Rupal Mohta: HOW SWEET DID YOUR ROSES SMELL TODAY?
HOW SWEET DID YOUR ROSES SMELL TODAY?
There’s always that one little thing that brings immense joy to you. Isn’t it? It could be music, a good book, perhaps catching up with an old friend, or putting your green thumb to good use, even travelling, cooking, or may just be idling on a hammock doing absolutely nothing!
For me, an evening spent in my pint-size urban sanctuary is an evening well spent. My balcony garden, where I make every attempt to grow greens, reds, yellows, and blues successfully or otherwise is my ikigai. With every season that nature rings in ever-so-quietly, my flora and fauna bear an all new look. Sometimes the micro greens sprout out exceedingly well and on other times the Snake plant gives up on me because I overwatered it. A rare night blooming Cereus can make a year long wait worthwhile, just as the abundance of Sadabahar makes me wonder if I have too many of them! Here in my sanctuary, I pass on valuable life lessons to my children, just as I fill a silent morning with a cup of tea and my thoughts. This is where I slow down, pause and even stop to smell the roses.
As you walk down the fairway of life, you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round- BEN HOGAN
As you go about your busy day, knocking numbers off your monthly targets, meeting irrational deadlines or getting your kids into a sane routine, do take time to smell your roses. Life has this absurd quality of passing by even before you can flutter an eyelid. The last time you intently noticed and saw yourself you were probably younger, a few pounds lighter, and may be boastful of a crop of lush hair. So, catch the roses before they wilt away, live every moment, and style a heart, that’s filled with up with memories both bitter and sweet.
Here are some handy tips on how you can stop and, smell your roses, in a life where sometimes even breathing turns out to be is a luxury:
- Give it up for family:
Your family is the backbone of your existence. The very reason for your being. All that you do is to provide for a happy and secure future for your family. But what about the present? When was the last time you broke into an impromptu dance with your kids? When was the last time you surprised your spouse with a well thought out gift for no occasion in particular? When was the last time you sat with your parents and glanced upon the family album reliving your childhood? These moments, these precious nothings, add immense value to everyday life. They will keep your roses fresh and eternally sweet smelling!
- Make time for old friends:
Old friends like wine, mature with time and taste better! The older a friend, chances are the more eclectic is your equation with them. Don’t forget to check in on your old buddies. Catch up with them from time to time if you are in the same city. A drink or a dinner make time for whatever is practical. If you are not able to meet them in person, then make full use of Graham Bell’s legacy, that’s now advanced to unthinkable spans. Initiate video calls, group calls, celebrations on apps and the like. Make time for a holiday together whenever possible.
In an everyday rat race, there are few you strike a chord with. Hold on, with all your might to the ones you actually click with! Old friends are like roses you find well-kept within the folds of a favorite book.
- Read a book:
Reading is therapeutic. Often overlooked, but the fact remains that an excellent author can actually talk to you through his pen. He can take you to a zone, a place that let’s you drift and believe in his writings, in a world that he shows you in yellow-white papers. While you may prefer to read a genre that appeals to you. But also give all kinds of books a chance to entice and talk to you. Make it a routine to read a book before you doze off each night. A book by your bedside will come in handy on more junctures than one. A good book can open up a world of opportunities, it can make you believe in yourself; it can help you learn a new skill and give you an insight you didn’t think ever existed! Whatever may be your preference paper, or a device, just read.
- Travel:
Wanderlust is not just for the brave! There’s nothing greater than a travel to lift up your spirits. A routine can bog you down. A change in place and pace can do wonders even if you are not a travel junkie. Choose a destination that appeals to you; a beach or perhaps the hills, a riverside or a cruise, a modern well-planned city tour or a place that boasts of gothic architecture. You could travel solo, or with friends and family. You can be an unplanned traveler or one who plans even the beach side coconut water drink to the minutest of detail! Whatever be your style, budget or liking, do make time to pull down the bags from the attic before they gather dust and get chewed away by rodents! And while at it don’t forget to pose silly for photographs, after all every one everyone needs a travel keepsake, isn’t it?
- Pick up a new skill or hobby:
Do you remember the time when a classmate crooned or played the electric guitar and the opposite sex gushed while you were in school or college? Do you remember your classmate’s art file that gave competition to Picasso when all that you could mange was a few crooked lines with a ruler! Do you remember wanting to give a raise to your bike outside the college gates, the only catch being you didn’t know how to ride one, oops! You can definitely recollect taunts when you didn’t know how to cook, in a home that was filled up with culinary experts. Well, what’s stopping you? Now’s the time. To learn a skill or revive an old hobby. There is plethora of online classes, course modules for every known subject that’ll let you learn at your pace. Learning adds all-new freshness to an otherwise routine day. You trouble your body, stretch your mind and flex long unused muscles! The results can be extraordinary. You’ll realize sweet smelling roses are here to stay.
So, don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Instead gather your own bouquet. Let the roses continually bloom. And while at it, don’t forget to note how sweet your roses smelt today!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rupal Mohta is a company secretary, author, blogger, content writer and mom. She makes her home in India with her family, an imaginary parakeet and an undisciplined balcony garden. She tries to devotedly write a few pages each week as the process of bringing a thought to life fascinates her. She writes for both adults and children. When she’s not writing you can catch her secretly eating a chocolate bar and reading a favorite book or even dusting a corner of her home.
She recently wrote her first book for children titled “INDIAN SIDE UP-A FASCINATING TALE FOR CHILDREN”. The bestseller is available worldwide on Amazon.
She hopes that readers will read her book, in a cozy nook, sipping an inspiring mug of chocolate milkshake fuel!
You can visit her at https://www.rupalmohta.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wordsntones
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