G - 5 reasons why you should stop Googling stuff!

It is not a wonder anymore, that everyone is insanely bitten by the Google bug. You want to know the meaning of a word? Ask Google. Distance between places? How to get there? Where to stay? Ask Google! Recent news? Celebrity fights? Pictures, videos? Ask Google. Yeah! Google has become the know-all, be-all in our everyday existence. There’s nothing that Mr. G doesn’t know!

But should you be so Google-dependent every waking minute of your life? Maybe these 5 reasons why you shouldn’t be, might help you see the other side.

Mr. G is NOT Dr. G.

There are millions of instances when people type in their symptoms on Mr. G and try to find out what’s wrong with them. But beware! You never know when Mr. G turns your minor headache into brain tumour! And then there are people who complete their entire medical education online and arrogantly challenge doctors and their line of treatment! Mr. G is not your doctor, learn to trust the real one!

Mr. G could make you dumb.

Yeah, that is what will happen when you ‘search’ everything instead of ‘thinking’. Gradually, you might get so dependent on Mr. G, that your brain will begin to rust lying unused for so long!

Mr. G for inspiration or plagiarism?

Don’t keep turning to Mr. G for inspiration. You never know when you inadvertently begin to use other people’s work as your own. Imagine if Mr. G were to be a book, would you keep flipping pages after pages for ideas? It would be so tedious, that you would rather use your own, won’t you? Is it not better to put your mind to use and be the creator of your destiny?

Mr. G does not have all the answers.

Habitual surfers will tell you that Mr. G can be very fickle. You can type ‘Is brown rice good for health’ and get about 96,10,000 results in 0.58 seconds, and you can type, ‘Is brown rice bad for health’ and get about 1,82,00,000 results in an equal number of seconds! You will still be left wondering if brown rice is good for you or bad! The point is, Mr. G will tell you only as much as the last word you typed.

Mr. G snuffs away your time.

Have you ever noticed how one search leads to the other, one link leads to another and before you know you have spent half your afternoon and most of your productive time just flitting like a butterfly from one flower to another?

I am not against search engines, I use them too! But when and where to draw the line should be your prerogative. Use your brain but if you need to know something, by all means, ask Mr. G. And be sure to back that up from some other authentic source as well.  

Do you agree?

F - 5 'reasons' why you should overcome your Fear!

If you noticed, I said, 5 ‘reasons’ to overcome fear and not 5 ‘ways’ to overcome fear. I am somehow convinced that if the reasons are good enough, people will know how to find a way by themselves.

By fear, I do not mean the fear of anything living or imagined -like the fear of ghosts or the paranormal, insects, heights etc.

What I do mean is the fear of failure, of being judged by others, of not finding approval, of being perceived as different. This fear is capable of holding us captive, so much, that while we keep contemplating whether we should or not, our entire life passes by!

What ‘they’ think is none of our business!

Not everyone will have your best interest at heart. People will always tell you, If I were you, I would have done it this way...if I were you, I would have behaved like that…But that’s exactly the point. You aren’t them. And that gives you the freedom to do things exactly the way you like to do it. You cannot do it their way, or someone else’s way. What works for them will not work for you.

There are people who genuinely care for you, but they will love you irrespective of what you do. And those whose opinions you fear, they will judge you, no matter what you do!

It’s okay not to be perfect.

Don’t be obsessed with the idea of perfection. You don’t have to be perfect all the time. You don’t have to get yourself evaluated by others. It’s okay to commit mistakes, learn from them and correct them. You don’t have to beat yourself up over it because you think you might have let someone down. Most of the times, it is this fear of not being perfect that makes you worry about other people’s reactions.

It's Okay to fail.

When you take too much advice from others, you will ultimately suffer. It is you who will have to face the consequences of your actions, not people who advised you. Once choices are made, you will be stuck with them forever.

So, trust yourself. Trust your instincts more than you trust others. It helps you to be more responsible for your actions. And if you do make mistakes, you will have to blame no one else. Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from trying.

You know what’s best.

You know your strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. You know what your dreams are. You alone know how passionate you are about them. No one else can understand your dreams and passions. No one else can be as invested in your life as you are. Then, why are you so scared to put your best foot forward? It’s your journey and you alone know what your struggle is all about.

Life is too short to live in fear.

Life is too short to live in fear. Think of a year from now. Think of five years. Will you be able to live in peace if you knew you gave up because you were scared of being judged? Or because you feared failure? Or would you rather look back and want to give yourself a pat because you tried and succeeded? Well, even if you failed, what if you are dead a year from now? Isn’t the idea of dying with unfulfilled dreams a lot worse than surrendering to your fear?  

What do you think? 

E - 5 downsides to being an Extrovert!

Extroverts come across as that breed of people who look extremely confident, easily become the life of any party, have a large number of friends, and are in general quite likable and fun to be with. But being a social butterfly, risk taker and one who is constantly bubbling with excitement comes with its own downsides! How do I know? Well, how else would I know unless I’m one of these kinds!

Here are 5 downsides to being an Extrovert-

Foot-in-the-mouth syndrome.

Extroverts think later, they act and speak first. As a result of that, they are quite prone to suffer from the F-I-T-M syndrome! There could be a lot of oops moments later, but by virtue of who they are, they also know how to overcome that!

Can be intimidating or annoying.

