Nike said so

Today is one of those days where I am thinking a lot about life. Why we're here, what we're doing with ourselves, why we do the things we do, and more importantly why we don't do the things we want to be doing. 

We always say, "Live like you're going to die tomorrow...", "Carpe Diem", "Live for today", "Just do it". So...why don't we? Why do we stop ourselves from doing what matters to us the most? 

Oh...there it is...there is a we...there is an us. I want to live like I'm going to die tomorrow and for the moment but I'm limited because of the we's and the us's of my world. As a kid, there was our parents as an adult there is our spouses. You ask, well what about when you were a young adult, you know single? Funny how that works when you're born into a traditional Indian family. 

You go from living at home, to being married. When you're living at home, you respect the rules of your parents house. This includes traditions, the way you spend your time, the way you spend your money, what time you come home, where you go etc etc. Not because anyone has told you the rules or they are written on the wall. It's an unsaid beauty. Once you're married, it's not quite the same as living to respect your parents rules, it's different but very similar. You learn to respect what is important to your spouse/partner/roommate by getting to know what they like/dislike. You learn to share the space and create rules amongst each other, again nothing set in stone but it's there. 

In the process, we create boundaries for ourselves. We limit ourselves from doing certain things that we may want to do or we think about doing but we don't because we are respecting someone else be it your spouse, roommate, sibling, parent, friend, co-worker etc. There are also things that limit us, such as our jobs, money, time, commitment etc. Not just the people around us but the things around us also contribute to the boundaries we create.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we all just let others and ourselves just be? Understand why the other wants to do what they want to do. They may not be doing anything to disrespect you or hurt you (at least as adults we don't do this, as kids...we may have been a bit on the rebellious side). Sometimes, we just want to do something that is important to seize the day or live in the moment. We spend more time thinking about the things we want to do and how we wish we would just do them. 

Stop stopping yourself and stop stopping others. Take a step back and remind your self and others to live in the moment...and just do it. We just have one life to do it...why waste the opportunity in thinking and wishing. If you have a clean motive and no ill intentions, I support you and (so does Nike!) Just do it :).

Growing.

And I don't mean physically because clearly I fell behind on that a long time ago.

Growing shouldn't stop because if it does then you are becoming to comfortable with where you are. We're not perfect, we need to better our health, improve our character, learn new skills and challenge ourselves to the next step of who we can be. As a kid you wanted to grow taller because you didn't want to be the smallest in your class or be left unpicked for the basketball team. As a teenager it was about growing up so you can finally do all the things grown ups do (which obviously was nothing to look forward to). And now, as an adult it's about being a grown up....growing your career, growing financially, growing your family...so many levels of growth.

Growing is good. Set goals, reach them, and look back at the delta. Repeat. That is growth. Who you were and who you have become.  Work towards something little or big at every phase in life and in different areas of your life.

For some it's about losing those 10 pounds, for others it's getting that promotion. One may feel he/she wants to be a better person. It's all do-able and you will grow once you achieve these goals. But set the goals, set realistic, measurable goals. In the business world we call these S.M.A.R.T goals.
                                                                 Specific
                                                                 Measurable
                                                                 Attainable
                                                                 Realistic
                                                                 Timely
For example:
1. Exercise: I will exercise everyday for one month until I lose one pound. Can you exercise everyday? If it's not realistic or attainable than say you will exercise twice a week for two months.

2. Career: I will set up regular meetings (every 2 weeks) with my manager to understand what I need to do and my progress on getting a promotion. I will commit to manager the following in the next year in order work toward my promotion ie: build the following skills, take on the following projects.

3. Self: Every day I will let one car merge in front of me without getting pissed off. I will hold open the door for people following in behind me. I will be thankful for one thing at the end of every day. 
Don't get me wrong here, there should be a level of satisfaction or else you will be running endlessly your whole life without knowing what exactly you're running after. ie: gosh I wish I had more money...I wish I enjoyed life more which is why you need these goals so you can actually be growing towards something.

One may question, why do I need to set goals? I mean its not like most of us said, I will graduate from elementary school and will do everything in my power to achieve that goal. Somethings just happen. Did you grow from the time you started your elementary school days to the day you graduated. Of course. You went from being a scared little kid who didn't want to let go of your parents leg to wishing your parents didn't have to come to your class room to drop you off.  Sure, you can technically "grow" without setting goals. Goals pace you, they may in fact push you to achieve something faster.

Goals are a proactive approach to growth. Without goals you are living in a reactive world, just letting things happen when they do. If I had understood the benefits and impact of goals as a kid, I may have been more determined to graduate from elementary school in say 4 years. Getting out of elementary school asap and jumping to reap the benefits of being a "middle school" student is every kids dream. Fortunately for me, elementary school were the best of my academic career and it was a good thing goals didn't make sense to me till more recently :).

Khichdi

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Khichdi referred to in so many ways, but the picture you see is what it is.  It's often referred to as sick man's food. It's a simple meal made from rice and lentils (dal). Light and easy on any tummy. It's also comfort food for many. On cold nights khichdi with kadhi and spicy pickle can definitely hit the spot. 

So why is it considered to be "bad" to have khichdi on an auspicious day?After all it comforts the sick and the cold...that's me majority of the time. I should be thankful to have such a meal by my side any time I need it. Two key ingredients, one pot and voila! (Additional  items are extra toppings and very much optional).

The term Khichdi is also used as a "mix". For example, it's a kichdi of people coming tonight aka a whole bunch of random people coming tonight. That's the beauty of khichdi, you can really make it however you want. Add ingredients as you please, remove ingredients as you please.  It's a mix of whatever (whoever) you want it to be. 

Our life can also be considered a khichdi sometimes because everything is all mixed up (not in a good way). People often confuse whether  khichdi is comfort food or if it is a poor mans diet because of how simple it is. It's all confusing and it varies depending on who you ask. Just like life, it can feel like khichdi sometimes...are we living a simple life because we want to and it's better this way? Or are we making the best of what we have (the rice and lentils)? 

If you ask me, khichdi is what you want it to be. On a good day it can be your confort food on a bad day...at least you can make yourself some khichdi right? That's more than what a lot of people will ever have.

The Journalist in me...

It's been a long time since I have sat down and wrote my thoughts out on paper, okay, I lie. I guess Facebook should count as some sort of diary entry given we write everything that is going on in our lives in our status posts. But seriously, lately I only write in my diary a few times in a year where as I used to write in my dairy every night before going to sleep. Probably because life as a teenager is just more stressful <insert sarcasm> and everything in life makes you mad so you have to get the anger out somewhere, right? Lucky for me I now have a husband who is a wonderful target, I don't even have to filter what I'm going to say and worry about it getting into the wrong hands :).

I also miss writing for newspapers. Epitaph (Homestead HS's school newspaper) was a fun place for me to explore my journalism skills as a student. I even went on to writing articles and entries for India Post for a few years and somewhere along the way I stopped. Hoping that blogging allows me to get back into my interest in writing and putting together a collection of thoughts.

As for the title...I'll save that for another time.