Lentil Soup for the Soul

Am not exactly the Deepak Chopra wannabe but recently when I was chatting with a friend and he commented that if someone wants to know how to stay positive, they should come to me, I joked that maybe I should start writing a book. Since I am a plant eater plus a health conscious individual, I had to choose this name for what I hope will become a book one day. For now, it is the name of my blog post. I read somewhere that an intent without a plan is like a 'wish', so I have decided to first elaborate on the 'plan' to take the soup making endeavor forward.

There is no pleasure in achievement unless effort is expended – 'no pain, no gain' they say. I would like to summarize my countless hours of toil and futile pages of planning in three easy steps :

1.Write
2.Write
3.and Write

Some people crib about the dishwasher not working while others that they do not even have food to eat. Both the circumstances are justifiable to feel negative about. Do not get me wrong here – I am in no way trying to say that the dishwasher not working does not warrant feeling down and out...especially if you are in a country where there is no or expensive domestic help available, you already have sore hands, the average temperature for the month is 0 degrees Celsius and you are doing ALL house chores. It is easy to feel that this is a never-ending situation and that things will get worse but it might help to look at all the fun times you have been able to have despite the inconvenience. The 'Well Done' sticker your kid might have got from school, the first disco she might have attended or the nice workout you might have enjoyed at the gym.

In the current economic scenario, alot of people are majorly affected by job cuts – it is not just the finances which get affected but self respect, societal pressures, a feeling of low self worth and a complete loss of what to do with the time at hand. As a visionary and philosopher I have had the pleasure to work with says – 'Resources are limited, creativity is unlimited'. It is time then to gather one's self esteem and start on a fresh note. It is time to do your 'own' thing, your 'calling'. It reminds me of an oft quoted story - a training session on how to think positive is being held. The trainer shows the audience a 100 euro note and asks who wants it. Many hands quickly shoot up in the air. He then crumples it and asks the same question and still the hands stay up in the air. He then stamps on it and then asks the same question; still the hands in the air remain. He concludes by saying that this is an important lesson in life – we still want the 100 euro note since it has not lost it's worth despite what it was subjected too. How is it so then, that when we are ill-treated by life and fall down, we think we are now worthless?