LOL: Life Of Leo

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields " I can't believe dad didn't tell us where he hid the gems. " Neil says angrily. " You convert your earnings to precious gems and not tell your children where you kept it? " Nathan says.

Image Source " Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans " - Whoever said this knew what they were talking about. This is what November was for me. While October was a really busy month, I thought November would be a little relaxed, but was I in for a surprise! November was twice as busy as October with me working continuously day after day without a break. There was nothing else in my life apart from work this November. Stress was at its peak and I barely had any time for myself or my hobbies. As busy as it was, November taught me a lot of lessons and kept me strong.

Image Source Most of my adult life, ever since I reached puberty, I have been skinny. My weight has always remained between 43-45 kilos until I was 25 years of age. While many thought that I looked emaciated and frail, I was pretty happy being skinny. Then, in early 2012, I took a sabbatical from work and was at home for three odd months, waiting for the right project to join work back. These three months were all about eating, reading and sleeping for me. The lack of exercise and travel took a terrible toll on my body and before I knew it, my weight has touched 65 kilos. Since I'm pretty tall and was skinny, the weight gain didn't show much. Yes, I looked slightly chubbier and healthier and my clothes did not fit me. Apart from having to give away my entire wardrobe and replacing it, I was pretty okay with the weight gain as I was not looking fat or obese. Then, I missed my period and everything went downhill from there.

Image Source "Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire. When was the last time you appreciated someone? It can be in person or even online. How often do you take some time out to write a good line for someone? How often do you congratulate someone for an achievement? How often do you praise someone for something? In today's life, when everything is about comparison and competition, basic appreciation is getting lost. While most people are good at being critics, no one now has the time to drop in a good word. Most importantly, no one feels the need to appreciate someone. This is so sad. For me, appreciation is like magic. It motivates me to perform even better. It makes me feel good about myself. In short, appreciation is a booster. Personally, I love to appreciate people. I feel that it helps many others. A kind word or a compliment has healing powers. People need to understand this better.

Image Source January passed in the blink of an eye. Please tell me it is not only me who felt this. I still remember cooking the new year's eve dinner and then poof! The month is gone. Since I chose my WOTY to be Survive , everything seemed pretty easy this month. As quickly as it passed, I got a lot of work done. Professionally, it has been a good and busy month. While I got good feedback for my last year's work, I continued to work on multiple projects this month that kept me really busy. When I'm busy with work, I do not think about anything else. No matter what I'm going through in my personal life, it doesn't make it to my professional life. As part of a new year resolution, I have decided to plan my time effectively at work and not stick around for too long once I'm done with my work. Thankfully, my workplace has flexible timings and I rarely have to stay late. Occasionally, I connect from home if I have work pending but I'm a fairly quick work...

Image Source Parenting is one of the most popular niches in the blogging world today. Even though I am not a parent, I visit parenting blogs. Quite a lot of them to be honest. While most of the parenting bloggers are my friends whom I know personally, I do visit other parenting blogs too. Many people have asked me why do I do that. What is the point in visiting a parenting blog when you are not a parent! Some have even gone ahead and told me that I visit parenting blogs only to look for negative posts so that I feel good about not wanting to have children. Yeah, the human race is wonderfully stupid at times. Before I get into the details of the post, I'd like to say that I have no problems with children. I love children and I'm blessed to be a Godmother to some wonderful kids. I just don't want to have one of my own. Parenting blogs can be tricky. While some are absolutely brilliant and realistic, others can be way too personal with parents putting up pictures of th...

Image Source "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind" - I read this in R.J Palacio's brilliant book, 'Wonder'. While I'll review the book later, today I want to talk about kindness. When I read this quote, I thought how can one be right or kind? Why can't it be right and kind? Then I realized that only in some cases the 'and' can be applied. What exactly is kindness? How does one apply it? Is being nice the same as being kind? Is it something that requires a forced effort? Is it something that is expected to make you feel good? Does it come out of pity or genuineness? All these questions plagued my mind. But soon I had the answer to it too. Being kind is a simple act of doing something good for someone else. What the recipient or the crowd feels, is secondary. Kindness should be like an inbuilt reflex in us humans, sadly it is not. Honestly, I wouldn't say that I am the kindest person on the planet. I...

