JustSprinklingThoughts

 Life can seem difficult, tiring and unfair in a lot of ways. And this tends to leave us not only questioning but also comparing our lives with others.  We overlook one thing while doing so. We compare other people's happiness to ours. We compare and see how great their lives are and how ours isn't. What we do not see is their sorrows. The pain behind their smiles, the problems hidden away deep in their hearts, we do not see this because we are focused on our issues.  It is not a crime to feel sorrow but we often overlook how blessed we are. This needn't be something grand or big. It could be in the little things in our lives like a home cooked meal or food to eat in general, a bed to sleep in, a roof above our head, etc.  All of us are not the same. While our problems differ, so does our blessings. What we have others don't.  So this post is just a reminder to be thankful for what we have and try to share with others what they lack as well.

 Hobbies and fun activities are something we do to unwind after a long day or simply to relax. When we do something that gives us pleasure or when we are rewarded, some amount of dopamine is released in our brain.  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which is a part of the brain's reward system. It also acts as a hormone and gives feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation.  So high levels of dopamine sounds like a good idea, right? Well actually, it isn't. Anything in great amounts is dangerous. Activities like videogames, shopping, smelling cookies baking the oven, etc. can trigger a 'dopamine rush'. We also have to remember dopamine is involved in reinforcement. This is why, once we experience this we keep coming back for more and thus it causes addiction. High levels of this neurotransmitter also can result in aggression.  Very high and very low dopamine levels both can cause illness in the nervous system and also depression.  Anything and everything shou...

 Most of the times we enjoy being in the receiving end of gifts or anything nice. Being in the giving end is not as pleasing as the receiving end for many of us. However, giving helps you gain a lot! Don't know what to do with the clothes that you don't like or that don't fit you anymore? Give it away to people in the orphanages or the homeless! A gentle reminder is to be considerate and make sure the clothes are actually good and usable. Please don't give away clothes that are on the verge of being tossed in the trash. The people we are giving them to are humans too! We are truly blessed to have all that we have today. There are many who don't have the basic necessities that we do. When God has blessed us abundantly shouldn't we take the chance to help others?  Giving brings joy that no amount of gifts received can bring. Without giving there is no receiving. Let us learn to give without remembering and receive without forgetting! 

 'What if this happens? Oh what if everything goes wrong?' Are your thoughts constantly like this? Then, I guess you worry a lot. Many of us worry over things too much. It is not just worrying, but over thinking as well.  We tend to assume the worst thought we don't know the results for sure. The saying goes, 'Hope for the best and prepare for the worst'. We often tend to leave out the first part.  What use is it to worry? There was this picture that I happened to see. It had a mind map sort of structure that said something in the lines of, 'Can you take control of the problem and change the solution? If yes, then why worry? If no, then why worry?' So basically, if we can or cannot control the our circumstances, there is no point in worrying. It gets us no where but only makes us demotivated and depressed.  I know, we can't just simply stop worrying. There is this nagging anxiety that keeps coming up. However we can analyse the situation and find ways to...

 Today, I wanted to share this short story, 'Tit for Tat' I read quite some time ago.  There lived a happy, married couple. One day the husband and wife got into a huge argument. The wife, in her anger, did not talk to her husband and went on with the day. The husband remembered that he had a very important meeting the next day and had a flight to catch at 7 am. He set his alarm to get up early. Being a heavy sleeper, he wanted his wife to wake him up. But not wanting to apologise, instead of talking to her, he slipped a note under her pillow which read something in the lines of, 'Important meeting tomorrow. Have to catch an early flight. Wake me up at 6 am'. Having done this, he went to bed in peace. The next morning he woke up to find that it was 7 am and his wife sleeping peacefully next to him. He became furious and was about to yell at her when a note on his bedside table caught his eye. It read, 'Wake up it's 6 am. You are going to be late'.   The stor...

