Tag: love yourself

Ishq! Ishq! Ishq!!! (Love! Love! Love!!!)

The author writes about a poetry show he and his sister went to see the previous day. It was quite an unique and a great experience.

I just can’t get yesterday evening’s “Ishq Hai” poetry show by Priya Malik out of my head.

Story Time: Ishq Hai

So yesterday my sister and I went to HSR Layout in Bangalore to attend a poetry show by Priya Malik that we booked on bookmyshow.

A group photo with Priya Malik(3rd from the left) and Tanmay(4th from the left)

And it was a good decision. In fact it was a great decision.

I still can’t forget that experience.

The show wasn’t just about “Ishq” or love, but it was about the subtleties of love.

How “pyaar” is different from “ibadaat” and how there are 7 levels of love and how the former six are different from “Ishq”, which is the seventh level.

And I realized yesterday that I have only ever had infatuations and that I had never felt “Ishq” for anyone.

It made me feel quite hopeful instead of sad.

At least now I know where I stand.

I also love the story of her life, the story of her and her mother.

How she would say “kuch nahi” when her mother asked her about her day. And how that changed. (don’t want to spoil too much for future audience members)

Priya Malik said that it is the distance from and absence of a thing or a person that makes us realize their value. I don’t remember the exact words though.

But I think these positive feelings of bliss and gratitude will last for days. And that’s also great for my mental health.

Why I Attended The Show

So my sister and I went to the show yesterday after my sister’s duty at NIMHANS. 

At first I was hesitant but then I thought “What the hell! Let’s try something new.”

Because generally I go to music concerts and action movie screenings. But this was the first time I went to a poetry show on “Ishq Hai” which is an emotional experience.

There’s nothing to think or analyze like I do with my data analysis career.

All you have to do is open your heart and feel. 

Yes! That plain old “feeling” in this age of AI.

And after watching the show we had dinner at Leon’s Burger.

Then we returned to our rented place.

So yeah yesterday evening was filled with blissful thoughts and intense feelings.

And I’d never want to forget yesterday evening even if the photos get lost.

Also Priya Malik did a “meet and greet” and we got her autographs and clicked a group photo.

Conclusion

And yeah! That was quite something!!!

One thing I learnt from this experience is that everything happens for its own good. There’s nothing to worry about.

God is there and things will happen at the right time.

All we need to do is surrender to God!

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

Face Your Fears: Stop Being Toxic

The author writes about his experiences with fear, what happens when he doesn’t face them and what happens when he does.

Fear is an obstacle for everyone.

If you don’t face your fear, your life becomes toxic.

I don’t know why that happens but I’ve noticed it in my own life.

When I don’t face my fears, I become toxic.

I start to say negative things. 

I start blaming God.

I start hating myself.

I stop being grateful.

But when I face your fears, I start waking up early, saying positive things, loving God, loving myself, and becoming grateful again.

Because fear is a strong emotion.

But fear is also an illusion. 

It isn’t real. 

So face your fears. Follow your dreams. 

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

Love And Accept Yourself: Don’t Seek Approval From Others

The author writes about his experience if seeking approval from others in the past and realizing the futility in doing it.

Loving Who You Are: No Approval Seeking

Loving who you are is probably one of the most ignored actions of human beings. We want approval from others.

Everybody has insecurities, but we don’t accept them easily.

Instead, we engage in negative self-talk and scold ourselves for being insecure.

We want approval from others but even if they approve of us, we still feel empty.

In my short life, I have been wanting approval and I have realized that if I run after approval and care about what other people think of me, I’ll never truly be happy.

My Story: Birla High School

When I was in class 10, I studied hard to score 84.6%, and then in class 11 I got admitted into Birla High School(BHS), which is one of the most elite high schools in Kolkata and even India as a whole.

Part of the reason I got into BHS was to make my parents proud. 

But I wasn’t proud of myself. 

I got my parents’ temporary approval by getting into BHS, but I didn’t approve of myself.

I still disliked being lonely and I hated myself.

Furthermore, I hated my personality, my lack of confidence, my inability to make friends, my weakness of not being a leader and I didn’t like my stream of subject – science.

Not only that, but I even read multiple self-help books like “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz to “fix” myself. But nothing worked. 

Because there was nothing to “fix”.

I needed to accept myself.

I needed to tell myself that I loved myself and that I was sorry for hating myself.

And then I needed to change my self-talk.

But I didn’t do any of these actions because I didn’t know how to do them.

I was lost back then.

Conclusion

Today, however, I have started to realize that no matter how much approval I seek, I’ll still feel empty inside.

First I need to accept myself fully.

I need to love myself.

I have an app on my phone called “Finch” and it is a to-do list app for neurodivergent people.

Likewise, I have a to-do item on it that says “Pause and say ‘thank you’ to myself”.

And I find it very soothing to thank myself every day.

So yeah, loving who you are is an underrated skill that everyone should learn.

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.