May the Lord Bless...

• The maintenance staff at my apartment complex who shoveled the snow for me (without me asking him to) so that I could drive my car out...
• The man in the military uniform who sat by me until the ambulance arrived after my auto accident last year.
• The man who stopped on his tracks to ask me if I was doing alright and needed any help when I was crying in the middle of the street...
• The strangers who have helped me grab my heavy luggage from the baggage belt in airports...
• The pastor and his wife who gave me free accommodation on my first night in the United States when I had no place to go to...
• The group of boys who not only allowed me to stay with them, but also fed me, gave me transportation, huddled up in the living room at night, so that I could get the bedroom to myself, until my apartment was available to me...
• The neighbor who allowed me to drive his car for a week when my car was stolen...
• The friend who cooked and cleaned for me when I had deadlines without being asked to...
• The friends who have given me rides when my car broke down innumerous amounts of time, at very short notice...
• The friends who have stayed up all night helping me with my presentation, homework, or upcoming exams...
• The friend who made me macaroni and cheese out of the blue when I was feeling down...
• The friend who lent me his parking pass for the quarter because he did not want me walking in the cold to campus...
• The friend who lent me his laptop for a month because my computer broke down and I had thesis deadlines...

The friends who have lent me their ears when I have needed them inspite of their busy schedules...

Over and above, may the Lord bless..

Those who chose not to gossip about me when they knew my deep dark secrets, who chose to keep my secrets safe with them, who chose not to talk ill about me behind my back, who chose to take my backlash with a pinch of salt, who have come forward to make amends when things have been sour, who have waited patiently for me to return to my normal self.....those who have accepted me for who I am and love me despite my faults.

May the Lord bless all the strangers, acquaintances, friends, family who have crossed my path to impact me positively without being aware of it...I would like to appreciate those people who have long been forgotten..the strangers whose names I dont know, the acquaintances whose faces I remember but nothing beyond that, the friends who have walked in and out, the family that I have not chosen but been born into. You might not remember what you have done for me. But I do. And I will pass on the good will. So that someone else's life is impacted and they can do the same...

Thanks, and practice random acts of kindness.

If I could turn back time....would I?

How many times have we wished to go back in time and change what we did?

"I wish I had not done that!".

A very common statement that we hear when someone thinks they have made a mistake.

BUT have you thought about how the good things that followed may not be in your life if you had not made that so-called mistake?

For example, I wanted to be a psychiatrist...did not study hard for my boards....did not score enough to get into med school...cried buckets and said,

"I wish I had studied harder!".

I was forced to pick an alternative which was obviously psychology...today, I am glad that that happened for I dont think I am cut out for med school...and am very happy with where I am today!

I do not deny the shame, pain, disappointment, and agony I felt at that time. I felt like a failure. But I picked myself up and wonder if that happened truly for a reason. For my path eventually was psychology?

Think about your life. Your friends. Your family. Any aha moments come to you?

I had a friend who was devastated after her boyfriend of two years cheated on her. She had moved specifically to his city to be with him. She said,

"I wish that I had not moved cities just for him".

She suffered and mourned the loss of her relationship. But she managed to move on. She now is enjoying marital bliss with someone else who she met in the very same city as her boyfriend, without any regrets.

If I could turn back time, would I? I don't know. There are some instances in my life which have been sad. I still don't know why they happened. I am waiting to discover the reason. I am sure that there is a reason. Everything happens for the best.

Thanks, and have no regrets. Keep moving on. The good will happen...eventually

Speed Limits and Expiry Dates

What's the speed limit for automobiles in a school zone?

20 miles per hour.

What's the speed limit for trucks on an interstate highway?

55 miles per hour.

What's the speed limit in a relationship?

Unknown.

I wish that relationships also came with a rules and regulations booklet. How fast should you divulge about yourself to a stranger, to an acquaintance, a friend, or a new found romantic partner? When should you yield? And when should you stop and look before going ahead? When should you brake? And when should you go slow? What happens in an accident? And who brings the gas to you when you are low on energy? Above all, what happens when you are driving your relationship under the influence of a substance called infatuation? Who gives you a ticket and how do you pay the price? Above all, how do you develop your driving skills?

I wish that they also came with expiry dates. Sometimes, we attempt to relish the relationship long after its expiry date. Consequence: Ill (mental) health and uneasiness. What do we do with a rotten apple? I wish we could do the same with relationships and forget about it. Unfortunately, the stench of the rot remains in our minds for long periods, sometimes even permanently.

Relationships..sometimes treated as casual as a product available in the market and yet so profoundly affect us in some way or the other. I wish there was a manual to follow. We all sometimes do.

Thanks, and follow the speed limit and do not disregard the expiry dates. They are both there for a reason!

I hope I never...

• Turn into that woman who will forget about her girlfriends when she is with her husband..
• Turn into that woman who looks more like her husband's mother than his wife..
• Turn into that woman who constantly talks about her mother-in-law's antics..
• Turn into that woman whose topic of conversation surrounds jewellery, clothes, shoes, hair, and makeup..
• Turn into that woman who will put on 60 lbs during pregnancy never to lose it back again..
• Turn into that woman who is constantly bitching about what others did to her husband..
• Turn into that woman who spends 50 dollars a week on her beauty parlor appointments..

AND

• Turn into a "typical" woman.....the one who nags, the one who has no brains, the one who cannot drive, the one who cries at the drop of a hat, the one who looks good only in the kitchen, the one who used to belong to her father and now to her husband, the one who will come back home from work and cook and keep house clean......

I am afraid I will be one of these women, one day. I am afraid I will be one of those gender-boxed women. A woman that society expects a woman to be and will then look down upon her for being that way. I am afraid that I might be snubbed for trying to be a different woman...and out-of-the-box woman. And I am afraid that no matter what I do, people will look at me as a woman...and not the woman.

Thanks, and respect women.

From the eyes of an evolving student

I HAVE REALIZED...

No matter how much I procrastinate, I always get the work done...with a few struggles and many obstacles.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, and enjoy life. What's the hurry to get it done?

That a couple B's here and there do not really affect my GPA that much.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, and enjoy life. What's the need to get an A?

That annoying people wont stop their antics no matter how much you tell them.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, and enjoy life. What's the need to give them any importance?

That depriving myself of that cheesecake that I have been craving for 2 days is only making me miserable.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, EAT CHEESECAKE, and enjoy life. What's the need to worry about the number of calories in a mere, occasional treat that can release endorphins in you?

That sacrificing watching a movie so that I can study for two hours does not work. I keep thinking about the movie anyway.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, and enjoy life. What's the importance of two hours of "pretending to study"?

That no matter how much I plan for a trip or an event during my breaks, when there are more than 2 people involved, things never go as planned.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, and enjoy life. What's the need to plan when things happen they way you dont want them to anyway!

That no matter how hard I try to hide the bitter truth, it comes out in various ways...nice or not nice...and the consequences are always bad.

Moral: Watch movies, talk on the phone, sleep, TELL THE TRUTH, and enjoy life. What's the need to lie when you will be busted at some point anyway?

Life as a student is surely not a bed of roses. Exams, roommates, finances, professors, lack of sleep, no time for groceries, the list is never ending. But we can make it seem like a no-breezer if we stop agonizing over minute "ifs" and "buts" and "shoulds". Save your energy for the bigger problems in life...the real life...life outside of classes, colleges, universities. The small ones are only worth pooh poohing!

Thanks, and enjoy life..as a student. You will never be a student again...not like this.