UBC Day 14 Bucket List

Day 14  Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 11th (and final) Question

An Amendment to the Bucket List

Does anyone else out there get stressed out by bucket lists? You know, you look at the list you stuck to your fridge, thinking it would inspire you, and instead you find yourself plunged into despair because you not only have no idea what to make for dinner but also are totally never going to skydive over the desert, and you know it. You don't even really want to anymore! Here's a revolutionary idea: Amend the Life List. Cross off skydiving if you like; just be sure to add something new. 

Okay, I don't have a bucket list.  The Universe just shakes its head at me each time I write a list. It constantly reminds me that it has a plan all of its own and any plans that I make are swiftly erased by that great hand in the sky.

I dream, and I set an intention and then I wait for the Universe to present whatever it is I am meant to experience. I've learned to trust it and I've learned that its list is infinitely more delightful and exciting than mine.

My list is being constantly amended by the Universe and I go with the flow. It has simplified my life and brought it peace, contentment and unimaginable experiences.

image source:  google images

“Maktub" (It is written.)” ~  Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Wish you a day when you are in harmony with the Universe


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Q5  Q6  Q7  Q8  Q9  Q10


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 12 Failure

Day 12  Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 10th Question

My Favourite Failure

Alright, now that we've covered the good stuff, let's talk about the biggest, most glorious, crashing-in-flames failure in your life.

Oprah asks the toughest questions. Had to think a lot about this but finally came up with this  ...

There have been several incidents in my working life, where people have verbally abused and insulted me. At those times, I was incredibly hurt and upset and broke down in tears. Thank goodness for some great managers who took the miscreants to task.

But for me these are personal failures and collectively my favourite failure. Why? because after the 5th time that occurred, I did a lot of soul searching and through that it aroused something in me that has now made me stand tall and strong. I feel the power within me to stay Stop.

I'm a firm believer that the Universe presents the situation again and again until the lesson is learned. It was time to show that while I look soft and gentle, I am made of tough stuff and won't let you walk all over me.

Knowing where to draw the line and say enough is enough and taking a stand for myself is a lesson I learned well, albeit the hard way.

image source: google images

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.  In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”  ~  Maya Angelou

May this be your day to shine.


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Q5  Q6  Q7  Q8  Q9


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 11 True Happiness

Day 11 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 9th Question

Your True Happiness

Without thinking too much about it, describe in as much detail as possible your perfect happiness.

A couple of weeks ago I had the most profound experience in the form of a message from the Universe:

"Happiness is not a pursuit, it is a state of being"

So keeping that message in mind, my true happiness lies in accepting my life in its totality, the way it was, the way it is, the way it will be.

image source: google images

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a happy day.



Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Q5  Q6  Q7  Q8


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 10 Best Surprise

Day 10 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 8th Question

The Best Surprise You've Ever Had

Here is an incident that surprised and delighted me. Is it the best surprise ever? I think I have many bests, let's say this is one of the bests.

When my son was in primary school, I got a note from the teacher to drop by and see her as she had something important to say to me. Now when a note like that comes home, as a parent your heart sinks. I questioned my son and his angelic little 7 year old eyes looked at me in complete astonishment.

So with great trepidation I went off to see the teacher. And here's what she said to me (not quite in these words but the essence is the same)..

"We had mat time yesterday and we asked the children what they wanted to be when they grew up. All of them came up with fireman, farmer, policeman, nurse, teacher etc, the usual stuff. Not your son, he wants to be a multi billionaire and own tall buildings. I was delighted to hear a radically new answer one I haven't heard ever in all my years as a teacher". (btw, Mrs M retired from teaching at the end of that year so she had been teaching for a long time).

Surprise, relief and delight were the emotions I went through. I can now say that 11 years later my son got admission into Architecture at Uni. He is specialising in Landscape Architecture - buildings, monuments, bridges, urban design etc. Thanks Mrs M for seeing a potential and nurturing that dream, and for passing on that info so we could nurture it too.

Don't ever put anything past kids. They will surprise you in the best ways.

 ~ James Van Der Beek

Wish you a day of delightful surprises.


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Q5  Q6  Q7


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 9 That One Quote

Day 9 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 7th Question

That One Quote

You know the one—it's that line that makes even the worst day seem better.

Again, so many quotes were swimming in my mind crying, "pick me, pick me".

I love quotes and I pull out one here and there as the circumstances deem and what my mind and soul requires at the time.

But I think the one that sums up everything for me and one that can be used in moments of joy and sorrow,  in good times and bad, when things are easy or difficult, when you feel confident or fear, when life just seems so hard and when life just flows, is:

"Everything is as it should be"

image source: google images

May you be in the perfect place at the perfect time.


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Q5  Q6


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

 

UBC Day 8 Zeal from a compliment

Day 8 Ultimate Blogging Challenge  and  the letter Z for ABC Wednesday

Oprah's 6th Question

The Most Unexpected Compliment You Ever Got

I will never forget the day in high school when I was driving somewhere and my friend's cute older brother told me, from the backseat, that I had nice shoulders. I had never in my life considered my shoulders and certainly never, ever considered they might be nice. It was so unexpected and so unusual that I was forced to conclude it must be true. What was the most unexpected compliment you ever got? The time your co-worker said, "You know, he's really smart—like you"? The time your toddler heard Aretha Franklin singing and wondered aloud if it was you? Store it up for those times when you really need a random "Nice shoulders!" and the world is not complying.

I really had to think hard on this one. Eventually I thought I would pick one from 2013.

A couple of days ago one of my school friends posted my poem on her Facebook wall and captioned it "Written by my poet friend".

I never thought anyone would call me a poet!  I write poems but a poet just has something more to it.

