2021 Week 12 Update

Posted on March 28, 2021 by memoriesandsuch

Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it. This is a quote that forces you to think on multiple levels. How is happiness defined and is the level of my happiness the same as someone else? It’s something that we seriously need to think about and once we unlock this lesson, it becomes that much easier to become happy and to spread happiness all around.

After about two weeks, my ankle and leg pain is much better. From a pain of 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being very painful, it’s probably a three now. One of the days that GG was massaging my ankle, she pressed hard enough that we heard a pop from a bone that was painful to touch. But that pop helped in the healing so much that after that day.

We are about a year into lockdowns in most countries and with newer waves coming in, I am not sure when life will go back to being normal. Singapore will start easing some restrictions from next week, especially those about more people being allowed into offices. Residents between the ages of 45 and 59 are also encouraged to sign up for the vaccine and as soon as this was announced, S and I signed up for the vaccines, as did many others I know in this age group. We will get a notification once vaccines are ready and then we will have to book an appointment slot. I am quite eager to get vaccinated because of my parents. If there is an emergency, then between my sister and I, I am the one who will be able to get there faster and for this, I will need to be vaccinated so I am not forced to quarantine myself both sides.

BB got his results early last week and though he did better than the previous semester, he didn’t do as well as we expected. After a long talk, he has promised to pull up his socks and work hard in the next semester. This is probably his last chance to pull up his grades if he wants a chance to go to university after his national service.

This was all from my side this week, stay masked, stay safe and stay indoors if possible!

2021 Week 11 Update

Posted on March 21, 2021 by memoriesandsuch

This week and the following week is results week for BB & GG. GG’s results came first and while it was more or less expected, she didn’t do as much as she expected to do which meant her cumulative GPA fell down a bit, for which she was upset for about half a day and then bounced back promising to bring it up in the next semester. BB’s results come out tomorrow and I for one, am in equal parts anxious and worried.

My leg and ankle pain is still there and some days are quite bad. I am lucky that GG is a talented maseusse, though she does not know any technique, but helps me once or twice a day to massage the aching parts. This means my walking this month is getting hit and I don’t think I would walk as much as I have done in previous months. This is a busy week for me, but I think if the pain persists, I will have no choice, but go to the doctor next week and have it checked out. I know I am probably being negligent, but I hope this goes away before I need to see a specialist.

Today’s quote is a classic positivity quote which asks one to bring positivity with them wherever they go. It’s a great lesson, especially for me, since I am trying quite hard to be more positive in 2021. It means bringing something positive with you at all times, and making the best of any situation.

That’s all for this week, stay safe people!

2021 Week 10 Update

Posted on March 14, 2021 by memoriesandsuch

This week marks the official one year mark when the WHO declared the Covid-19 as a pandemic. On 11 March 2020, deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction, WHO made the assessment that COVID-19 could be characterised as a pandemic. Singapore had been one of the countries affected with cases as early as in January 2020.

As of yesterday, we have 119 million cases and over 2.5 million deaths caused by the virus. Of these numbers, the United States accounts for almost 30 million cases and half a million deaths. A country which only accounts for 4% of the world’s population accounts for 20% of the world covid related deaths. Brazil has overtaken India as the country with the second highest cases and India is at number four in the total number of deaths related to the pandemic. Singapore with about 60 thousand cases stands at number 99 and with 30 deaths in total is at number 171.

This week I have spent in pain in my leg. The pain which came on and off for a few weeks in my ankles was so bad this week that I could only hobble. I also had a weird stiffness in the middle of one of my calves, like what happens when you calves cramp. I have been spamming lots of muscle relaxants and medicated oils and also using crepe bandages to get some relief.

Today’s quote is a lesson that people, especially me needs to learn. While every day may not be good according to your definition of good, but if you look hard, you will find something something good even in the worst of days. So look for the little things that bring that little joy to your day, it can be as simple as reading a beautiful sentence, a lovely sunrise or sunset or even something that a loved one said to you. Life will be so much more beautiful!

With this note, stay safe people and if you or your loved ones are getting vaccinated, please go ahead and book your appointment and get vaccinated, for the sake of yourself and your loved ones. It’s only when we do our part will life start going back to a semblance of normal.

Experiences over Things – Because Experience is the best Teacher

Posted on March 12, 2021 by memoriesandsuch

“Buy experiences, not things. Spending on experiences makes people happier than spending on things. Things get broken and go out of style. Experiences get better every time you talk about them.” – Jean Chatzky

When I was younger, I wanted the best of everything – be it clothes, skincare, holidays and material things. But as I grow older, material things are slowly losing the importance they once had. When the urge to fill cupboards reduced, the urge to experience started increasing.