By their inherent loudness and the tendency to be exceptionally bold and brash, they can come across as intimidating to some and as annoying to others. What an extrovert perceives as fun might cause hurt or irritation to others.

I had joined a new organisation and during the introductions, a colleague asked me, ‘What’s your mothers tongue?’ I understood what he meant to ask me but the grammar freak and extrovert in me decided to go tongue-in-cheek and I answered, ‘pink’. The whole team burst out laughing, but the colleague was clearly not amused!  

Perceived as attention seekers.

Extroverts tend to hog the limelight all the time. They are here, there, everywhere! People, therefore, tend to perceive them as attention seekers. People are also, therefore wary of extroverts.

Lasting relationships are difficult

As a result of the above, extroverts make few lasting relationships. They undoubtedly make tons of friends, but there might be only a few close friendships. It might not take them much time to form a relationship but such a short time is not enough to make it last. It could be a case of ‘too much too soon.’

Get bored easily.

Extrovert need adrenaline rushes to keep them pumping. You lock them in an empty room or leave them in a place where you are expected to just sit or maintain silence, they can freak out. Boredom comes very easily to them if they aren’t occupied with something.

Being an extrovert is ‘Not’ a bad thing. It’s a great gift! But unless you learn where to draw the line, the extroversion could backfire.

Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you agree with the above points?

D - 5 ways to deal with Dejection

We all have been dejected at some point in life – it could be over scores during the school time, over a rejected proposal as we grew older, over the inability to get through that coveted job interview, over the delayed conception…the instances are too many! But what’s life without these downs? These are the phases that give you the chance to spring right back! Easier said, I know, because if one happens to be going through that phase right now, the well seems too deep to be able to jump out.

Well, don't lose hope yet! Here are five ways in which you can help yourself cope with dejection.

It’s not the end of the world!

It’s very important to keep telling yourself this, till you convince yourself. No event is so hopeless in itself that it should signal the end of the world for you. There are ways to come out of every bad situation, help is always available, you have to just look for it.  It is difficult to believe this when you are down and out, but when you look back at this incident a few years from now, you’ll realise how true that is.

Don’t bottle up.

When in dejection, share the pain. Find someone you trust, a family member, a friend, a professional helper, and share what you feel. When you share, the other person might help you look at things from a different perspective. They might give ideas to do things better. They might suggest ways where you thought there were none.

Move on.

What’s happened has happened. You cannot change it. Don’t keep replaying the events. Work towards what you can do, rather than what you should have done. Don’t wallow in self-pity and don’t be consumed by guilt. Think of the lessons you learnt from it.

Stay occupied.

An idle mind, is a devil’s workshop’. Don’t let your mind become one. Your mind needs a distraction. Give it something else to stay occupied with. Spend time with your friends, go shopping, travel, join the gym, take up a hobby, or learn something new. It will give your mind a break and let you spring back rejuvenated.

Seek professional help.

I don’t only mean a psychologist. Yes, if you are having trouble coping, seek the help of a counsellor. But also seek the help of professionals who can help you win. A tutor, a specialist, a skill-developer, a personality developer or whatever you are having trouble with. Just being dejected is not going to help, is it? You have to work towards taking yourself forward.

No one can help you better than you can. So, get up, gear up, and get going! Don’t let the small hurdles stop you.  

  

C - 5 ways to Cheer someone up!

Cheering someone up should be pretty simple, isn't it? But is it? Cheering someone up who is sad because they have gone through some kind of a heartbreak or grief, is the most difficult thing to do. It could be a friend who is nursing a heartbreak or getting over the loss of a loved one or a pet, is upset over failure in an exam, job, or business, or is simply having mood swings. As a good friend, you might want to butt in and try to make them feel better.

Thumbs up for trying to be the good Samaritan, but you must also know two things before you attempt to cheer someone up. One, not all people want someone to nag around them asking them if something's wrong and if they can help. Unless you are sure that the other person needs you around, it can get very irritating for the other person to have someone barge into their lives despite the good intentions. Two, people who are upset aren't the easiest to deal with. You could be told that you aren’t sensitive enough or understanding enough, but also know that the other person might not really mean it. Despite this, if you care enough to want to cheer a person, here are five things to keep in mind.

Listen, don’t talk.

A person who is sad needs a patient ear. Let them vent and speak about their feelings. As tempting as it might be, don’t talk about a similar situation you have been in and how valiantly you handled it. Resist the urge to dole out advice.

Offer a service.

More than advice, a sad person needs help. As per the need, you can offer to bring food, pick up and drop their kids, run some errand, loan your vehicle or maybe even offer financial help if you can afford it. Helping without waiting to be asked is much better than telling them to call you if they need help. That almost never happens.

Take them out.

When someone is sad, they tend to get holed up at their home for prolonged periods. Get them out in the sun, take them for a movie or for a drink, get some friends together or plan a small outing. Think of all the fun things they’d love to do. However, don’t go overboard and don’t plan things which they might not enjoy!

Leave them alone.

Avoid the urge to keep hanging around them at all times; everyone needs some moments of solitude. Give them time alone to reflect on their loss. Let them know that you’ll be around.

Show some love.

Hugs are a great way to show love. Studies say that hugs release a feel-good hormone and trigger receptors in the brain that makes one feel comforted. If hugs don’t figure in the scheme of things - hold hands, they have the same effect. You could even buy them a gift to show that you care. It need not be expensive or extravagant, just thoughtful enough.

What would you like to add to the above list?