The Angelina Effect: Giving Hope

She still has the immense power to turn peoples head around by the most meager thing one can think of. She has been inspiring so many for such a long time that by now everyone to an extent knows her motive: to help humanity. But recently she came clean with how she made the decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. This reduced her having breast cancer from 87% to under 5%. I didn't know how the process works but a little research about it shook my world. I am sure she battled with herself as to what this process would mean. But back of her mind,I knew she wanted to do it for her family and raise awareness regarding such a mean of tackling breast cancer. She is a brave one and I salute her for this. And I hope she succeeds in raising awareness regarding Breast and Ovarian cancer and how one can find out how much their individual probabilities are and take necessary steps accordingly.

I don't know but this really gave me hope. It's just something really nice to come across amid so much negativity that is surrounding us on a regular basis. The murder of Tim Bosma is something that shook me earlier today for the wrong reasons. While there is the absolute evil side of this world, every now and then....there comes moment of absolute bliss and glory. This brave story certainly enlightened me for all the right reasons. God Bless her!

Take a step back and enjoy life.

I am currently reading the book of awesome:

This book is simply awesome. No really. It informs you about the little joys in life. Like arriving at the bus stop and the bus arriving just then and there. Or maybe the great smell of new books. Or maybe that time when you just sat inside your room, looked outside and saw how it was transformed with white snow.

Often times we forget the life that we are currently living. The moment that is with us here, right now. The joys we tend to just overlook due to our long term goals. But I don't think that's really a great way to enjoy a life that has such a small time span.

The past year was extremely hectic. Juggling life by completing 3rd year, part time job, living all on my own, networking and more. It was not easy to say the least. But now that things have slowed down a bit,it does feel great to just look back and see how far I came. However I needed this moment to myself to reevaluate what I just went through. So maybe we all should take time for ourselves, just look back and pat ourselves. We have done a lot and we all hope to do more than what we did yesterday. But it's great to take a step back and gain back some of your energy. Let them be refueled. Let them come back at full force. Till then, don't feel guilty for taking some me-time. It's the least you can do for yourself.

At least that's how I am treating myself. It sure does feel really nice. I have a bucket list that consists of watching some movies I have been wanting to watch for years(I did cross one of the movie: Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. Brilliant stuff!), going camping(I need to bribe some of my lazy friends), losing weight, exploring Toronto like never before, finish reading the bazillion books I bought myself few days ago and more.

So ladies and gentlemen. Take a break. You earned it!

The Power to End.

Recently I got the unfortunate news that someone took away their own life. It's always baffling when anyone gets such news but I guess we all feel helpless after hearing. I knew this person from high school. He was all smiles,the kind that would be happy with the simplest of things. There are rumors as to what was going wrong with his life but I'll just skip over that part. He did leave cryptic and somewhat indicative messages via his facebook statuses,cover photos etc. It's so visible now that he is no more. This following picture did struck me heavily.

What I especially feel terrible about is that how he probably didn't have the support to which he could convey the dark part of his life and seek help. I don't want to pass any sort of judgement because of how little I know. What I do want is that hopefully he is in a better place now. The world can be so cruel at times(or most of the time for some). It's not hard to believe that one succumbs in feeling like it's them against the world. I too have had my share bit of dark days and consequently felt like giving up. But I felt like I can rise above it and put up a fight. I mean what's there to lose anyways? That's why ever since then I have been open to hearing whatever problems one might be going through. You never know how you can guide and help them in feeling that there is more to it than momentary pain and suffering. 

I feel like all the successes and failures in ones life lead them to where they are truly suppose to be at the end. I just wish people didn't focus too much on failure and negativity over what's good in their respective life. I am no expert in this field but it does hurt knowing how there are so little support around us to battle such harsh conditions. 

Working at Eddie Bauer: The Beginning and End of it.

