Tag Archives: best

Make my day….compliment me!

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Laughing-woman via venusbuzz

Do you remember the movie with the bad guy saying “make my day”?

I think it may have been Clint Eastwood.

It just occurred to me the other day that a simple compliment or soft and genuine smile can make everyone’s day.

I saw a little boy today sitting with his Dad and next to him was a hat he had made. The hat was covered with glitter, stickers and red, white and blue pom-poms. I complimented him and he beamed up at me and let me try it on!

He made my day!

How can you make someone else’s day today?

 

Love and light,

Indrani

I am an ass….

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mule

I was thinking about the people in my life who I do not believe carry their own weight and me doing more than my fair share of work, carrying the burdens.

I instantly had an image of myself as a pack mule….a big, strong mule able to carry my weight and twice that on my back.

Then I thought about all the other mules.  These mules are not as strong. Some have other skills besides hauling stuff, some are younger, some older.  They are not carrying the load I feel I am carrying. I became almost blinded by anger and resentment because they are not doing the work load I believe they should be doing.

AND at the end of the day all of us mules are getting the same amount of food!

WAIT!!!
But I carried the most weight! I did my best work!

And then it hit me.  The other mules, they did their best work too.
Ooooh….

That single thought took away my anger and resentment.

I may not be happy that the other mules did not carry the same amount of weight as me, but I was given the amount of weight because I could carry it.
They were given what they could carry, and no it won’t always be equal.
Perhaps they could have carried the load better with proper attention, guidance and training….but they did the best they could.

Now, I feel like an ass…

Next time I am quick to judge on a job or task that is done, I will ask myself…did that person to the best job they are able to?

And if they didn’t… well, there will be another lesson in that I am sure.

Hee Haaww

My Emotional Palette…I make great vignettes!

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excited_woman via bestofyoutoday.comWhen I was growing up in Trinidad, I was repeatedly told that I was “too emotional”. I have struggled with that label for most of my adult life and certainly felt the weight of non-acceptance the whole of my childhood. Heck, why would I expect others to accept me as an adult when I was not even ready to accept my OWN self. It has ONLY been in the past 10 years that I have begun to fully embrace who and what I am.

Who am I?

I am an emotional creature.
I am a creature with MANY different emotions.
I love my emotions…they serve to protect me.

What am I?

I am a woman who is PROUD to paint with her emotions.

I paint pictures and vignettes that work for me.
I am a woman whose emotional palette is too vast to be contained in any one closet of feelings.

I need several and they are all different styles and designs.
I am all in!

Wow, Indrani, you sound kind of boastful and egotistical and kind of scary!

Ummmm, yes it may sound like that and look like that, AND that too is OK with MOI!
You see, those perceptions belong to others, not me!
I am finally ok with ME and I am also ok with you not really liking me.

I sure hope that you like YOU though!
I have given myself permission to shriek in delight, to guffaw out loud and to cry when I want to.

I can feel frustration and disappointment and NOT turn it into anger.

I can feel somber or elated or frightened or thigh slapping loud, AND they are all ok!

I can be quiet when I choose, talk a mile a minute when the mood strikes and love others as much as I now love myself.

I can do all these things without requiring permission from anyone.
I have finally given myself permission to inhabit all the colors of my emotional palette.

Have you given yourself permission to use all of your emotions?

Love and light,
Indrani

What will people think?

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thinking via voxxiWhat is the basis of this question? The basis of this question is approval or disapproval.

Will people disapprove of my actions?

What actions are we usually concerned about? Actions that involve what society will think?

Should you stay or leave an abusive situation?

Should you give up your whole life to take care of others?

Should you continuously loan money to people who waste it and come back for more?

 

When we base our decisions on “what others think”, we make decisions that put other people’s happiness before our own. Our happiness will come last. There will always be someone else who needs to be accommodated.

 

How then, do you take actions that are in your best interest?

You MUST know what those best interests are.