I also find that this is something that younger people do more than us. It is perhaps something to do with a scarcity of resources. Growing up in a middle class regulated India, we were hard-pressed to have enough money for a lot of material things and a lot of things that today would seem normal, even in India used to be considered luxury items. But today’s children have grown up with a lot of things we considered a luxury. For example, BB & GG took their first overseas trip and plane ride when they were slightly over a year old while I must have taken my first domestic plane ride when I was about 10-11 years old and my first overseas trip only in my twenties!

For today’s generation who are digital natives, they only know a world where the largest retail store doesn’t own any items aka Amazon, the biggest transportation service doesn’t own any vehicles, Uber, and the most popular hotel chain doesn’t own any hotels aka AirBnB. In a world where jobs are not stable and freelancing and being a digital nomad is slowly becoming a thing, it is no wonder that they prefer to have fewer possessions and more experiences.

So what makes some people choose experiences over things? And while reading up about this issue, I realised that there are many people like me, whole encompass the spectrum of people of all ages, who are starting to opting out of accumulating things and exploring experiences instead.

Experiences result in greater happiness: According to research, experiences result in longer-lasting happiness than material possessions. Humans quickly adapt to their external surroundings and as a result, the happiness provided by new material possessions is short-lived. Over time, people’s satisfaction with the things they buy decreases, whereas their satisfaction with experiences over time increases.

Experiences provide better memories: We usually look back on memories and these memories, especially if they are associated with our loved ones provide us with years of pleasant memories and bring a warm smile in our hearts when we think about them. Does something you own bring that smile to your face? Maybe, but memory will always trump a physical thing.

Experiences result in less clutter: Most physical possessions eventually become a burden on our lives. They take up physical space in our homes and mental space in our minds. They require care, attention, maintenance, organization. Experiences, on the other hand, are accompanied with little to no physical baggage. All you need to do to go back to a memory is to close your eyes and think about that time, there’s no need to clutter up your homes, which are getting smaller, especially in crowded cities like Singapore.

Experiences provide greater opportunity to connect with other people: When we experience things with others because we enjoy time together with people we love and are comfortable with, we can connect with them on a level that spending that time and money on things just can’t do.

Experiences result in greater mindfulness: In a 2010 research, it was concluded that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. And the greater a person’s ability to stay present in a given moment, the greater happiness they experience during and after. Experiences provide a greater opportunity and this regard.

Experiences result in less comparison with others: In a materialistic society, we are always comparing ourselves with others and if we have a bigger house or more possessions, we are supposed to more successful compared to whom we are comparing ourselves with. But how do you compare experiences? There’s no standard template with which you can do that. An experience that is very important to one will have no value to another and so everyone’s experience is unique and special.

Experiences let you grow as an individual: When you experience and learn different things, you can view the world differently. Experiences make you more emphatic and make an individual a better person overall.

So let’s start gathering more experiences to experience the various facets of life to live a more enriched and fulfilling life. While material things may bring fleeting moments of joy, but are separate from the individual. Experiences, on the other hand, live with an individual for a long time, maybe even their own life and become intrinsically entwined with the individual. And at the end of the day, we are the total sum of all our experiences.

2021 Week 09 Update

Posted on March 7, 2021 by memoriesandsuch

This week was a pretty quiet week because the children are on their semesteral holiday and with the end of this semester, they finish their first year of their polytechnic education. Though BB went to school more, GG spent almost all of the her first year having online lessons. As I have been saying previously, hopefully, she will go back to school on a more fulltime basis in year 2.

The good news this week was that my parents finally got the first dose of the covid vaccine. In Mumbai, both private and government hospitals were allowed to administer the vaccine and I spent a good bit of time trying to find a hospital near our home for them, but they managed to walk into a nearby government hospital and because of my father’s Parkinson’s disease, they were also jumped ahead in the queue. Now after their second dose, they will be in a much better place and my sister and I heaved a huge sigh of relief when they got the vaccine.

Tomorrow is the International Women’s day and while there is a post waiting for you tomorrow about the day, I just want to point out that during this last year, women have had to shoulder a larger part of the disturbances which we all have been sujected to. And this is not just anecdotal. I have been speaking with family and friends and especially those who have young children who are home schooling, have had it hard when they also have a fulltime job to do. BB & GG are older now, but I have been told that those with younger children, that is those not yet in school, also have to contend children becoming very sticky and clingy which again will impact them during their work day and when they will go back to work.

And so we come to today’s positive quote is about happiness. If we think about it, it is a state of mind and we expend the same energy to be happy as to be miserable, so why not just be happy instead of being negative and miserable?

On that note, stay safe people and wishing all my women readers a happy women’s day!

Memories and Such

Memories of a very ordinary life

Tag Archives: Life