Some compliments motivate and inspire you to keep moving forward, Some provide you with confirmation that you can achieve what you set out to do.

My friend's compliment gives me the Zeal to keep writing poems. Perhaps someday even publish a book.

Thank you dear friend.

“It is a great mistake for men to give up paying compliments, for when they give up saying what is charming, they give up thinking what is charming.”  ~ Oscar Wilde

May you find the Zeal in everything you do.

Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Q5


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 7 Secrets

Day 7 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 5th Question

A Deep, Dark—Shhh—Secret

The mystifying thing about secrets is that everyone around you has one, but you don't know what it is. What's the secret no one would suspect about you? And, as Martha Beck suggests, ask yourself, Does knowing this information make my inner life feel brighter or darker? 

Now why would anyone want to tell a deep, dark secret? Aren't secrets meant to be silent companions?

Didn't we make a pact with our friends, with ourselves that we never would tell?

So why then would I reveal mine?

Instead I will ponder on my deep, dark secret quietly. On whether it makes my life feel brighter or darker. That's assuming of course that I have one!  ;)

Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one. 

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

image source: google images

Enjoy your secrets.

Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4

Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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UBC Day 6 Ideal Outfit

Day 6 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 4th Question

My Ideal Outfit

In your perfect world, what are you wearing right now? Why aren't you actually wearing it?

I absolutely love my Indian outfits - the  salwar kameez.

It's comfy and elegant. It can be dressy or casual. It makes me feel glamorous and pretty and it truly brings out the feminine in me. I love that best of all.

Why am I not wearing it right now (at the time of writing this post)? Well it's time to hop into bed and I'm in my very comfy PJs!

on one of my visits to India - Salwar Kameez by Biba

A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes. ~ Vera Wang

Have a comfy day!


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2  Q3 


Like my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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UBC Day 5 Mistakes

Day 5 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 3nd Question

The Mistake I Never Want To Make

There was a time in my life when I was afraid to make mistakes, but I have learned over the years that mistakes are great teachers and I move forward in leaps and bounds when I make them.

So the mistake I never want to make is the mistake of being afraid of making mistakes.

How I Love Lucy was born? We decided that instead of divorce lawyers profiting from our mistakes, we'd profit from them. ~ Lucille Ball

image source: google images

Have a fun day.


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1  Q2


Like my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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UBC Day 4 The Watched Read It List

Day 4 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Oprah's 2nd Question

The Watched/Read It List

Right now, write down the name of the book you're reading and the last movie you saw. Keeping a list of all the books you have read and movies you have seen will help you remember where your mind has been and also, over time, will reveal your changing tastes and moods. Like any journal, the list will start to show you your own patterns. It must mean something, for example, that every 10 years you go through a vampire stage, then a poetry palate cleanser, before diving into some classics. And if you keep a list, you won't ever have to reread the first hundred pages of Finnegans Wake before realizing why things seem so familiar.

The book I have just finished reading is "Dying To Be Me" by Anita Moorjhani. I have mixed feelings about this one. There were a couple of pearls within it, but somehow overall she told me nothing new.

The book I am currently reading is "Signals From The Soul" by Ann Mueller. Again some pearls, and some parts that made me feel very uncomfortable (almost felt like she was trying to gain a lot of sympathy - got that from Anita's book as well).

The book lined up to read is "Miracles Happen" by Dr Brian Weiss. I love his books. They are a delight to read because they are so easy to read and they always leave me feeling happy. Looking forward to reading this book.

The last movie I saw - Sleepless in Seattle - just a couple of days ago on TV. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are my favourite actors so any movie of theirs is a must watch. I've lost count of how many times I've seen this one.

There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favourite book. ~ Marcel Proust

Happy Reading, Happy Watching


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Oprah's questions roundup: Q1


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 3 My Younger Self Is Delighted

Day 3 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Inspired by Oprah's 11 Things A Woman Should Write Down Before The Year Ends and having read some awesome posts by some bloggers I thought I would do my own.

But I thought I'd do it a bit differently and dedicate a post to each question.

So here is Question 1:

What Younger You Would Like About Present You

What would make 14-year-old you delighted, if not disbelieving?

I think my 14-year-old-me would probably be delighted to know that I am happy with myself just the way I am.

I was an awkward, chubby, shy, quiet, timid 14 year old. I was teased about my weight and called all kinds of fairly cruel names. Over the years I lost a lot of weight, gained it back, lost it again, gained it back and it went backwards and forwards.

But in 2013 I had my aha moment - The Gods love me chubby and take every opportunity they find to sabotage my efforts to get slim.  I exercise, I eat healthy but the Gods want me chubby. So here I am chubby and at ease with that.

I can see my 14-year-old-me grin from ear to ear and I can hear the Gods sing:

"Don't go changing to try and please us, you've never let us down before ... We love you just the way you are" ~ adapted from Billy Joel's Just the way you are.

image source: google images 

Have a happy day.

Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here


Like my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Be Inspired by Steve Jobs and Oprah

RIP Steve Jobs. His death and life are probably the most talked and reported subject in the last few days and there have been so many blogs written about him.

I came across one that had a link to his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. And like everyone else I listened to it.  And then I noticed the link to the 2008 Commencement Address by Oprah Winfrey which also showed up at the conclusion of Steve Job's address.

Both addresses are so inspiring but I think Oprah's address touched my soul a little bit more. Probably because Steve Jobs address was more career focussed, Oprah's more on the humanitarian side.

But the sum total of both their addresses covers a wide spectrum and I took bits from both that I will draw on now and in the future.

So here are the links:
Oprah Winfrey - 2008 Stanford Commencement Address
Steve Jobs - 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Be inspired.

Warm Regards