 Do you know our minds are being read? I'm not talking about actual mind reading here, but something very close to it. If you're guess is AI or the internet or anything social media related, then yes, you're right.  When you type something in your search engine, even when you are halfway through, whatever you are about to search shows up in the suggestions. Have you ever wondered how? I'm not putting forth a conspiracy theory. Do you know there is actually an academic course based on this? It's called Data Analytics. This is a branch of Data Science, that collects data from people, analysis it and helps the business owner alter his business according to the likes and dislikes of the customers.  The same goes for social media. Everything we say is being recorded, the data we watch is noted down and we allow the device to do so by agreeing to the apps' terms and conditions. If you watch a video about a vacuum cleaner, or speak about it in the presence of our mobil...

 Many of us love to talk about the countryside and how we enjoy the fresh air and simple lifestyle there. However today, I want to talk about the city. Don't get me wrong. Rural areas are important and wonderful in their own way and this in no way a blog post to put down villages or rural areas.  For the major part, cities are mentioned for their job opportunities. And yes, that is a notable thing about the cities. Another thing that can be mentioned is the diversity that cities. Though not very authentic, one gets to catch glimpses of different cultures and try various cuisines.  Like anything else, cities have their downside too. The air and water can be polluted. The traffic and high number of vehicles can increase the emission of greenhouse gases and so on. We can try our best to, if not stop it then try and reduce  it.  Personally, I prefer the city to the village. I like my city. The beauty of cities is unique, especially during late nights and early morni...

 Words are a very powerful tool. We often forget what we say can deeply be embedded in the minds of people. Today I wanted to write about this because people don't tend to realise that what they say can make or break someone's mood.  Even words that are not intended to hurt people can end up making a different impact. A person close to me lost some weight due to being sick. Another person who came to check on her was like, "Woah! you have lost a lot of weight! Are you sure it is not something else?" I saw that person's mood go down and them feeling bad about their appearance. Now you might argue with me saying, 'oh please they were just trying to show concern'. Concern should be shown by words of encouragement. I am not promoting flattery but just asking one to be empathetic.  It is not possible to not offend anyone, anytime. However, the chances of it can be greatly reduced. Before speaking it is better to think, 'If I were in his/her shoes, would I w...

 At least once in our lives we've all had to face situations where we try our best to keep our calm but everything seems to chip away at our patience. One problem occurs and while we are almost done with it, another arises.  These are the situations in which we tend to break. We might lose our calm, panic and make other around us panicked. We might even hurt others around us due to our frustration. However, these are the times we have to learn to be quiet. These are the opportunities that we are granted to learn the quality of being patient and peaceful. Indeed being patient is not easy; it is an aspect in which I lack too. There have been times when I have reacted too quickly to situations and eventually found out the results were not anything bad. These times I have regretted not being patient.  When we are patient, we escape form worrying unnecessarily. When we give things time, they work out. However when we try to hurry things and worry over it and lament about it, w...

 A girl, trying to find people from her department and stumbling across the campus with them trying to find her (and their) classroom. Yes, that was me after two days of orientation. This was the third day of my coming to college however the first day of attending classes and meeting my classmates.  If I have to say how I felt, in one word, I would say lost - literally and mentally! As the day dragged on, I felt upset that I didn't connect or mingle with anyone properly. It was as if I was trying to fit into groups that were, already existing. I strongly missed my schoolmates and the fun we had in school. The professors were nice and I made it through the first day.  However, college started to grow on me. I began to love the campus and the building where my classroom is. And as days went by, there arose opportunities where we as a class could mingle. I eventually was able to talk with people and casually hang out with my classmates. What I thought about people ended up n...

 One of the things I have tried (and even now at times try) my hand at, with a lot of interest, is learning foreign languages.  The first time I actually tried to learn a foreign language, I remember, was in 8th grade. I tried learning French through YouTube videos, got scared and frustrated due to the similar pronunciations and no proper guide. I skipped French and tried learning Spanish through YouTube again. I managed to learn a couple of sentences and was overjoyed by it. That gave me a bit of motivation to keep going. But later I found no other easy videos and I gave up. Then I found a language learning app called Duolingo, during that time and tried learning Italian and some Japanese. Then my school studies caught up with me and due to lack of practice I forgot almost everything I learnt.  After college started, I got a chance to learn from the basics again as a part of my studies. I was able to learn the very basics of French and join a Korean class as well by God'...

