{Z} is for Zen THOUGHTs

Do you carry zen thoughts or zen people in your life? I am fortunate to be surrounded by quite a few zen beings. Isn’t that one-of-it’s kind blessing to have? Therefore, zen thoughts come blowing my way more often than not. Sometimes in the form of a statement here and a statement there, an act of kindness, a sign knocking at my door, or an answer “blowing in the wind”, as our dear Bob Dylan would have crooned.

Children have an inner zen which is so alive, and vibrant and it pops out at any given opportunity. I have experienced this with my nine-year old, who does not cease to amaze me with her zen thoughts, time and again. It’s sad that as we grow up our sense of enchantment and inner zen gets lost in translation. Aarshia talks about spending “family time” so often when the family is caught up with life. She insists on a weekend game night together. She reminds us to keep our phones away, when we she is having a conversation with us. That is so very zen, coming from a nine-year-old, I feel. These days they charge us moolah to teach these zen nuggets at training workshops!

Then there are Laila and Cotton, my furry girls. They are a true epitome of zen thoughts at work. They are unruffled by the part-time help not turning up; unlike me who almost loses her sanity. They don’t create a hue or cry or bite if their meal is served an hour late. They just prod us lovingly with their paws and get us to do the deed. They don’t succumb to the lure of new gadgets or accessories in the market. They are zen like with whatever they have. They don’t over think, or complain, or judge. They live and let live. Now if that isn’t zen, I don’t know what is?!

 

 

There is also the DH. A man of few words. Pretty zen most of the times, except when work bites with vengeance, he also bites back with equal vengeance (no pun intended). He is happy in his world of gardening, books, music and movies. He is pretty zen running solo. He doesn’t need any validation from people, be it on his exercise routine or his accomplishments. He is happy in his cocoon with his passion for simple things and life in general. He could be least bothered about who said what and why. He just chooses to be.

My brother, Abhijit is another zen being I look up to. In the face of adversity he is like the rock of Gibraltar, undeterred and unruffled. When I’m crying copious tears over something, he just eases my worries with simple reassuring words like “chill, move on, stay happy”. He makes the biggest of problems seem minuscule, with his optimistic, happy-go-lucky attitude; always peppered with a dash of humour and laughter. Even when the going is tough, he is zen like, laughing and joking and cheering up everyone around him. How commendable is that a quality to have. That’s him, so very zen  in thoughts and being.

There is also my bestie, Rohina. She is the sunshine girl. On an odd day here and there she may get a bit agitated, but mostly she is out there spreading the smiles with her power packed smile. She carries her buoyant attitude every where she goes and in every situation that she is in, unfailingly. In the face of adversity she is solid and grounded, peaceful and serene. She is a true epitome of joie de vivre. Her thoughts are like butterflies wandering from flower to flower in search of nectar, that is elixir to the people who know her. She liberally shares her “nectar” with everyone with much love and compassion. As zen as it can get, right?

Zen thoughts have a way of giving wings to our being, infusing us with a fresh lease of positivity. Do you surround yourself with zen beings who infect you with their zen thoughts too? Would love to hear about your views on zen thoughts and zen beings? Do you recognise them and let their power course through your life too?

As I sign off today, I’m in soaking in my moment of zen. I’ve just managed to accomplish the AtoZChallenge2018 successfully. Hurrah to that! Till we meet again next year.

Note to my Readers:  Thank you for lending your patient ears. Please bear with a few more lines, my dear readers. The AtoZChallenge2018 has been a breeze, to be honest. No tearing my hair in despair, no staying up till the wee hours of the morning. Basically because I chose to keep my posts, short and crisp and worked hard diligently to schedule them a day in advance. Every single post was written the previous day, giving me a great sense of satisfaction and peace of mind. I will cut this long story short and write about it in my AtoZ Reflections post.

The point I was trying to get across here is that my last and final post, Z is the only one that I was unable to schedule a day in advance. Initially I wasn’t very happy about this, but sometimes it’s alright to not be the quintessential perfect human being, after all I wasn’t missing a deadline. I was only writing on the day the Z alphabet was scheduled, which is today. In the US time zone it still isn’t Monday, 30th April, 2018, so I’m not even lagging behind.

I would like to apologise to my readers if they were looking out for my Z post at 12:06 midnight-(my scheduled time on most days, when my post would go live) but it only made its way later in the day today. There is a little lesson here. Sometimes it’s alright to prioritise family, friends, hobbies (in my case cycling and my Buddhism practise). I did all of that over the weekend, therefore this post is a few hours late. My in-laws were over, a dear friend came visiting from Banglore and she is staying with me, and yes I also went to the spa. So yes, the celebrations for wrapping up AtoZ 2018 gloriously had already begun. And now that I’m done, I’m off to grab simple home cooked lunch with my fam-bam, followed by a mommy-daughter date and if I’m not too exhausted it’s Avengers Infinity War with the family tonight, at the theatres. The celebrations are taking over. Yippieee!

 

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My theme for this year’s Blogging from A-Z Challenge is April Anecdotes. These are twenty-six compelling tales of some real people, and some not so real people. These tales will be surreal, peppered with a dose of non-fiction, but some might just be a figment of my over active imagination. You can read my theme here.

You can read my previous posts from #AtoZChallenge2018 here:

A is for Anachronism or Misplaced in Time?

B is for Burden or Unburden?

C is for Control

D is for Destiny’s Child

E is for Enchantment

F is for Far from the Maddening Crowd 

G is for Goblins, Gnomes and Gypsy Spirits

H is for Heart, Mind and Soul

K is for Kiss

L is for Love Conquers All

M is for Mystic’s Magic

N is for Never Say Never

O is for One With Nature

P is for Painted Not Tainted

Q is for Queer and Quirky

R is Reminiscing the Yesteryears

S is for Signs

T is for Thankful for Your Tender Love

U is for Uplifting Our Energy

V is for Vivacious Souls