The Best Choice?

As a rational human being we try to answer every question to the best of our ability. There is so much you can answer with a scientific or even a logical answer. Don't worry I am not going to talk about the theory that everything happens because God has all the answers and he has a reason for doing what he is doing. I am not much a believer of God, so I will not delve in that matter. I am talking about the simple things like not knowing how your cake would come out because you changed the recipe a tad bit or when you go hiking or mountain climbing to a new place, you never know what you will see or experience around the corner. Yet you would still take the leap.

Another one that is always a dilemma for me to whether to read a book or watch its interpretation in a movie. Not quite a chicken and egg situation but for someone who loves a good story the decision is very important. I guess that's the reason I have put off seeing so many amazing movies just because I wanted to read the book. I am not complaining.

All said and done it is a better dilemma to deal with so many other decisions we make on a daily basis that influence our lives forever. I think I can survive not watching another movie or reading another book after all. 

Cheers!

Leena --<@

All in the SPICE!!!

I am not a big fan of food.. In fact I rarely entered the kitchen until I started my master's degree. Not too picky about what I should eat, hence the lifelong funky relationship with food.

Company changed all that. By that I mean my husband. He loves to eat. In fact I can safely say that he lives to eat. And here he was, married to a person who does not enjoy eating or cooking. Poor thing. After experimenting from books, listening non-stop to The Wah Chef and the Show me the Curry ladies I started getting the hang of cooking. Experimenting with with I mess a lot. Besides Indian food which I am conversant with, trying to recreate other cuisines is comparatively difficult. I must have tried the Yellow Thai Curry at least 3 times by now, but every time something is missing and I cannot figure out what. Everything was fresh and cooked perfectly. Yet did not taste good overall.

Made many variations, still the amazing taste eluded me. Finally I decided to deviate from the recipe and change the spices. And voila the thai curry was the same you eat in restaurants.

It is all about the spice honey! Whether food or relationships, add a little bit of spice and see the difference. Oh and one more thing.. Never stop trying :)

Leena --<@

Mental Block :)

Ya ya, no matter how much you negate it, we all have mental blocks. I have so many. For example, I cannot run a marathon or I cannot ride a bicycle without hands for more than 5 seconds (yup, 5 seconds is my max). But we all have our mental blocks. No matter how whimsical, they are there. My husband and I love hiking.  We have tried many trails over the course of the past 1 year. Unfortunately we have a mental block. One that involves the 9-12 mile PG&E trail in Rancho San Antonio. We have been on the trail at least 5 times and have never completed it. We would always run away after 6 miles thinking we were too tired to complete the hike. Now we have done more steep hikes like Mission Peak multiple times but the longer ones are more harder. 

Two weeks ago, a friend of ours came along with us. He is a powerhouse of stories. You name the topic and he would know something about it. A walking talking podcast of everything. We were so engaged in our discussion that we barely remember hiking. I just recall that we discussed about everything under the sun. At the end of the hike, we were satisfied and energized to do it again. Our friend had to leave and we were not very sure if we could make it as a couple.

PG&E Trail at Rancho San Antonio

I know what you might be thinking, why not just listen to something and complete your hike. Simple. No quite. When my husband and I go for a hike we make it a point not to use our "i" devices. The reason is only one. If we wanted to listen to our music why are we going together. So no devices, just you, your partner/friend, the trail and of course the nature. Bottom line the conversation matters. I was 100% sure that we would turn around midway after getting bored or fighting. 

At the top of the trail :)

 So here we were walking along the 10 mile loop and we just started talking about all the random stuff. Sometimes talking sometimes just being silent with our thoughts. Something changed in those 4 hours. We started appreciating the beautiful nature. Being one with the mountains, the streams, the animals was so wonderful. We completed the hike. Came home exhausted but very satisfied. Ready for more next week.

Walking through the woods

Moral of the story: It's all in the mind.. There should be no such thing as a mental block :)


Happy Hiking
Leena --<@

Do you own your Happiness?

I know the answer in your mind is," Of course!" What kind of a question is this? Well, most times it is not the case. Would you go to a concert alone? Would you go to a movie alone? Would you go for a game alone? If the answer to these and more is,"Yes" then yes you are the owner of your happiness. I know I am not, since my happiness depends on the happiness of others. My family, my friends all of them collectively define my happiness. 

So if I am alone maybe I am not that happy after all. I don't know what the right state is or should be but I do know this, you should not be dependent on someone else to make you feel happy. That itself is really sad that you cannot make yourself feel happy doing something alone. 

I attended a concert last weekend. I was there with a friend and my husband. There was a single guy sitting besides me. He was silent the entire time before the concert. When I saw him, the first thing that struck me was that,"Oh he is alone, that is so sad." He was listening to the opening bands while we were chatting away, making fun at one another. And then the concert began.  He literally was off his feet the moment the band started playing, enjoying every moment of it. He was screaming, cheering, clapping and I would like to think that he was tearing up a little bit too. Seemed like a big fan of the band.My perspective of that individual changed that moment. I thought,"I wish I could do that!" Follow my happiness and do the things I love no matter if I have company to do it with or not. I used to do it in school where I would go ahead and try different things even if I was not necessarily good at them. But just trying them would give me immense satisfaction and happiness. Now I look for people to do it with. Or just pull my husband along because he does not have much of a choice ;)

My mid year resolution (yes, you can have a mid year resolution:) ) is now to go out there and explore new things that make me happy. If I find new or old friends on the way it is great, but that will not deter me from keep trying :)


Cheers to owning your Happiness!


Leena --<@

2 Minute Noodles

In the old ages. I know I am aging myself by saying this but back in the 90's life used to be so simple. Kids would go to school, come back home, pretend to complete their homework, then run away for playing. Come back home, eat and sleep. Simple. Today's life is so complicated. I agree there are is an App for almost everything you might want to do. But the question I ask is,"Do you really need it?" Where is the effort to learn something? To build something from scratch. To experiment using a new instrument or learning a new sport.

In the age of the i products, all that we are doing is straining our eyes, getting wrist pain and yet not really learning anything on the way.

I listen to a podcast called,"The Moth Podcast". It has a simple concept. Real stories told by people without notes. The stories are funny, inspiring, saddening at times. But it always keeps me coming back for more. At the end of the podcast, the host exits by saying," Have a story worthy week!" Everytime he says that I think back on my week to analyze if I had a story worthy week. Some times I do some times I don't. But I definitely try to make it happen. Obviously these people could not have had these stories if they were huddled on their facebook or twitter accounts. They definitely would not have been speaking if they were in front of their technology products all day long.

The gist is simple. "To keep things Simple." Yes there is a ton of information out there. But how much do you really read and retain or even learn from. If the answer is less than 40% it is time to step away from your gadgets, your facebook and the rest and step out to see what the world has to offer. De clutter your life which will help you think more clearly.

I have so many friends who canbe in front of their laptops for 12 hours at a stretch. But if you ask them at the end of the day what did they learn or what did they get out of the 12 hours, you would rarely get 2 or 3 new things. If that is what you plan to do, there is not much difference between us and the rest of the animal world. We have a brain for a reason. The reason will be fulfilled if you decide and do use your brains. 2 minute noodles are easy to make but not healthy to eat. Think about it :)

Leena --<@