I still remember the day I walked into the Yorkdale branch of Eddie Bauer to drop my resume. The person who took it is now a manager. But word usually is that sales associates tend to not give you the time of the day for a possibility of an interview with the manager. So that in itself was rather surprising. I also remember how I took the initiative to drop my resume at 20 other stores including Tommy Hilfiger,Roots Canada,Armani Exchange and more. Few of them took informational interviews but it never really mounted to anything substantial. But once the associate at Eddie Bauer gave me the chance to sit for an interview with one of the co-managers,I certainly felt hopeful. I sat through the interview with the co-manager and I was starting to lose hope.Primarily because retail wasn't ever a place I truly wanted to delve into. But I wanted to take chance and prove myself that it can be done. But the co-manager was convinced enough to link me to the interview with the head-manager. 

Two weeks later,I sat through the interview with the head-manager and I really felt positive that I might be landing my first ever retail job. Fortunately I was right and given an offer to join them the following week for training. As time passed,I slowly started to delve into this world that I so feared. It worked so well. We are usually given person dollar amount goal per hour and take it from there. If you are meeting your goals and exceeding on it, then you will be accordingly given more hours. It was a tough balance with full time studies and extra-curricular activities but I did it. I even chose to stay back in Canada for the Winter break,just so that I could earn some money to pay for my rent,conferences that I am currently scheduled to attend etc. It was a hard time to settle especially to a 40 hour schedule during the busiest time of the year but for some reason I enjoyed it. 

But somewhere inside me felt burnt out with the whole aspect of being at a retail position. It's a competitive place that really requires you to keep up on things. I'll be honest,I started reflecting on my life and realized it was not my calling. Sure I could make some great sales. I have had days where I really exceeded on my sales goal and got recognized accordingly. I know how to talk to someone and try to get the key information that would aid me in finding them as to what they are looking for. But for some reason,I want to help people without an agenda of some sort. I want to help them just because I want to and I can. 

I recently got some key positions that I am looking forward to making the most out of. But for now I have decided to resign from Eddie Bauer. I didn't terminate on a sour not. Not that. I was extremely blessed to have a rather amiable end to this journey. It was overwhelming to say goodbye to this place where I learned so much and helped me be a better person. But all good things come to an end and I hope to always be in touch with some of the associates and managers because they made it special for me at the end. 

I don't know how the future will play out but I am ready to focus on this semester and really do well! I am hopeful if anything for the new chapter of my life!

Ride to an Unknown Destination!

We have this precious blessing to live a life. A life where you have boundless options to be who you are and thrive on it. Most don’t even realize this and some that do,misuse it. 

What I don’t get is that, the enjoyment you can derive out of chasing your own happiness can be so thrilling and empowering that there should be no excuse regarding how you couldn’t chase it. Now I am not promoting the concept of having greedy dreams that makes you happy. If those are the things that make you happy, then I for one can only ask you to reevaluate things. Deep down inside of you, you’ll find a part of yourself that derives enjoyment out of the most simplest of things. I swear. Maybe it’s just me but why not give it a shot? 

I’ll let you in on what makes me happy. Being silly and just putting a simple smile across a person’s face who might not be having a great day. While it makes me happy to be just silly, that person on the other hand appreciates my effort for what it was. Nothing more, nothing less. I personally think that alone topples all the materialistic enjoyment one can derive in this world. Maybe I am being delusional but the prospect certainly seems attractive to me. 

Now I basing all these on my own take on things. How effective is it to generalize my own views? Very poor. Yes, even I agree. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to speak your mind. Maybe you’ll come across some that do agree. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?

I know hardships await me. I know tough times loom over me. But I have been through a lot and hopefully that will guide me to finding peace. I am blessed to be where I am right now and I know I have much, much, much more to do. But I feel ready and alive. 

I don’t know what the future holds for me but I just hope to be on a path that is right for me and a path I can keep on going for a prolonged period of time until I find the destined stop for me. That’s something that someone superior has already decided for me and over which I have no control over. But the journey on that path is something within my control. Let’s get ready for a thrilling ride!