Perspective

           A positive perspective is one of the best qualities that a human being can possess. This quality allows the person to be peaceful, content, and optimistic towards life. When these three are present, there really is no room for unrest, discontent, or misery. Every thing in life that once was a problem becomes a healthy challenge to overcome. 

           Have fun with it! Introduce someone to the challenge! There is absolutely no harm in asking for help. It's a great way for you to soothe a rusty relationship, spend some time with someone who you really like to be with, or get to know someone you've been wanting to interact with.

           Having a positive perspective is also beneficial for your physical self. Keeping a negative perspective is stressful and stress weakens our brain. You can read more ways to strengthen your brainpower here: 14 Simple Ways to Super Charge Your Brain. 

         "A smile is happiness you'll find right under your nose."

                                                               - Tom Wilson

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight."

                                                            - Phyllis Diller

      "A smile is a face lift that's in everyone's price range!"

                                                             - Tom Wilson

                            http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/s480x480/483247_134631143341574_420174433_n.jpg

Walking in the Water

There was
a girl
who was
walking
in the water.

And she felt
what

Heaven
on
Earth.

was like.


Her mind was as still
as the sky
above
and
her heart was as strong
as the land
beneath.


She watched
the fish
swim about.

She felt
the cool breeze
kiss her face.

She enjoyed the fresh waters
caressing her feet.

And she held someone's hand
so she
wouldn't
fall

down.


She admired
the
purity
of the water.

Complete
transparency.

No secrets.
Nothing to hide.


Then she heard something.

She listened.

And listened.

And
it came
again.

A voice.

It was a rushing,
like that
of a
waterfall.

But it was
distant.

Then,

it came
closer.

Its voice
echoed
from the
ground
out
into
the surrounding
mountain
ranges.

"You're enjoying
this moment.

But are you loving it?

Just
let
go.


Love
the
moment.

And when you
once
again
stand
on your feet,
try
walking
on
the water.


My arms are
open.


I will be there.


I am
ready
to make

magic."


And
the
girl

let
go.

And
she
fell.

And
the water
hugged her.


Then

lifted her

skyward.

Fly High on a Bad Day

Everyone has had a bad day.
That one day where nothing - absolutely nothing - goes right.

In such situations, we each have our own way of calming down. Music, writing, comfort foods, punching a pillow, and talking it out are a few ways that are effective for many people.

When my mind is uneasy and my heart feels heavy, most of the time I don't know the reason. At first I try to think why: Did I do something wrong? Did I disobey my instinct? If I find the answer, I try to fix it to the best of my ability. If I don't, the guilt continues to eat me. Even though the answer may seem a bit unclear to me, I do my best to pursue it. 
After all, a doubt-filled life is a worry-filled mind.

If I find that brooding over my day's actions yields no answer to my restlessness, I let go. Now, you might be thinking that it's easier for a thirteen-year-old to let go than it is for an adult. I won't deny the fact that we both have different situations to deal with, but I will say that it can be as easy. We all have the youth inside of us. Leo Rosten says,

"O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales."

Letting go should be as simple as you can make it. If you can't find the answer, (which happens to me quite often), then try this technique:

1. Close your eyes
2. Imagine a white, open space 
3. Think of one word that soothes your nerves
4. Visualize it

I find that this method always works for me. Not everyone is the same, so it doesn't work for all. However, I do hope that this approach to relaxation inspires you for your own!

There are also many apps made especially for relaxation. I use 'Relax Melodies' which is available for iPhone/iPod Touch and Android for free. (Sorry if that sounds like an advertisement, it's just a suggestion)    

Fly high.

Use the wings that never die.

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Dear Readers, 


I sincerely apologize for the year-long pause in my blog posts. 


In sixth grade, this blog was a requirement. Despite that fact, I enjoyed it and never thought of it as a homework assignment. 
Yet, when school ended, I lost the habit of blogging every week. I intended to blog more; but I never lived up to that intention. I deeply regret my procrastination. 


Last June I left off with wisdom, the second pentagon of the trio. The final pentagon, peace, is now completed and ready for all readers to read. Simply scroll down after this short post. 
During my period of absence online, I have accumulated quite a few concepts that I will blog and share with you over the summer. So keep checking for more posts and please share this blog with people you think may be interested. 


