to check the authentication level of our affinity with stress. Qualities of our best friend: We all are very well aware of the qualities of a best friend. Let us try to figure out that does he (Stress) has the same qualities that our best friends have? The first and the foremost quality best friends have is that they are trustworthy. Come what may, they will never leave you. Rest assured, our relationship with stress is also very healthy and sustainable. Sometimes, it even lasts for a lifetime. The second quality we find in our best friends is that they never let us feel lonely and alone. Stress again meets and fulfills this promise. No matter whatever the situations most of us are in, stress accompanies us anywhere and everywhere. In fact, many of his friends like anxiety, nervous tension, worry, fear, and impatience also join the party. I am sure we don’t like them, but how can we say no to the friends of our best friend. Ok, let us check out the following quality. Whenever we are stuck in panic and dreaded situations, we want our best friends to be with us. Ta-da….here he comes, just like a jinni. The only difference is that here we don’t have to rub the Magical Lamp. Stress always accompanies us when we get stuck in these situations. Final and the most liked about quality we observe in our best friends is that even if they are not physically present with us, they are always connected with us mentally. And you know what, stress entirely bestows this quality. You can be cent percent sure about it. In fact, stress is one step ahead of all of them. He is capable enough to affect our physical and the mental health both at...