I have decided to Quit Smoking

Today on 26 December 2012, I am promising myself good health and life in future by deciding to quit smoking..I know...it is going to be difficulty for me :(...I have been a smoker for around 9 years and I started by seeing one of my friends smoking during my graduation days...That friend of mine had a very charming personality and was among the best students of my class. So I said to myself that I can be a topper and a charmer by starting smoking. What I didn't realized at that time was I am starting a disease which is the most difficult addiction to get rid of...

Today when I look back I can only think of the money that I have wasted on cigarettes...apart from money, I must have certainly lost some health and many years of life. Had I been spending the same money on clothes...good food...juices or gym, my personality and looks could have been much better today. Apart from money and health, other important thing is the respect in eyes of friends, family and society. And I know I have certainly lost this respect among my friends and family members...

There are a couple of more reasons that have compelled me to take this decision to quit smoking. Two of my best friends have quit smoking in last 2 months. Friends with whom I have gone for endless night outs...Friends who have forced me to take many drinks and puffs of cigarettes even when I was not interested in taking any. So when such friends have decided to quit smoking I think it is the right time for me as well to get rid of this dangerous habit.

However the most important reason for me quitting smoking today is a girl whom I loved the most...I met her around 4 years ago...She was a colleague and one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in my life and I have little hope I would ever probably see. I was in love with her madly but she always considered me as a good friend. Being a good friend she asked me to quit smoking...she did all kinds of things to insist me to quitting it and I tried my best to do the same but I could not keep myself from cigarettes for long. So even she couldn't keep me away from smoking. So what happened after that is we remained good friends until now...But due to some misunderstanding she has stopped talking to me now...So now I have decided to quit smoking for her and tell her what she means to me...

Problems I faced in the past when I tried quitting smoking:
I have tried to quit smoking many times before in the past. I didn't faced any major health problem but there was one big issue which forced me to again pick a cigarette was mouth ulcers..Whenever I didn't for 4-5 days I developed small ulcers on my tongue...red small painful ulcers which were very irritating and caused me severe pain. Pain during talking, eating or doing anything that required us of tongue. I like having 4-5 cups of tea every day but even gulping 1-2 sips becomes so difficult and painful with ulcers in mouth.

Apart from mouth ulcers I didn't faced or experienced any major problem. I have heard people sharing their experienced about emotional problems when they stopped smoking. I didn't encountered any other problem apart from mouth ulcers.

Periods for which I went without smoking
remember not smoking for weeks and even a month once when I went to my home during my college holidays. I never felt any need whenever I was at home or whenever I was with my family. I think the main reason that helped me in becoming a big time smoker was my loneliness and the distance from my family during my education and last 6 years since job. I have been staying away from my home since last 10 years.

Also I am getting married in next 1 month and my wife doesn't know about me being a smoker. So it is better I do not break her trust and get rid of this dirty habit as soon as I can.

Benefits that I think I will get by quitting smoking:

• I will save lots of money-atleast Rs. 2k per month
• Good Health
• Increase in the number of years of my remaining life...
• Improvement in my physical appearance
• Better family life

So this my all from my side. Let me know what you think of my experiences..

Hope you all will also share your stories..

I will keep posting about my progress on quitting smoking.

Luv n Luck

Images & Quotes that Touched My Heart

While I was looking for love quotes & poems by Rumi, I found one page dedicated to Rumi on Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/mevlana. Some of the quotes and images are so beautiful and touchy that I cannot stop myself from repeating them again and again.

Now I can say without being afraid is that I am falling in love with Rumi and his works. Somewhere I saw this description about Rumi & his Divine Love by Hazrat Inayat Khan and I am completely agree with it:

"The original words of Rumi are so deep, so perfect, so touching, that when one man repeats them hundreds and thousands of people are moved to tears. They cannot help penetrating the heart. This shows how much Rumi himself was moved to have been able to pour out such living words. 

Many wanted to consider him a prophet, but he said, "No, I am not a prophet, I am a poet."When Hafiz wrote about Rumi he said, "I am not capable of writing about the verses of Rumi. What I can say is that he is not a prophet, but he is the one who brought the Sacred Book." In other words he wanted to say that in fact he was a prophet."