 

Be strong. Be brave.

 

Love and light,

Indrani

Deep down, we all want to run around naked…

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We cover our bodies to hide our imperfections.feet_earthing via wakeup-world.com

We use make-up to cover our blemishes.

There are so many products out there to cover up our flaws.

But regardless of what we look like on the outside, deep down don’t you just want to run around naked? Naked in that you do not have to cover up who you really are?  Don’t you wish you could let your flaws….the mole, the freckles, your imperfect smile, just be out there for everyone to see?  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to show our open wounds, our vulnerabilities, the scars from the miles traveled?  Imagine the freedom to be trusting enough to allow others see the tears on our face, the awkward jig we do around the room when we are happy and to hear us sing out of tune when our hearts are full of joy.

We have become obsessed with covering up our bodies, our emotions and our thoughts.
I say quit your grinnin’ and drop your linen!

Expose your body, your feelings, your soul….if not to others, then to yourself.
You’ll be amazed.

All WE need is SELF LOVE….

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self love via thebalancedlifeonlineI will respect myself without your permission.

I will respect my work.

I will seek counsel from trusted advisors.

My work will be my life message.

My life will reflect my beliefs and values.

My values will be visible to ME at all times.

I will respect myself at equal or higher levels than I respect any others.

I expect equal levels of respect from all I meet.

I will not make excuses for my activism.

I will support myself with all of my resources.

I am whole and I am unique.

When faced with your doubt I will not accept it as my own.

When faced with my own doubt I will meet it with love, not fear.

My work is grounded in love.

My love fuels my drive.

 

Love and light,

Indrani

Lessons from Olga…..

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She wouldn’t accept my offer of a bracelet.
She wouldn’t let me make a crown for her.
She refused to come closer.
She was one of the 200 or so students in one of the orphanages that my clown group visited.

There I was sitting on a step, making crowns from pipe cleaners.  The kids were lined up for their crowns….girls, boys, small, big, some young and some older.

I am not sure when she decided to come closer, but there she was and ready for a crown.
I crafted her crown carefully and with an extra dose of gratitude for trusting that I would not harm her.

When the pipe cleaners were finished, I started making beaded bracelets for everyone. I made hers first and she carefully selected her beads from the small baggies that sat precipitously on my lap. As the kids realized that something new was being given, they quickly swarmed and began demanding their bracelet. She became my helper and as kids requested the color of beads, “rojo, verde, azul, blanco”. She quietly and efficiently fished the correct bead from the baggie and gave it to me to thread on the multi-colored string.

I hugged her and said, “Adios” and thanked her for her help. She smiled and her eyes twinkled.

The magic of this connection was that she did not know if she cared to connect or even if she trusted me. I did not base my success that morning on whether or not she would accept my gifts. I was there, loving and giving without thought as to what her role should or ought to be.

Should she be grateful that I had come all the way from America to visit that orphanage?
Should she care that I had spent money on these pipe cleaners and the baggie of beads?
No!
Her only job was to be herself.
My job was to be loving and present and joyful.
We both did our jobs well.

Now if only I can remember to practice this giving of myself in a pure and unattached way. A way that says, I am here for you, if you’d like to come closer.
A way that allows me to KNOW that chasing you or begging you or demanding of you to be a certain way is just unacceptable.
A way that tells me you are responsible for whom and what you accept from me.
A way that shows me to stay true to me and allow you to stay true to you and hope that in our separate trueness we can still share love, peace and harmony.

Thanks Olga, for these big lessons.
I will hold your smile in my heart forever.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be free.

Love and light,
Indrani

OCCUPY your LIFE….

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We have all heard about the OCCUPY movement.
If you have not, it is easy to get information from Google.
In a nutshell, it is a protest against the “1%” by the “99%” and the fight is for more equality.

Occupy, for us means what Willie Shakespeare advised us so many years ago… “To thine own self be true.”
So many of us do not know what it means to be true to self.
So many of us look to others to find who we are.