Image Source Last year came with many lessons What's important is I came out alive This year I will follow the same path With hope, I choose to survive I know it is not going to be easy Into battles, head first I'll dive I'll learn new things on the way Finding strength, I choose to survive If I gave it one try earlier This time I shall make it five Step by step, I'll build on myself With persistence, I choose to survive

Image Source 2017 is finally done and I couldn't be happier. I know that I have complaining a lot about the year gone by, but as I sit down to write about it, I realize that it was not all that bad. It taught me a lot of lessons, helped me let go of many things and made me a better person. When I look at it this way, 2017 has been a very important year for me. Before we roundup the year, let's see how December fared. December was a peaceful and happy month for me. Since I had taken a break from reading after having completed my reading challenge for the year, I had a lot of free time on my hands once I was done with work. I was able to prioritize work better and use the time I had way more effectively. As I was not reading, I devoted my time to baking, designing or watching Netflix. I loved the book ' Big Little Lies ' so I caught up on the series and loved it as well. The ending in the series could have been better, but it was good nonetheless. December taught ...

PHOTO PROMPT ©  Björn Rudberg " Ma, I told you not to pack these. I wouldn't need them there ", Ray yelled at his mom. " Son, it will be really cold. I've been there before. Just carry it, you'll need them for sure ", his mother said calmly. " Don't act like you know everything, Ma. Just let it be, will ya? "

Image Source It was only when Goodreads sent me a mail asking me to vote for my favorite books of 2017, that I realized that we're towards the end of the year. I still remember new year's eve and the terrible hangover that followed and now I have to plan another new year's party? Where are the days going? I have not even completed 20% of the things that I had planned for the year and now a new year beckons? Maybe, I can just push off my resolutions to the new year instead. Now that I am done with the initial drama, let's get to the post. It's November already and to be honest I'm glad this year is moving quickly. It has not been a very good year for me and I can't wait to start a fresh year again. However, the last few months have been pretty good and it helped me immensely to grow as a person. October was no less. I've been so terribly overworked that one fine day I just decided not to do a few things. No, not like forever, but just for a few ...

Image Source These days friendships are really tricky Every face now wears a facade While it looks like we're all together Each one is playing a different card They bewitch you with their sweet smiles Get their work done through you With hugs and selfies on social media This can almost pass off as true They stick really close to you Watching your every move While their tune is completely different They'll pretend to dance to your groove

Image Source While August was all about being in control, September was about acceptance and letting go. Even though it passed in a blink, September was a very good month in terms of both professional and personal life. Work kept me busy and I was able to sail through without much stress. August helped me plan my time better and I found a lot of peaceful me time this month. I've come to realize one thing. Without having some time for myself every single day, I get really cranky, angry and moody. I love my husband and my friends, but I need at least an hour to myself every single day without talking to anyone. I get this time once I'm back home from work and just before the husband returns. During this time, I usually read. Reading with a cup of tea in my hand relaxes me and sets my mind free. It gives me so much peace that I cannot put it into words. If I'm not reading, I'd do something creative. I either draw/sketch something, or design/stitch something. Depend...

Image Source I'm just going to say it, August was AWESOME! This probably was one of the best months of the year for me. Not only because it was my birthday month, but, because this felt like an actual month. It was rightly paced and didn't go too fast or slow. Of-course it came with its share of lessons and while I'm definitely a year older today, I feel many, many years wiser. I don't know if some super power intents to do this or not, but my birthday months always teaches me a lot. 2017 hasn't been much of a good year until now, but August seems to be the silver lining in an otherwise clouded year. This time, like always, I has a fabulous birthday. When you are married to your best friend, everything falls in place and is near perfect. I do not like extravagant celebrations that are way too loud or all over social media. Yes, I'm a closet drama queen but I like my occasions to be simple and with limited people. When it comes to birthdays, I like to cel...