Once again, I apologize for the long delay. 'The Pentagon of Peace' blog post is below. 


                                                                                                                                                Sincerely, 

                                                                                                                                    Rishika Padnani

The Pentagon Of Peace

"Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace."  -  Robert J. Sawyer 

The last part of this pentagon trio is Peace. 

Being peaceful is being happy; happy in a place where there is disturbance and unrest. Happiness is contentment. 

To be content is to be calm with the littlest of things, or the toughest of situations. To be content is to be unaffected or oblivious by matters. 

To be oblivious is to be detached.  

Peace

Trust -  Constant doubt. That it is the fuel that supplies energy for our mind to keep dwelling over the same negative thoughts. And eventually, by it's reckless driving in circles, it literally drives us insane! We need to slow down and focus on what is necessary. This isn't blind trust; this kind of trust involves common sense. Our judgement should decide whether a certain person or situation is worth being the cause of our troublesome day. In most (if not all) cases, we become the cause of an arduous day by breaking our heads over it. 

"There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills."  - Buddha

Respect - When we criticize people, it's not just by words. It's by thoughts, too. It's the subconscious doing it. Why? Because society (whether we realize it or not) has certain 'guidelines' on how people should look, behave, etc. When we see someone acting against those values, we flip out! We become restless and uneasy. It's like a mosquito bite that aggravates us even after putting the medicine. Let's not judge. Let's respect people as they are. When we see and smile, we forget and move on. We don't even scratch. We just let it be. We let them be. We are both at peace. 

"I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university."  - Albert Einstein

Freedom - To let go. To be detached. To live harmoniously. That is freedom. A peaceful life is acquired through the act of living in the will of those whom you love. State your position, but in a gentle, humble way. You'll find that not only do people stop and think about your humility, but they also consider your opinion more thoughtfully. 

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."  - George Washington

Order - Peace and organization go hand-in-hand. A well-planned day = a well-rested mind. When we know we have a million things to do, but no time for them, we multitask. I always thought that this saved time with the 'Kill two birds with one stone' theory. That was until I read this: "Workers distracted by e-mail and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers." Read more at http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking.

"There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time."  - Lord Chesterfield

Truth - Lying is a chain reaction. Once it starts, it doesn't stop. You have to remember every single thing you said previously to someone and then speak based on that. Lying leads to worrying. It causes unrest, anxiety, and anxiousness. So why do it? Speak the truth. It keeps you at peace. It gives you the reassurance that you did the right thing. You listened to your heart. 


Think about it: speaking the truth is one of the simplest things on Earth. Just don't lie.

For life to be enjoyable, a little adventure is called for. Venture outside your comfort zone. 

Freedom, Order, Respect, Trust, and Truth. F.O.R.T.T

Climb that fort. 

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The Pentagon of Wisdom

For part two of our discussion, we will be expanding on wisdom.

Wisdom is something, as often heard for many things, is not to be taught, but caught. In other words, it should come naturally. No one told Benjamin Franklin to say 'Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.' He said those words based on his knowledge, his experience, his wisdom.

Wisdom

Knowledge - To give wise advice, it is necessary to have the knowledge. It doesn't necessarily have to be intellectual knowledge, but just the simple knowledge, as in common sense. Look at Benjamin Franklin's quote above. Isn't it common sense that you would be healthier if you sleep and awake earlier? If you stay up late, you drain your body out, causing it to sleep even more; and sleeping more causes you to wake up later. And if you wake up later, you would most likely skip a meal or have meals at unusual hours of the day - causing your body distress.  Everything is a chain reaction.

What would happen if we thought about the chain reaction of the things we say everyday?

Justice - Wisdom should always be fair. Imagine your life if a person was biased and praised one side and not the other! In the same way, imagine if someone was giving advice to one side, and not the other! This would be classified as unjust wisdom. True wisdom is for everyone's gain, not just a few people.

What would happen if we were fair to everyone we come across?

Truth - Wisdom should always be the truth. If someone gave incorrect advice, society would have a huge loss. People would follow the advice, but eventually find out that it was incorrect. This is one of the reasons why sometimes, you should be independent and trust yourself. There's a different feeling in accomplishing things without the help of others, but there's always a good feeling knowing that they're there. 

What would happen if we tried doing things on our own?

