7 Things My Friends Taught Me

Like anyone else I have a long list of friends, some real, some virtual, some I rarely talk to and to some I bare all when I talk to. There are some I have lost touch with through time but I really loved them, there are some who are in touch but are annoying. And then there are some....who are still there...after everything I did....after everything I didn’t do. They are still there and I am sure they will always be there for me. Ofcourse this happens rare and I have few such friends. But I am lucky enough to have them. This post is dedicated to all such friends...and a special mention of someone very special..my bestest friend. [You know I am talking about you and I hope you read this]

A list of few things that my closest friends taught me:

1) Stay positive: I think a lot and have been through difficult times in past. And I have a habit of living in those moments but I am thankful to those special people in my life who are there to infuse positivity in my life. Who again and again remind me of all the things that are beautiful and all the things that are right.

2) Give and take: Yes...I tend to get selfless, have a blind spot for people I truly love and ignore my own life. There have been a lot who have used this trait in me and have never come back but there are few who taught me to ask, demand, and grab love for myself. Nothing wrong in that. Nothing wrong in being selfish sometimes. With time I have learnt that the most satisfying and content relationship would always be based on give and take.

3) Slow down/Take a break: My sabbatical is partly courtesy of a close friend who inspite of no social/family responsibility took a break from her job. She had guts and she went after something that she wanted from her life. When I was taking the plunge her life stood in front of me and gave me courage to do it

4) Get out: I am a frog in a well. I like being in a pajama and not going out. Really I do. But I do get out and I do that religiously. Again this is courtesy of a special friend who pushed me out of my slumber and who still does it when she sees me lazing around.

5) Take it easy: I have learnt to not overthink and worry about everything. Worrying is inbuilt in me, I am one of those people who always worry, always think and are always prepared for worst but thanks to a lot of friends I have learnt to let go, take it easy...worry a little less [May be still worry a lot but know how to curb it down]

6) Answer my phone: I don’t like doing that still in all fairness. I don’t like being reachable all the time but I know now there are people who would also worry for me and not everything or every phone call is about me. So I try and answer calls as many times as I can [Though I still don’t do it everytime but I have improved a lot]

7) Chat: Last but not the least. I am thankful to all those who taught me to chat on internet. I am glad I explored it though I initially hated it. Hence a special thanks to a special friend. She pushed me into internet world and I am yet to come out of it.

These were a few things my friends taught me. What about you? Who is your best friend? What have you learned from him/her?

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st - 7th September 2013. This is my fifth post written for it..

Marigold

Summery and soothing

Fragrance of an Indian wedding

Petals on Petals

Dancing together

Green submerged like a child in a womb

Filling the cavity, growing with a bloom

Layered like a sea wave

Each layer majestic 

Each wave poetic

Conjoined but separate

Woven in a sonnet

Growing out of brown

Stemming from a cave

 

Tiny green hands

Holding on to petals

Like a child attached to roots

Inspite of being a rebel

Orange like a sunset

All ready to wave goodbye

All set to drown

But followed by a rise

Promising like a dawn

Of a better tomorrow

Million flowers growing and blooming

Swaying through the wind

Dancing to the music

Tall and soaring

Proud and enthralling

Usual yet precious

Gold in a pot

Flaming and hot

My marigolds   

Shared with Poets United Verse first "Right under your nose"

Image credit here

Ballet (Haiku)

unjust unreasonable

questioned never answered

ballet of death

 

Written for Haiku heights/Sep height day 5 Ballet

Image credit here

7 Things That My Job Taught Me

I worked as a consumer researcher for 8 years before retiring 2 years back. These 8 years taught me a lot of things. I will shamelessly confess that they liberated me and my thought process a lot; may be more because I had never seen any other female work in my family before. I learned a lot from my job and from my professional life.  Following are my eight years encapsulated in few points:

1) Planning: I am a big big planner. I plan everything in advance and mostly this trait comes in handy even in my daily life [There are times when it harasses people around me also] . The credit for imbibing this in me goes to my profession. As a researcher there are atleast 1000 things at any point of time on your plate and you have to juggle all of them. There is a strict time schedule, so if you don’t plan, you can’t finish in time. I will always be thankful to research for all the excel sheets I have at home dedicated to planning different activities.

2) Punctuality: I was always punctual though I never paid too much importance to it. But soon after I started working I realised ; a lot of people’s schedule would depend on my schedule and hence it became a very important that I am on time and vice versa. I still follow it personally [Though my other half is not very happy with this trait J ]

3) Streamlining my thought process: I tend to get vague even now. I have a free mind and it keeps wondering and going off track quite a lot. But when you are working for others; you can’t afford that; so I learned to concentrate better. My mind still wanders a lot and I can somewhat afford to do it now however my concentration and focus is much better as compared to before.

4) Microsoft: I was scared of computers and its programs. Only thing I knew well was to play games. Now I am an expert in excel and power point, you name it, I know it. Even now I use them extensively and I am thankful to my job for it. [I was and I am still wary of MS Word. I just don’t get it]

5) Delegation: I was and I am a keen worker. You can even call me a labourer. I like working and I would rather work myself than spend time explaining others to do it. But again I learnt we cannot do everything on our own, delegating was an important part of my job and it is helping me even now. Else I would have ended up doing everything on my own.

6) Analytics: Analysis is a very important part of being a consumer researcher. It sharpened my analytical bent of mind and I still tend to analyse things more than others.

7) Negotiation skills: Again a very important part of my job and now I am not ashamed to say that I look at every price with a doubt and question it.This saves a lot of chillar for me 

These were a few things that my job taught me. What about you? Where do you work? What did you learn from your job?

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st - 7th September 2013. This is my third post written for it..

Shepherd (Haiku)

Guide me to light

Bring me peace

Shepherd of my soul

Shared with Haiku Heights /Sep Height Day 4 Shepherd

Image credit here