Thursday, August 1, 2024

When your heart was beating (Poem)

When your heart was beating
You carried the whole world
Inside your heart
You were a saviour,
A helper, a giver, a doer
 
When your heart was beating
You were an unstoppable force
Who swept everyone up
Into his vortex of love
Family, friends, strangers alike
 
When your heart was beating
You built a cocoon of love
To keep us safe and warm
You gave us wings to fly
And an anchor for stormy seas
 
Now your heart beats
Inside our hearts
Every beat of our heart
Reminds us of your love
Filling our lives to the very brim
 
Inspiring us to
Give more, live more,
Do more and be more
Because when your heart was beating
The world was a more beautiful place...

Ray of light (Poem)

When you opened your eyes
And looked at us
When you blinked your eyes
And nodded your head
A ray of light came through
Dispersing the darkness of
A deep dark endless night
Bringing some light
Into the recesses our heart
 
A dark cloud appeared
Hiding that ray of light
Plunging us again
Into fear and darkness
But then the ray reappeared
Assuring us that it's still there
And while the dark clouds
May keep on hiding it
The ray will hold its place
 
Reminding us to believe
And to keep holding on
To our to our faith
To tap into our reserves
Of patience and courage
It's only a matter of time
When one ray will become many
And our world will be flooded
With bright sunshine...

No other way (Poem)

Dreary walls
Long halls
Grim faces
Tearful eyes
Endless wait
Flickering hope
Peaks and valleys
Of emotions
 
Your smiling face
Your boundless love
The comforting sound
Of your voice
Your infinite energy
Your positivity
Your magic of
Making it happen
Keeps us going
 
Make it happen
Keep fighting
Keep progressing
Inch by inch 
We will wait
As long as it takes
Come back to us
Because there is
No other way...

Guardian Angel (Poem)

I said to God -
You took away our
Guardian angel
Who healed us with
His kindness, his smile,
His warmth, his love
And sometimes
A medicine or two
 
God said - your angel lives on
In each of his loved ones
In the kindness they show
In the values they live by
In the love that binds them
In their pursuit of excellence
He lives on in the memories
He created with you
In the lives he touched
And the lives he saved
 
I asked God
Why did you give him
So much suffering
What kind of God
Gives so much pain
To a soul so pure
And a heart so gentle
 
God said
Life in mortal form
Is full of suffering
But the soul is free
Your angel suffered
To be with you
So that you could
See his love
And not just feel it
Because he loved you
 Far too much
 
I asked God
How are we supposed
To carry on
Without him
Without our angel
Watching over us
Without his love
Without his words
 
God said - He is still
With you, all around you
Watching over you
Caring for you
Every step of the way
Just close your eyes
And you will hear him
And see him
And feel him, as he
Guides you from
His seat in heaven...

Monday, February 26, 2024

5 Books that changed my life

Books have the amazing ability to guide you, comfort you, open up your heart and mind, and transport you to another place. Sometimes, they take you on a journey and leave you forever changed. Here are the 5 books that completely transformed me:
  1. Atomic Habits by James Clear
This book talks about how tiny habits can add up to a monumental life, and how success is the sum of your positive habits. Before this book, I was all about lofty goals and new year resolutions. After reading this book, I became more focused on acquiring positive habits and letting go of negative ones. Instead of grand gestures and giant leaps, I learnt to focus on steady baby steps taken consistently. While I still set goals, my way of achieving them is now through tiny habits. It is through these small habits, I have been able to reclaim the joy of reading, despite two kids, a busy household and a demanding career. I have been able to overcome and prevent debilitating neck and shoulder pain. I have learnt to practice daily gratitude which helps me feel happier. These are just a few among many other habits that have positively contributed to my life. Now I always remember - "If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done."
2.       The One Thing by Gary Keller
This book taught me the value of focus. Before this book, I used to take pride in my ability to multi-task. However, this book made me realize that your brain can’t really do two things at a time. It merely switches between the tasks, causing you to pay a switching cost, which actually leads to cognitive impairment. In simple words, multi-tasking makes you less smart! In this complex and hyper-distracted world, it is important to be mindful about who and what you give your time, attention, and energy to. Now, I make focus a priority and I sometimes actually manage to resist scratching the itch to do something else while I am already doing something. While I haven’t yet learnt the art of singular focus, I have learnt to be vigilant of constant attention switching and distraction. So, if you are tempted to do too many things at a time, remember - “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.”