Remember the movie The Runaway Bride with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts?
In that movie, Richard’s character tells Julia’s character that she does not even know what kind of eggs she likes. It seems that her favorite egg dish is determined by the man she currently loves. She gets really pissed off, but in the end she makes eggs all different ways and decides for herself.

This is what we must do. We must act as scientists and experiment. We must play both roles and we have to be an independent observer also.

How do we do this?
We have to be careful to not allow others to define who we are.
We have to be careful to not get caught in a pigeon hole set by others.

What can this look like?
People can try to tell us that we are not allowed to do something or that women can’t do certain things.
There was a time in the US when women were not allowed to vote!
Can you imagine that there was a time when men thought women were too feeble to vote?

I like to wonder what we will challenge today to help future generations of women.

Occupy Your Life. Now Is The Time.
Take the time, invest in self discovery and begin to lay all of your talents on the line.

Really…there is no time to lose.

 

Love & light,

Indrani

Teachers, your words have tremendous power…

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I just heard an 18 year old on THE VOICE whose singing made me smile.

What he said about is 8th grade teacher, however, made me cringe and weep.

She told him he would never amount to anything!

Blake Shelton said “SCREW HER!” Adam Levine asked “What’s her name?” The classy young man decided not to reveal the teacher’s identity and said “I do not want to do that”.

I hope she knows that she has LET DOWN her entire profession.

Why do some adults act like the children that they are supposed to be helping? An 8th grader may act up, be mouthy and whatever else… that is a rite of passage. He/she at least has an excuse….THEY ARE CHILDREN!

What excuses do the adults give themselves when they show these kids what adults are NOT.

For everyone who reads this, you probably have a memory of a teacher who was less than supportive. Take this moment to send light to that person as you pat yourself on your own back for having the courage to not give up.

If you did give up because of what some idiot teacher said, send them healing light and clothe yourself in light. You are bright and brilliant and you deserve all the success you desire.

Love & light,

Indrani

A Thousand Words…What the movie taught me.

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I was recently on a flight and saw the movie A Thousand Words, it was funny and introspective at the same time.

I did not expect introspection from Eddie Murphy.

The premise of the movie (spoiler alert) is that Eddie Murphy’s character has 1000 words left and when he reached this quota, he will die.
There is an outer manifestation of this which is a tree in his back yard that loses a leaf with every word he speaks.
He loses three words (and three leaves) if he says “I love you.”
This becomes very problematic not only at work, but with his wife, to whom he cannot express his love because he does not want to die.
If he writes a word, the leaves also fall.

Ok, so it’s a movie and it all works out in the end!
BUT, what if it could be true?
Do you know how many words you have left?
This of course presupposes that you know how many years you have and you know how many words you will speak each day.
A daunting mathematical problem!

How many years do I have left?
I know not.
I have this moment.
What I choose to say in this moment can be uplifting or off putting.
It can be humorous or humorless.
It can be stated without judgment or it can be accusatory.
I can whisper or shout.
I have a plethora of choices.

How do I decide?
I have to KNOW who I am and how I want to show up in the world.

I have to know ME!
I have to be true to me.
I have to fight the lethargy that comes with everyday living and the urge to be “fed up” with knowing myself. I have to be ON.
That takes at first a conscious decision to be true to me, then it becomes like breathing.
It becomes a living testament to the William Shakespeare quote “to thine own self be true.”
I must live, To MY own self be true.

I recently had someone forward me a text that they received from another person.
This person just sent the text. They did not say what they wanted me to do with it.
I had to wonder, what should I do here? Should I ignore it, therefore ignore the person who sent it to me?
Should I comment?
I chose to comment, but with humor.
Why? Because I have chosen to try and find the lesson or the humor in my experiences.
How did the recipient take it? I do not know!
What did I accomplish?
Only being true to “MY OWN SELF.”

It’s a long and winding road, indeed.

Love & light,

Indrani