300 Dreams

No dream is too big. When one of my smaller wishes don't come true and I foolishly feel that my world is coming down (!), I think of people who seem to have impossible dreams that they persist with. 300 Dreams is a presentation that I created one day when I was feeling particularly low. It just made me feel silly to fret over one lost hope when there is so much more to life than fretting! This presentation is about Empowerment International and particularly Kathy. Her courage and optimism are inspiring. Hope you like it!

300 Dreams

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Remember Me?

This is the new presentation I created for Empowerment International-the organization that works tirelessly for the poverty stricken children in Nicaragua. It is kind of a follow up on the presentation I created last year on slideshare. If you like this presentation, please vote!

Remember Me?

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The Story of my Life

Here is a presentation I created for Empowerment International. It was selected as the top 8 slideshows out of thousands by Slideshare in its World's Best Presentation Contest this year!

The Story of my life

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Who is the happiest of them all?

Photo Courtesy squeakymarmot
This morning I read a story about the happiest countries in the world (Denmark, says the survey, followed by Switzerland and other Scandinavian countries) and how an organization faithfully conducts annual happiness surveys to learn what constitutes real happiness.

A little later I read about a list of happiest people in UK (don't know how one can narrow down the list to just 100) and another one that provided tips to keep one's kids happy.

Now, either I am attuned to pick up happiness related stories or, finally,the world is waking up to the need to be happy!

I don't really think you should have to try too hard to be happy. Just enjoy what you have been handed by life and things should be fine. Of course, we all want to make our lives better and complacency cannot be mistaken for contentment. However, my point is that even the process to get better should make you happier.

Since different people want different things in life, what provides contentment to one may not be enough for another. After all, the richest and the prettiest people are not necessarily the happiest!

So the fact remains that it is difficult if not impossible to create a model for perfect happiness.You just know how you feel when you feel it. Perhaps, if we consciously try to live every moment, we will enjoy every single one of it. Also, if we try to seek positive out of every situation, no matter how grim, we just might find a perfect antidote to all our worries.

Faster and faster we go..

Photo Courtesy chris gin

Most of us love the quick service and easy availability of goods that technology provides. It is not that hard to see why web surfing has become the main pastime of people. Where else could one hope to get information about any topic under the sun while chatting with a friend, listening to the latest Beyonce number and buying a GAP tee shirt at throwaway price?

The ease with which anything gets done may be to blame for the replacement of things that show love and care with things that are less time consuming. How many people, nowadays, count letter writing as their favorite pastime? How about walking to the neighbors' home for a little chat? Internet, hi tech phones and an increasing number of time saving gadgets have changed our lives considerably.

When I was a kid, only an important function necessitated new clothes and prompted a tour of the local market. For little kids, today, visiting the neighborhood malls for random purchases has become an everyday necessity. Filing nails was a simple task before the compulsory manicures and pedicures came along.

Elders would ask the giggling kids to jump up and down their backs for an easy back massage; but that was before the ubiquitous spas dotted the streets. Why play with noisy children when a little cash could provide a heavenly rub down in sound proof spas? In another era, mommy's painstakingly prepared dishes were the favorites of every child, now they are replaced by the fast foods at Pizza Huts and Mac Donald's.

Most people of the older generation are concerned about the lack of patience, care, time and contentment among young people. They feel that in our attempts to be faster, better and richer, we have lost our abilities to seek simple joys. They cringe at how the changed times have cost us our peace of mind. Don't you agree?

Before and after pregnancy

Photo Courtesy laszlo-photo
If you have gone through pregnancy, you will probably remember the wonderful times the whole world cared about you and looked at you with awe.

Complete strangers gave you their seats, slacker hubby helped with house work, concerned relatives asked about your health and even your workaholic boss asked you to take it easy! Those rosy days of pregnancy lasted just nine months. And even before you settled into the life of the 'chosen one', things took a U turn.

The baby came into your arms and you went back to being the normal, neglected woman!

Here is a light hearted look at the differences between then (during pregnancy) and now (after delivery):

Loads of Advices: If advices came in fits and starts during pregnancy, they come in huge explosions after the baby makes his appearance. People make it their birth right to let you know about every aspect of parenting; even when they have never been within a holding distance of a baby.

Change of attitude: So you were the queen during pregnancy. If paparazzi failed to trace you because you did not resemble a pregnant star, your friends and relatives made you feel like one. You were the most important person on earth. Alas, the myth shatters as soon as you deliver. Now you are a nobody, and the reality hits harder after nine months of stardom.

Physical discomfort: I know a huge belly was tremendously uncomfortable. But at least, people were sympathetic then! Now you have all kinds of invisible pains and no one asks about it. You are incredibly weak and still no one seems to give your plight a second thought.

Physical appearance: The thing is when you were chubby and pregnant, you got great compliments on being healthy. But if you are overweight and not pregnant, the reversal of opinion shocks you. Then, a large midriff was a sign of hope and now it is a symbol of a lazy, unfit woman.

No help: God knows new moms need all kinds of help. Pregnant women have the situation in some control because the baby does not cry for milk, and diaper changes, and definitely does not wake up at nights. In spite of this, while pregnant women are offered all kinds of assistance, the new moms get overlooked by partners, friends and relatives. People, volunteer!

Happy pregnancy!

Photo Courtesy farbfroh
Pregnancy can be the sweetest and the most relaxing time. If the hormones play it right, your face is suffused with glow, your hair shines and your mien takes a soft, even saintly allure. In fact, in spite of the growing belly, you end up looking very delicate and complete strangers might start giving you a second look.

But, of course, all this comes with a huge baggage, impossible to ignore. Depending upon your luck, you may or may not suffer from varicose veins, hemorrhoids, gestational diabetes, high or low blood pressure, frequent vomits, and fatigue, not to mention sleeplessness. I had quite a few problems myself, though on the positive side people did comment on my better complexion!

Apart from the usual physical issues that pregnancy seems to trouble you with, there is the added concern about the state of pregnancy itself. I was constantly worried about my unborn child's health and reviewed the "what not to eat" list a dozen times every day. Loud noise, extra cup of coffee, fish, cheese, cosmetics, chocolate - all those things I never thought twice about became sources of grave concern to my paranoid self.

Anyway, it is undeniable that pregnancy is an incredibly fascinating journey. I definitely had more fun during it than after it when the whirlwind activities related to newborns began!
What about you?