3.       Deep work by Cal Newport

This book completely upended the way I thought about productive work. Before this book, I was all about efficiency and getting 20 things done from my to-do list. I used to respond to emails in the shortest possible time, always keeping my inbox current. This book brought home the fact that anything meaningful or worthwhile will require you to be in a distraction-free environment, deeply focused on one subject. The work that comes out of deep work will be the most valuable work that you would produce. While I can hardly claim to be doing deep work all the time, yet I have become more aware of my time spent doing busy shallow work, and I have learnt to create some pockets of deep work. I have reaped rewards in terms of being able to create original work in my domain and finding deep satisfaction, during periods of deep work. As Cal Newport wrote – “Human beings, it seems, are at their best when immersed deeply in something challenging.”
4.       5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
As the famous 85 year-long Harvard study shows, relationships are the single most important factor in your happiness and longevity. I have always valued relationships, yet this book showed me that in some ways, I had been approaching relationships all wrong. Before this book, my mantra was – “Treat others the way you wish to be treated”. After this book, it changed to – “Treat others the way THEY wish to be treated”. This book talks about different love languages or ways in which people perceive being loved or cared for. Often people express love in their love language instead of the language of the other person with whom they are communicating, creating a gap. This book hit home the fact that key to better relationships is knowing what the other person values and expressing yourself in that person’s language. This book has dramatically altered my communication with my spouse, and helped me understand my very-different-from-each-other children. This book has taught me to approach relationships not just from my own point of view, but also from the point of view of the other person. Has it been worthwhile? Indeed - “Nothing has more potential for strengthening one’s sense of well-being than effectively loving and being loved.”
5.       Peaceful Parent, Happy kids by Laura Markham
If you are a parent, you will agree that while parenting might be the single most rewarding and meaningful thing in your life, it is possibly also the most confusing and challenging one. I hit my rock bottom as a parent during Covid when I found myself stressed, frustrated and screaming at my kids all day long. I felt that my kids had been replaced by screen zombies, who wouldn’t listen to anything I said. While I recognized that things were hard for them as well as me, yet I couldn’t figure out how to break out of the cycle. So, I turned to this book, which taught me the importance of remaining calm, and focusing building and nurturing connection with my children instead of trying to “fix” them. Taking the learning “Parenting isn’t about what our child does, but about how we respond” to heart, I focused on my managing my own behaviour. Fast forward 3 years, while I still don’t have a good solution for managing my kids’ screen time, I see some positive changes in my children. I have more patience, acceptance and better connection with my children. My children refer to me as the before and after version, and they unequivocally prefer the after version. My spouse on the other hand remains skeptical of my still-new gentle parenting approach. Do I feel better and more peaceful as a parent? A resounding yes! Will my kids turn out better with this approach? Well, the jury is still out!
So, that’s my story of biblio-powered metamorphosis. I invite you to go on your own journey of discovery and transformation with these books or any others that catch your attention, invite you or challenge you to think differently. For who knows, they might hold the key to change you for better, forever…
(Article originally published at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-books-changed-my-life-neha-verma )

Long Distance Love (Poem)

Sun rises, sun sets, time ticks on,
Your absence felt, every day like a thorn
No holding hands, no long walks
No teasing, no banter, no sweet talks 

Chats, emojis and virtual hugs,
WiFi signals sometimes as slow as slugs
Exchanging pictures, talking on calls,
Navigating through the digital walls.

Late-night call, early morning text,
Living each day, waiting for what's next
Planning our trips, counting the days
Coping with this, in our own little ways

You're out there on your own, 
While I am in a kids only zone,
Always looking forward to our together time,
Savouring it like an expensive wine. 

Miles apart, but the heart knows,
In a world of chaos, our love still grows.
Though screens may separate day to day,
My love for you is here to stay.

A Little Boy (Poem)

A little boy died
So did his dad
Gone...just like that
Ripping apart a family
Leaving behind
A woman who lost
Her husband and son
A boy who lost
His father and brother
Their lives shattered
Like fragments of glass
Tiny pieces to pick
For the rest of their lives
Inflicting wounds so deep
No words can describe


His friends in his class
Asked questions and cried
Still too young to
Understand and process
The harsh realities of life
The parents of those kids
Shocked and saddened
Their own hearts broken
At this tragedy and loss
For the boy and his family
For their own children
Who lost a friend
Who was lively and fun
Whose birthday was
Just around the corner
They can't protect their children
From the grief and pain
Their worst fears staring
At them in their face

The 'why' doesn't exist
There is no explanation
No rhyme, no reason
Only acceptance
That life can change
In the blink of an eye
Reminding us all that
Life is a precious gift
Cherish it, live it
Tell your loved ones
How much joy and meaning
They bring to your life
Be with them
Seize the day
Because tomorrow
Is never guaranteed
Think of the little boy
His tomorrow taken away
Much too soon...