Prudence - A person with wisdom is always prudence because they use their governing abilities to critique themselves. This helps them lead to simple truths about life, giving birth to their wisdom for the world.  

What would happen if we possessed this quality?

Perseverance - Wisdom is gained with perseverance. Whenever you persevere towards a certain goal, you always learn something about courage, determination and never giving up. This new information becomes something you share with the world, your wisdom. 

What knowledge would you gain if you persevered?

So, persevere towards your short-term goals, but never forget the long-term one. Work on that the most. 

That, was just a piece of wisdom.

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The Pentagon of Love

For the next three blog posts, including this one, we will be discussing the three pentagons:

Today, we will begin with Love and its components.

When that feeling of Love truly comes into play, there are a few things that come automatically - mercy, selflessness, perseverance, joy, and freedom. Here is the role of each one and how they come into play:

Love
While reading these descriptions, you may notice that these traits are expressed for the same reason. That is because love is based on one thing - love. 

Mercy - When you love someone, and they make a mistake, a tiny bit of frustration may occur, if not any at all. Despite that fact, you set aside the mistake, and console the person that everything is alright. All you care about is the happiness of the one you love. You are willing to take all the pain, sacrifice all you have, for that one person. You become an entirely different person, and you become merciful.


What would happen if you treated everyone with the same respect?


Selflessness - When you love someone, that's the only person you care about. When you love someone, thoughts about 'Me' turn into thoughts about 'You'. Ego is replaced with humility and 'Me' merges with 'You'. You become an entirely different person, and you become, selfless.


What would happen if you treated everyone with a caring attitude?


Perseverance - When you love someone, you have the confidence that they will be with you through thick and thin, and that you can always feel comfortable to turn to them in need of help. And, when you have that support, you are determined - determined to persevere; because you know that now, anything is possible. You become an entirely different person, and you become persevering.


What would happen if you put that amount of effort in tasks every day of your life?


Joy - When you love someone, you only wish to be with them forever, and for them to be with you forever. Anything that relates to the person makes you happy. You feel the joy in every part of your being, spilling through unconditionally, just like the love. You know that nothing will ever go wrong, between you, and them. You become an entirely different person, and you become joyful. 


What would happen if you had the same perspective to everything in life?


Freedom - When you love someone, you have the comfort level in which you know that whatever you do, will always be accepted. Your little habits someone else might call 'out of the ordinary', the person you love will get a kick out of in a friendly way, and confess a habit of their own that will ease the tensity. You become an entirely different person, and you have the freedom.


What would happen if you weren't afraid being your own person to the world?

Love - it's something that the best writers can't define, the pain doctor's can't heal, the blueprint architects can't create, and a situation the most well-known lawyers can't fight. 

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One Needs the Other

Sometimes, during the daily commotion of life, we tend to overlook the things that seem so little, yet so large - so unimportant, yet important. For example, let's take a pencil and eraser. Being a student, and even an adult, we use these utensils almost everyday (well, everyday if you're someone like me!). Have you ever noticed how important the eraser is to the pencil and the pencil to the eraser? Without the eraser, the pencil wouldn't be the right pencil for the job because it has no one to fix its mistakes. Without the pencil, the eraser would have nothing to do and would be jobless. Here is the little skit that goes along with this illustration:

Pencil: I'm sorry
Eraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.
Pencil: I'm sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I make a mistake, you're always there to erase it.
But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

Eraser: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong.
Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.


Let's take a painter and a canvas as another example. Without the canvas, the painter would have nothing to create his masterpiece on, no tool to accomplish his job. Without the painter, the canvas, would be blank and colorless, unable to do his job as well.

Evidently, one needs the other; it isn't called a pair unless there's two.

If you think about it, our parents are like this as well. They help us with the littlest things in life, to the largest. From helping us make our signature appear more professional; to helping us organize our room - they're always there. But when they fix these little mistakes for us, sometimes, they make sacrifices. They take something that belonged to them and gave it up just so we could have a better life. That's why, you should help your parents everyday, even if they are upset with you. Just like your parents do, try to keep them happy. But keep one thing in mind - the littlest things make them happy. There is no need to purchase anything - a love-filled hug will do!

Just show them that you need them, and that you are always by their side.

What happens next is not history, but a memory.

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