The Power of a *true* Smile

A smile. A simple curving of the lips or a teeth baring smile. It does not matter what kind of smile it is, it has a powerful impact.

A smile changes the most severe of faces.

A smile can stop someone’s tears from falling.

A smile beautifies a ‘thank you’.

A smile, along with a good morning, shows it is good to see one another.

A smile can say ‘I like you’.

A smile can say ‘I appreciate you’.

A special kind of smile can say ‘I love you’.

A smile can say ‘It may be hurting now, but you’ll be all right’.

A smile can say ‘Do not be afraid’.

A smile shows encouragement.

A smile shows complicity.

A smile makes you approachable.

A smile can get you a discount. 😉

All in all, a smile brings happiness, in yourself, and in others. So Smile! Not often, but ALWAYS! At yourself, at your mum, at your dad, at your brother, at your sister, at your neighbors, at your friends, at your colleagues, at people you do not know…Anywhere, Anytime baby! <Winks>

And isn’t it a little bit funny how even the smallest of smile is contagious? Smile at someone, and you’ll most probably get a smile back!

The Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] said: “Do not abuse anyone, do not look down upon any good work, and when you speak to your brother, show him a cheerful face.”
[Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1889]

Abdullaah ibn Haarith said: “I never came across a person who smiled as much as Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]. Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] regarded smiling to a brother as an act of charity.”
[Tirmidhi]

“Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” 
― Mother Teresa

“Nothing shakes the smiling heart.” 
―Santosh Kalwar, I am Dead Man Alive

Surrounding myself with good people

Throughout my life, I have tried to surround myself with good people. People who I feel great with, people who inspire me to be good myself. I am eternally grateful to God for giving me an amazing family. Then come those I have chosen for myself. Those people are my closest friends. There ain’t so many but they are for keeps. I am also very grateful to have them by my side.

It is important for anyone to be surrounded with good people. People who are happy when you have achieved something great, people who help you achieve great things, people who ain’t afraid to tell you that you are doing a mistake, people who will not use you, people you can be happy and sad with. The list goes on.

Unfortunately, bad people exist as well. And I think, whether I wish it or not, they will end up, even for a brief moment, being in my life too. I do not always immediately recognise them but eventually, they show their real colors and fortunately, you can goodbye to them. But what about those I cannot completely remove from my life? Someone I am related to? I am more referring to the ‘extended’ family here. Like uncles, aunts, cousins.

This is a tough question for myself as I cannot possibly think about severing the blood relationship. Family is sacred for me. I just love to see families where the bond is so strong, it  is unbreakable. A family where everyone looks out for each other.

Thus, to answer this question, so far, all I can say is that I have to continue to strive to make things better. And pray. And keep reminding myself to do. Also, to remind me, not to ever, not ever, take the good people in my life for granted.

Rainy Days

Mauritius has been under the clouds for the last couple of days. It has been raining incessantly in certain regions, day and night. And as usual, things are chaotic. Some roads are completely under water, some bridges not accessible, Impossible traffic, schools closed, businesses closed, some offices closed. Homes flooded. Mobile network down. Long queues at Hypermarkets and ATM machines. No running water. Over-excited radio stations. They have got news to report all day long. A meteorological station that serves no good purpose. Over-crowded bus-stops. And stupid careless drivers who splash water on pedestrians going to work. Anyway, a very chaotic situation.

I do not understand how two days of heavy rain can cause such havoc in such a small country like ours. What would we have done if we got rain like that in India, or the floods like those in the US? We would be erased from the map. Seriously, we are in 2013! The Government always boasts about how Mauritius is doing so much better than the other countries in the region. Still when it gets hit with heavy rain, it is paralysed!

I know that we do not have control over the weather, or can predict it with perfect exactitude and natural calamities do happen. However, 1 day of torrential rain is hardly a calamity! It is just bad weather! But the country looks like it has been hit by a terrible cyclone.

One thing though, we have been blessed with copious rains and the reservoirs are in a good health. But knowing the state of countries ‘plumbing’ system, it will not be a surprise if the Authorities raise the alert of a drought in a few more months.

On a completely different note, some of us really enjoy this kind of weather. One where we want to stay cosy in bed, with hot coffee, chocolate or tea. Prepare nice food: Roti, Chicken Soup. Have nice music on. It is a different mood. However, I always like to keep in mind that some other people are not as fortunate as I am: to be under a safe roof. I thank God for all the little and big favors bestowed upon me. I pray He helps the people who are in a bad situation right now. I also pray that those still working , firemen, policemen, hospital personnel etc get to their homes safe and sound, and be given courage for the amazing job that they do to help those in need.

And yeah, it does not matter how luxurious our cars, how big our home, how glamorous our shopping malls, how new our mobile phones, Mauritius is still a third-world country. There is still a long way to go.

1st Yoga Class

This evening I got to experience something new and wanted to note it down here. One more reason to do so is because it is something I thought I would never try. Yoga.

So today I went to my first yoga class. It is included in the package offered at the gym. I was never really that interested. But hey, ‘Why not?!’. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The class has such a relaxed atmosphere. What struck me the most is the Silence. Not the heavy kind, just the ‘tranquil’ kind. It did me good. I could just feel the tension leaving my shoulders. I was a bit apprehensive at the beginning. I imagine the complicated postures I’ll have to endure. However, with the correct guidance from the instructor, it was pretty smooth. 😉

Some of the postures I have tried:

The Bridge:

The Warrior:

The Shoulder Stand: By far, the hardest!