 Food, clothing and shelter are needed for man's survival, among which food takes the first place. Food comes from the late Old English word 'fōda' of Germanic origin, relating to the word fodder. Apart from filling us up, food plays a major role in the culture of a country, society, etc. The ingredients of a country's national dish tell us more about the country than the dish itself.  Each dish holds a story, the heritage of the place it's from. The ingredients of a dish tell us, what the place it's from is best known for. For example, India has a extremely diverse cuisine. However most of it's dishes have a flavour explosion and lots of spices related to them, thus showing India's excellency in spice  production.   In literature food can indicate status or milieu; we see references to eating tend to be symbolic; even in fiction and fantasy. The author involves scenes where the main character, enters into the fantasy world, gets to try let's say for...

  Does the Bible say women are lesser than men? It is a very controversial topic and it's essence can often be lost amidst toxic masculinity and pseudo feminism. People tend to think that the Bible portrays a picture where women are lesser than men, especially in a marriage.  The verse usually quoted for this is 1 Peter 3:7, where a woman is referred to as a 'weaker vessel'. Two things are failed to be noticed here. One, people don't consider the whole verse - the few words before 'weaker vessel' are literally '...giving honour unto the wife...", so it does not give a husband or a man to mistreat his wife or a woman respectively. Two, weaker does not necessarily mean lesser. It shows the physical ability in which man and women were created, and it could also refer to Eve when she gave into temptation first.  Even when it comes to physical ability, one can't say one is better and stronger than the other, be it a man or a woman. Biologically speaking,...

 The chill, salty, pungent breeze hitting your face, the wet sand against your toes, the fun of collecting unique seashells and building sandcastles and finding sand almost everywhere at home the next day; most of us have at least, once in our lives, been to the seashore. Playing at the beach has become  way to spend quality time especially if it is with the family. Whether it is throwing frisbees around, or making art pieces on the sand with a twig, or simply enjoying the chill, salty breeze, there is something about the beach experience. It helps us savour the beauty of the natural world.  Another amazing thing about the beach is the food stalls set up there, dotting the shoreline. One of the 'must have' items here I would say is the spring potato.  For seafood enthusiasts, the seafood stalls here, are a place where the freshest catches are transformed into masterpieces that leave a lasting impression on one's taste buds. The food, games and the people you are with...

 Recently, in my college, my class had its  'Animal Farm' day. This basically is a day when the whole class, divided into teams, performs each chapter of the novel 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell, which is a part of the syllabus. It has sort of become a tradition in our college, as we heard from our seniors that they performed it in their first year as well. The day begun with most of us being a bag of nerves, worrying about how we were going to perform. The first four teams had to perform in front of our HOD. To add to this pressure, our class was informed that students from another college had come to watch our performances. The first four teams gave splendid performances.  Honestly, I remember sitting there, me and a few of my teammates hoping that our play wouldn't be lacking and that it turns out good. Then we shifted to our classroom after the first four plays were done. The other teams' plays that I got to watch, the level of  creativity was amazing. It wa...

  Hi there! Welcome to my blog. Here I sprinkle my thoughts on various, random topics. Today, I wanted to write on commuting solo.  Commuting alone, for the first time that too for quite a long distance was a very exciting adventure for me. I remember the very first day of college when I caught the bus and took my seat. The bus started moving and there was this head rush I felt. The places I had seen before in that route when I travelled with my parents seemed so different. Commuting solo unveils a new perspective of the place one lives in. Be it the sky painted in changing hues of purple,pink, blue and yellow, or spotting  rainbows and uniquely shaped clouds, or just taking a power nap, all these add to the allure of solo commuting. I would be lying if I say, even today I feel the same enthusiasm and excitement as I did on the very first day of this experience. This whole thing can become mundane and a bit boring as time elapses, particularly when traversing the exact sa...