Image Source June was a very weird month for me. As much as I felt that it passed by way too quick, I also feel that it dragged in parts. Half the year is gone and here I am sitting and wondering what the hell have I done in the past six months. Am I the only one who feels that 2017 is not going really good? For some reason on which I cannot lay a finger, something doesn't seem to be right with this year. Based on the FB statuses I have been seeing over the past few months, there are many others who feel the same too.Well, let's just hope that the second half of the year gets better. June was a pretty relaxed month in terms of work. I had completed most of my projects and only the final finishing activities were pending. This meant that I had some extra time on my hands everyday. The extra me time that I got helped me relax to a large extent. I realized that I am a person who needs some time alone everyday. Else, I just lose my mind and get cranky. I need some time just...

Let's face it, a woman's life is never easy. We always have to work twice as hard to prove ourselves to others. Being a career woman myself, I make sure I give equal importance to my house and to my interests as well. Sometimes, I feel that the twenty odd hours in the day are really scanty. I need at least forty five hours a day to be able to do the things that I want to. I recently read about a concept called 'mental load'. This is the load we women carry with us throughout the day. The thought of what to cook for dinner, while attending a meeting at work. The random business idea that pops up in the mind while cooking dinner. The silent reminder to pick up the dry cleaning. The omnipresent grocery list. The urgency to reach the market before the fresh vegetable stock depletes. This list can go on and on. Although we do not talk much about it, the mental load remains firmly rooted. No amount of planning eases it. No matter how much you try, something or the other g...

Image Source We are almost half done with 2017, eh? Wow! 2017 did not start really well for me, but May 2017 more than made up for it. May 2017 has been one of the best months of my life and I am not even exaggerating. This is the first month in my life when I focused solely on one thing. Me. I wasn't in the best of space mentally over the past few months. I've been dealing with demons and various other emotions in my head. This took such a toll on me that I decided that I cannot take this anymore. It was affecting every area of my life and I was losing grip over everything around. One of the most toughest phases of my life. Early May, I decided that I need to make peace with the demons in my head and try to get better. I am feeling totally fine now, but the journey wasn't easy. It happened in steps and I took a conscious decision to give it all I have. The first step was acceptance. I accepted that I was going through something and I needed to get out of it. Initia...

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Image Source 2016 wasn't a very good year for me. Neither was it a bad year. It was a confusing year that took me to the highest of highs and the lowest lows. Before I go in to the recap of the year, let's see how December fared for me. December did start off in a hectic way with work taking up most of my time. I was busy and barely had time for anything else. This month I focused on writing more than reading. I did manage eleven posts and I think that it is pretty decent. Since I had already finished my reading challenge in October, I stuck to comics in December. I discovered Tintin and fell in love with the story telling. As a child I hadn't read much comics, so it was time to make up for it. I did start ' One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest '. After reading the 22 page introduction, I was blown away. I couldn't wait to start the actual story. And then life happened. No matter how hard I tried I did not find time to read. The maximum time that I could sp...

Image Source Two months to go and we're done with the year? Wow, 2016 did pass in a flash! While the rest of the year looked bleak to me, October some how managed to lift up my spirits. Finally 2016 started looking up towards the end of the year. Better late than never, right? October was a relatively free month for me in terms of work and I did get to enjoy some good "me" time. The biggest achievement for this month was that I finished my reading challenge for the year. Last year I had signed up to read 10 books and crawled my way to get to it. This year I had signed up for 30 and finished it with two months to spare! Better planning did the trick for me. I'm thinking of going for a book a week next year. 52 books in 12 months should be doable you think? Well, I still have two months to make up my mind on that.