Anyway, it was a good first time. I don’t really know when my next class will be. Thing is, this class starts early and I don’t usually finish work at that time. 😦 I do want to attend again. Let’s hope that I can work something out! 😉

My favorite Pair of Jeans

I believe every girl has her favorite pair of jeans. One she wears irrespective of whether she looks good or not in it. It is all about how she feels wearing it. Happy Days. Crappy Days. Normal Days. Rainy Days. She just loves the softness of the fabric against her skin. And she thinks it can fit with everything perfectly. 🙂 High heels. Flats. Tops. Ts. Little dresses. As with everything, it grows old but no matter how many times she’ll take out worn-out clothes from the closet, this favorite pair, even if faded, will always have its place back. 😉

Grammar. A Lost Art?

Is grammar gradually losing its importance? Is spelling following too?

Sometimes I find it shocking to find so many grammatical and spelling mistakes in what people write. Not just in letters, emails or text messages. You can even find them in online newspapers (the only kind I read these days).

I know we all use short-hand, especially when chatting and sending text messages. But is using it too much causing us to start neglecting grammar and spelling? I would think yes and in my opinion, it is a bad thing and that, irrespective of language.

Can you imagine there are people who hesitate or do not even know the difference between ‘their’ and ‘there’, ‘its’ and ‘it’s’? Or when to use apostrophe? Or how to use commas? Seriously?! This is so basic! And what I hate the most, is when someone write in phonetic short-hand. Like ‘Zis’ or ‘dis’ for ‘this’, ‘Z’ for ‘the’ and the list is very long.

Teenagers and those under 25 are the ones who use this way of writing most of the time. It drives me nuts to read their texts or when I chat to them. It is almost alien! And I am pretty sure that sometimes they really do not know how to write certain words and they just go with the phonetics. How many teenagers actually read books nowadays? I have been to the library the other day and there were mostly adults there. Yeah, books can be obtained online too. However, I strongly doubt it that they would bother to read a whole book in soft copy.

I am not saying grammar and spelling should be perfect all the time. Sometimes mistakes can slip in. It is forgivable. But writing like that all the time on purpose? NO! NO! NO!

I, for one, tend to avoid this as far as possible now. I really do not want to be among those who send an e-mail to the boss writing ‘u’ instead of ‘you’ or ‘Deer Sir/Madam’ instead of ‘Dear Sir/Madam’.

Honesty

To be honest is a great quality. When you show you are honest to the world, the world admires you for it. But what about honesty to oneself?

To admit your faults, shortcomings, weaknesses. To acknowledge your power, good qualities,  strengths. To accept why you do the things that you do and in the way you do them. To be true and fair to your own person.

I’ve found that one way to be honest to myself is to take a step back and take a minute or two to analyse the intention(s) / reason(s) behind my actions. Believe me, that little process can be quite overwhelming.

What also works is staying in touch with my feelings. Like for example, I know that I am not ever going to be slim like I wish to be, because I enjoy food. Real food. Not just green salads and fruits. -_-‘

People say you have to love yourself before loving anyone else. But somehow, for me, it all starts with being honest to myself. Once that done, I will not only have the world to admire me for it, but most importantly, I’ll have myself to love for it. 🙂

 

 

Women as Commercial Objects

I just hate all those stupid commercials and advertisements, Mauritian or International ones, where women are ‘used’ to sell products that has nothing that directly revolve around the woman. Or the subject of ‘femininity’.

I am far from being a feminist and I am not speaking based on my religious convictions. However, as a woman,  I feel deeply concerned that the woman body keeps being used like that. I know this has been going on since a long time and many voices have been raised against it. Why are those voices falling on deaf ears? Why letting the female body be ‘exposed’ in such a way?

Woman represents beauty and sensuality. This has been true since the dawn of time. And I agree that it must be ‘appreciated’. But are those commercials and advertisements really ‘appreciating’ feminine beauty? They certainly ain’t. Instead, they are trivialising it. In addition to that, they are projecting the false image of what truly constitutes the real beauty of a woman. How many teenagers and adults are being influenced in ‘shaping’ their bodies into those most-of-the-time photoshopped models? And that, at the expense of their health?

Somehow, women have driven themselves to this point since this world is becoming more and more materialistic. Money. Sex. Greed. Selling her body to ads companies is an easier way to make money. And it pays a lot! Moreover, they have to make the most while they still can. Some don’t hesitate to go the extra mile as physical beauty does not last forever.

I am really at a lost as to what can be done to stop using scantily dressed girls and women in everything called publicity. Still, maybe The Little Red Book launched in February 2011 by the Association of Advertising Agencies (AAA) on its Code of Advertising Practice for Mauritius, is a step in the right direction. It can be read from that code of practice that “women must not be treated as objects in advertising especially when her image has no direct relation with the promoted product or service” and “Advertising must take in consideration the evolution of the respective roles of women and men in society . . . It must represent women as equally capable, responsible and independent in the conduct of their activities. In addition, neither the picture of a caricature denigrating the role of any person in a couple, nor the representation of an excessive dependence of the character with respect to the products promoted must be displayed. Advertising must respect the dignity of women and men.” Now, how many will abide by these is left to be wondered!

I cannot see how this ‘situation’ can get any better. I cannot see the time when women will say enough is enough and we would actually see an alcohol ad being about alcohol, chocolate being about chocolate, cars being about cars, tools being about tools…calendars being about months.

Euro 2012

The football fever is back on! After the world cup in 2010, it is now turn for Euro! 😉

Last time I was an ardent England fan. Now is time to support Spain! Unique treble ahead! 😀

I wish I were in Poland or Ukraine right now! 😉

So everyone, have a nice Euro 2012! I just enjoy the football ‘mood’! 😛 It is no wonder football is considered the ‘beautiful’ game! 🙂