I cannot stop myself from sharing some of the images and quotes which have touched my heart in such a way that I can feel some strange transformation going on in my heart...Beautiful and touchy...Rumi's words are timeless jewels...


With each passing moment,
a soul sets off to find itself.

Only from the heart can you touch the sky.

Be with those who help your being.

There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness.

A heart filled with love is like a phoenix that no cage can imprison.

Love is the vital core of the soul. 
And of all you see, only love is infinite.

Yesterday is gone and its tale told.
Today new seeds are growing.

Inside, you are sweet beyond telling.

Submit to love without thinking.

Whatever I was looking for was always you.

I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself in you.

When I am silent, I fall into that place
where everything is music.

Once the seed of faith takes root, it cannot be blown away, 
even by the strongest wind –Now that’s a blessing.

Put your thoughts to sleep,
do not let them cast a shadow
over the moon of your heart.
Let go of thinking.

Wash your hands of all desires 
and come to the table of Love.

The light which shines in the eye is really the light of the heart.
The light which fills the heart is the light of God.

Rumi Love Quotes & Poems

Her thoughts disturbing my mind today...coming & going...I can feel pain...all across my body...in my mind...in my soul...Sometimes I feel like I will end up in a mental asylum...Sometimes I feel like something bad will happen to me...

But why is it so...People say love is the best feeling in the world...they say love can transform us...do good for all mankind...than why my love is so painful for me...Is it because mine is an one sided one???

Going through emotions...I wanted to read something...something that I can relate to my feelings and what better than Rumi's love quotes and poems.

Rumi

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Persian: جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى‎), also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), and more popularly in the English-speaking world simply as Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian[5][6] Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.[7] Iranians, Turks, Afghans, Tajiks, and other Central Asian Muslims as well as the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy in the past seven centuries.[8] Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. In 2007, he was described as the "most popular poet in America."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi

Rumi Love Quotes & Poems

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”


“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”


“The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.”


“What you seek is seeking you.”


“When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.
Praise God for those two insomnias!
And the difference between them.”


“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.”


“I want to see you.

Know your voice.

Recognize you when you
first come 'round the corner.

Sense your scent when I come
into a room you've just left.

Know the lift of your heel,
the glide of your foot.

Become familiar with the way
you purse your lips
then let them part,
just the slightest bit,
when I lean in to your space
and kiss you.

I want to know the joy
of how you whisper
"more”


“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.”


“And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with love like that.
It lights up the sky.”


“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.”


“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”


“A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home.”


“Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.”


“Sit, be still, and listen,
because you're drunk
and we're at
the edge of the roof.”


“Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought!

Why do you stay in prison
When the door is so wide open?”


“Be like the sun for grace and mercy. Be like the night to cover others' faults. Be like running water for generosity. Be like death for rage and anger. Be like the Earth for modesty. Appear as you are. Be as you appear.”


“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”


“That which God said to the rose, and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty, He said to my heart, and made it a hundred times more beautiful.”


“I have lived on the lip
of insanity, wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door. It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside.”


“Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.”


“This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor...Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”


“An eye is meant to see things.
The soul is here for its own joy.

A head has one use: For loving a true love.
Feet: To chase after.

Love is for vanishing into the sky. The mind,
for learning what men have done and tried to do.

Mysteries are not to be solved: The eye goes blind
when it only wants to see why.

A lover is always accused of something.
But when he finds his love, whatever was lost
in the looking comes back completely changed.”


"The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
they're in each other all along."


"Love is from the infinite, and will remain until eternity.
The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.
Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,
The heart that is not in love will fail the test."


"Suddenly the drunken sweetheart appeared out of my door.
She drank a cup of ruby wine and sat by my side.
Seeing and holding the lockets of her hair
My face became all eyes, and my eyes all hands."


"I have phrases and whole pages memorized,
but nothing can be told of love.
You must wait until you and I
are living together.
In the conversation we'll have
then...be patient...then."


"When the sweet glance of my true love caught my eyes,
Like alchemy, it transformed my copper-like soul.
I searched for Him with a thousand hands,
He stretched out His arms and clutched my feet."


