Say Bazinga to Life ;)

December 2016

(Source: Google) 

As I sit down on New Year's eve to write this blog reflecting about 2016, I am a little apprehensive of sounding cliched or preachy. However, I do believe that though I have lived life on my own terms, God and Life have an atypical sense of humor and love turning everyone's life upside down once in a while - and how we choose to deal with these turn of events is what defines us and makes us happy or sad. So here's how I said Bazinga whenever Life played pranks on me - just like my favorite character Sheldon Cooper from 'Big Bang Theory' who loves to say Bazinga (akin to Gotcha!) 

B- Being Mindful: For as long as I can remember, I have been an absent-minded professor. The usual questions that haunt me throughout the day are "Did I switch off the geyser? What about the microwave? And the coffee-maker?" and sometimes even "Did I lock the house? :P". The only solution to this was being mindful - which means ensuring being attentive in that particular moment. So now, as I switch off the geyser, I make a mental tick in my mind about it. Until I leave home and frantically message hubby "You switched off the coffee maker right? :P"

(Source: Google) 

Z - Zzzzzzz's (Sleep): I have never compromised on my beauty sleep of 8 hours (even at ISB) and 2016 also wasn't an exception. I was excited to read articles that mentioned that women needed more sleep than men, which makes me believe that the following statement isn't a stretch ;) 

(Source: Google) 

I - Intellectual Humility: I stumbled upon a brilliant piece recently "In overvaluing confidence, we have forgotten the power of humility". A few relevant quotes from the article "Intellectual humility means recognizing that we don't know eveything - and what we do know, we shouldn't use to our advantage." The article answers the question why intellectual humility is essential "Without intellectual humility, you are unable to learn". And it also mentions the first step on this journey "The internet and digital media have created the impression of limitless knowledge at our fingertips. Acknowledging that our opinions (and those of others) vary by circumstance is, in itself, a significant step towards reducing our exaggerated confidence that we are right. People who are humble by nature tend to be more open-ended and quicker to resolve disputes, since they recognise that their own opinions might not be valid."

(Source: Google) 

N - No forgiveness, yet: Who hasn't heard of these sayings, "To err is human, to forgive is divine; forgive not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace". I have always believed that "One size does't fit all" and hence am of the opinion that advising forgiveness regardless of circumstances is not always an appropriate solution. While I still stand by my earlier blog post which talks about the fact that as mature adults we shouldn't be offended by every trivial matter and go on with life, there are some occasions where its not the time to forgive yet - especially when you do not receive a sincere apology and forgiveness is just a tool to mask the failure to make real amends. And as these articles articulate superbly, "Not being able to forgive doesn't mean you walk around, day in and day out, with a chip on your shoulder or a clouded mindset, hell-bent on seeking revenge. It means taking a stand against the kind of behaviour and actions you won't tolerate and boldly saying it is not okay to be treated this way."

(Source: Google) 

GA - Gamification: The gamification of learning is broadly defined as an educational approach to motivate students to learn by using game elements in learning environments. I find this concept very appealing as it has practicable real life applications - and though it might be considered a stretch, I am referring not solely to the use of technology, but incorporating game elements to make difficult things fun. 

(Source: Google)

Signing off by wishing you and your families a happy, prosperous and fun filled New Year 2017! See you on the other side :D

(Source: Google)