"With the Beloved's water of life, no illness remains
In the Beloved's rose garden of union, no thorn remains.
They say there is a window from one heart to another
How can there be a window where no wall remains?"


"Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be."


"When you find yourself with the Beloved, embracing for
one breath,
In that moment you will find your true destiny.
Alas, don't spoil this precious moment
Moments like this are very, very rare."

Who I Am?

5 Months ago I started this blog on Health & Fitness and after a few posts I stopped writing and posting anything.

Now I am starting again with a new energy and passion. I have decided to write about my experiences with life, my thoughts about trying to find:

• Who I am?
• Why I have been sent on this earth?
• What is the purpose of my life?

I have changed the topic of this blog from Thinkplatter to "My Journey to Find Who I Am" as it better relates to what I am planning to change this blog into...

So let me describe what kind of person I am...I am an average guy...average in all senses - born in a middle class family, looks, education, income, almost everything...nothing special :(

During all my school life...I was an average student. I never faired good in exams, was always a mediocre student. Ranking between 20-25 in a class of 50 students...I wanted to achieve good grades, fair better in exams and make my parents happy but could never do that :(...because I never took my studies seriously...

Not just studies but I never took anything in my life seriously...I never thought what I wanted to achieve in my life...I have always been doing what everyone else was doing...just following others or doing what my parents wanted me to do...

I am an introvert...I do not gel with people so easily...but once I get familiar with people and if our frequencies match I am good in making long lasting friendships...I am popular in our group of friends...

I am very emotional...even very small things pinch me a lot...It has happened in my life when I stopped talking to my very good friends on very small issues...

I am very careless and irresponsible towards managing my finances...no good savings...though I earn decent...

Family is good...my parents, siblings and cousins are all very sweet, helpful and loving...I am and getting married in next 45 days...

I have a few bad habits...most of us do have some..so I don't think that is a big things to worry...

On the basis of all the things I have mentioned above, I can say that I have a very average life...

With God's grace I do not have any major problems or issues in my life...but I do have my own problems and concerns in my life and some moments of abundance and happiness as well...

So I have decided to write about my experiments with life...my own experience...My problems with many things including relationships and everything else in life...

I have heard people say writing helps a great deal in knowing and identifying oneself as a human being...So I will also see if I can find out little bit about myself...

I will be happy if my experiences can help my readers in their life problems and I will be happy to answer any questions...

Your comments and feedback are most welcome...

More in next post..Bye for now.

Luv n Luck.

Optimism Quotes

Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A "you can do it" when things are tough.
Richard M. DeVos

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.
Jack Layton

Optimism - the doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly.
Ambrose Bierce

Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.
Nicholas M. Butler

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
Helen Keller

Optimism is the foundation of courage.
Nicholas M. Butler

The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

There is only one optimist. He has been here since man has been on this earth, and that is man himself. If we hadn't had such a magnificent optimism to carry us through all these things, we wouldn't be here. We have survived it on our optimism.
Edward Steichen

Truth is, I'll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about me. Humans are by nature too complicated to be understood fully. So, we can choose either to approach our fellow human beings with suspicion or to approach them with an open mind, a dash of optimism and a great deal of candour.
Tom Hanks

Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near every one of us, who is present not only in earth, sea and sky, but also in every pure and noble impulse of our hearts.
Helen keller

It's not that optimism solves all of life's problems; it is just that it can sometimes make the difference between coping and collapsing.
Lucy macdonald

Optimism, no matter how false it may seem, is necessary for species survival at a time when the ozone layer is disintigrating, mass extinctions are rampant, wars are as plentiful as ever, toxins pervade every meal and every breath, and nuclear power plants function near populated areas with human error as likely there as anywhere else.
Gloria Garfunkel

Unsatisfied desire is the characteristic feature of human life. That is the common fact out of which both pessimism and optimism are constructed. Dwell on the impossibility of ever getting a state of complete and permanent satisfaction with what you have, and you become a pessimist. Dwell on the opportunity for endless growth and conquest which this same fact makes possible, and you become an optimist.
William Dewit Hyde

Optimism inspires, energizes, and brings out our best. It points the mind toward possibilities and helps us think creatively past problems.
Price Pritchett

Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior become your habits.
Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny.
Mahatma Gandhi

The positive outlook that optimists project does not come from ignoring or denying problems. Optimists simply assume that problems are temporary and can be solved, so optimists naturally want more information about problems because then they can get to work and do something. Pessimists are more likely to believe that there is nothing they can do anyway, so what's the point of even thinking about it?
Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Optimists find joy in small things. They enjoy sunsets, a good conversation with a close friend; and they enjoy life in general. They are more concerned with having many small joys rather than having one huge joy.
Robert M. Sherfield

The world we live in is a world of mingled good and evil. Whether it is chiefly good or chiefly bad depends on how we take it. To look at the world in such a way as to emphasize the evil is the art of pessimism. To look at it in such a way as to bring out the good, and throw the evil into the background, is the art of optimism. The facts are the same in either case. It is simply a question of perspective and emphasis.
William Dewit Hyde

Optimism is life--Pessimism, slow suicide.
William Crosbie Hunter

The future seems a little gloomy! Go to bed early, sleep well, eat moderately at breakfast; the future looks brighter. The world's outlook may not have changed, but our capacity for dealing with it has. Happiness, or unhappiness, depends to some extent on external conditions, but also, and in most cases chiefly, on our own physical and mental powers. Some people would be discontented in Paradise, others ... are cheerful in a graveyard.
Arthur Lynch

The habit of looking at the best side of any event is worth far more than a thousand pounds a year.
Samuel Johnson

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
Maria Robinson

Smile when it hurts most.

Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again.
Alex Tan

The Root of Optimism: Gratitude and Expressing Thanks

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Tips: How to be optimistic in life

Use quotes to remind yourself how to be optimistic. Maybe if during a particularly difficult day someone mentions some saying which gives you a rare boost of motivation, write it down. Here are a few inspirational sayings:

• Even the longest journey begins with a single step.
• Life has a way of reminding one that it can be worse.
• Until one understands the low and darker side of life, the appreciation of the awe-inspiring highs will remain stagnant.
• Every cloud has a silver lining.

Look happy. Studies have shown that putting a cheerful smile on your face can really make you feel happier and more optimistic about the present and future. They can also get you more 'return smiles' than a frown. Have you ever heard of the expression,'Honey catches more flies than vinegar'? It's actually true. Being kind and caring actually gets you happier than being sour.

Practice by passing these ideas to others. If you hear someone being pessimistic, counsel them based on these steps. Sometimes it's easier to understand a perspective if you explain it to someone else first.

No matter how odd this may sound, listen to optimistic music (that you like) and read stories and books which have at least a little optimism in them.

Pass a blessing on to a friend or stranger, let somebody have that parking space, let somebody in front of you in line at the market. Doing good things for others is an instant pick me up.

Only you can make the situation better, so smile and make the situation better!

Count your blessings, each and every little one. Focusing on the good things in your life, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, will help frame a better attitude and take your mind off of the negatives.

Sometimes, bad thoughts cloud your mind but it's not your fault! Evaluate your friends, family, and the people around you, and avoid people who make you feel negative or unhappy.

Video: How to be happy

Custard Apple

Custard Apple is a tropical fruit tree which grows easily. It was first culivated in West Indies. Its botanical name is 'ANNONA SQUAMOSA'. It is very popular in India. The pulp of the fruit is mixed with milk to make custard. As it has the taste of custard it is called 'Custard Apple'. The fruit has a peculiar aroma. Custard Apple is used to make Jams, Jellies and sherbets.

The plant is propogated by grafting as well as through the seeds. Grafted plants deliver fruits from the first year itself. The plant usually flowers between March and July. The fruits should be plucked before they are ripe and stored for ripening.

Custard apple helps improve digestion and is used as a cure for vomiting, diarrhoea, dysentry and vertigo. The unripe fruit is dried and powdered and is used as a cure for treating lice. The fruit is low in calorie content and contains minerals like iron, phosphorous, calcium and riboflavin.

The plant is a evergreen shrub and reaches a maximum of 6 mts. The plant bears flowers in the mature branches and the fruits develop in the mature branches and are usually round. The flesh is white and creamy with a sugary taste. The seeds are black in colour with a shine. The seeds are not consumed for they are slightly poisonous.