Words carry lot of weight because they can soothe someone or hurt someone. The words we write or speak to others usually leave a huge impact on them, therefore, choosing the right words to communicate is important. Another point to note is using words wisely because words can make or break a relationship and choice of words can impress or depress listeners. Wisely used words define the person’s attitude and character both.

It is important to choose just the right words to get your point across, but it is not always an easy task. There are two types of meanings for words: denotation and connotation. Denotation of a word is the expression of the word as clear and explicit as possible. It is direct meaning from the dictionary. The word connotation is commonly used in the phrase’s positive connotation and negative connotation. A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries. For example, ‘childlike’ is a positive connotation but ‘childish’ is negative connotation. The connotations for the word snake could be evil or dangerous.  Denotation is when you mean what you say, literally snake is a reptile creature. The positive connotation of the word steadfast is unwavering but negative is stubborn. The denotation of the word steadfast is loyal and faithful.  

BP (British Petroleum Company)  caused the legendary oil spill that stretched across the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Their PR strategy included airing a number of expensive commercials and apologizing at every chance they got–something the public found dishonest. Ultimately, they received criticism from President Obama and others, who said the money they put into the ads should have been put into cleaning up the mess. Tony Hayward – the former Chief Executive of BP also made the fatal mistake of saying he wanted his life back, which showed an obvious lack of respect for those 11 men who had actually lost their lives in the explosion.

Choice of words in communication can change the course of decision making in life. The vocabulary used must express feeling wisely without hurting the opposite person. Often, we see when a person is using an incorrect word, the message delivered is not meant. Unfitting choice of words leads to the misunderstanding among the audience. It sometimes makes a situation awkward and unclear. And, an incorrect word makes no sense.

Shashi Tharoor – a former Indian diplomat whose flawless English needs no introduction. Tharoor wrote ‘innivation’ in a Tweet instead of innovation while referring to his address at the MES College of Engineering, Kerala. Later he corrected it on tweeter stating that should have been “Innovation” or better still, “Indovation”!  The meaning of the word Indovation is the process by which innovations are developed in India to serve a large number of people affordably and sustainably in response to conditions.

Choice of words is affected by the level of constraint imposed on users and is subjected to a number of factors, such as vocabulary or inappropriate use of command, situation, personality of persons presents etc. It attempts to affect how people think, instead of what they think by using subtle, indirect methods.

Human communication is a social interaction process. It is an essential part of our daily life. It is a process of creating, exchanging, sharing ideas, facts, feelings, etc. General Motors made a simple but disastrous mistake when they tried to introduce the Nova in Latin America? They thought they could use the same brand name they used in the United States. They couldn’t figure out why no one wanted it until they learned that it translated in Spanish as ‘No-go.’ 

Sometimes, a word that’s correct isn’t necessarily the right word to use.  Which word would you prefer using ‘I dislike tea’ and ‘I hate tea’ They both communicate the same meaning, but the second sentence uses a much stronger word to communicate that feeling. Whether “dislike” or “hate” is the better word choice depends on the context surrounding the sentence.

I conclude: when it comes to picking the right word, the simplest is often best. Words not only convey information; they also reflect who you are – your values and beliefs. So, be mindful about your words.

Mindful eating means paying attention to an eating experience with all of our senses; seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling, feeling while witnessing the emotional and physical responses that take place before, during and after the eating experience. It means allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and training by respecting your own inner wisdom. It requires using all your senses in choosing to eat food that is both fulfilling and nourishing to your body. It also requires acknowledging responses to food such as likes, dislikes, or neutral without conclusion.

What is mindfulness? It is deliberately paying attention, being fully aware of what is happening both inside and outside you: in your body, heart and mind and outside you in your surrounding environment. Mindfulness is awareness without any criticism or judgement.

Mindful eating involves paying full attention to the experience of eating and drinking, both inside and outside the body. We pay attention to the colors, aromas, temperature of food, textures, flavours, size and shape and even the sounds (crunching) of our food. We pay attention to the experience of the body. Where in the body do we feel hunger? Where do we feel satisfaction? What does half-full or half empty feel like? What does one do after eating?

In mindful eating, we also pay attention to the mind, avoiding judgement or criticism. In my opinion, when we watch TV, read a book, chitchat on phone while eating, our mind gets distracted. We stop paying attention to our eating. We act on an impulse, by withdrawing the right attention to our eating or drinking.

Though a daily chore, eating and drinking affects our mood. Fibre foods like complex carbohydrates that contain soluble fiber can slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream and increase serotonin, the “feel good” chemical, both of which decrease mood swings. You can find healthy amounts of fiber in leafy vegetables, fruits, and in some root vegetables. Eating regular meals and snacks at the same times every day helps keep blood sugar levels steady. Eating at regular intervals helps to ensure that the body has a continuous source of fuel, and this may assist in keeping your mood stable.

According the adage, its better late than never the old habits of eating and not paying attention to eating can be changed with little practice. Don’t try to make drastic changes. Lasting change takes time, and is built on many small changes. There is a clear relationship between food and your state of mind. Try to understand your body’s needs. When you combine strategies for eating regularly with foods that may have a positive effect on your well-being, you can plan meals that may help you to feel better. You can also avoid foods that may make you feel not so good. Pay attention to what is good and not good for you to eat and drink.

1. Begin mindful eating, to remain happy and healthy.

2. Give priority to your mealtimes.

3. Take 15 minutes to sit down and enjoy your meal.

4. Avoid distractions whilst eating.

5. Always sit down for meal. Try to avoid eating standing up or in front of the fridge.

6. Serve your food onto a plate/bowl.

7. Try to avoid eating food from the packet, ice cream tub, take away container, etc.

8. Rest your cutlery next to your plate between mouthfuls and make a conscious effort to chew your food thoroughly.

9. Eat only until you are 80% full, meaning till you feel satisfied, but not overly full.

For a healthy body and happy soul self-study, mindfulness, compassion, awareness of our mind and body matters; for this, understanding our relationship with eating helps in cultivating a lot of insights. Begin mindful eating right today.

We always think that we would be happier in a different set of circumstances which generally implies that we are not contended with our present conditions.  We keep cribbing about our job conditions saying that it is tedious, highly demanding, boss is not cooperative etc.; we look at some businessmen and think they are happier, they don’t have bosses, they can come and go any time; the neighbors’ wife is better-looking, she is more efficient, and his kids are more intelligent; in short when we compare our situations to other’s we feel repentant for self. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The biggest trouble of mind is turning away from reality. In our anxiousness we get engrossed with thoughts of a different life, perhaps a better life somewhere else.

When problems occur in our life, we are taken over by envy, believing that other people have better things, they are happier than us and this thought makes us anxious. We want everything good, and this ‘good’ is an illusion, it is persecuted by the belief that we have so little.  We are taken over by greed, wanting more and more and more, feeling that what we have cannot ever be enough. Friends, by denying the goodness of our very own lives, we believe that we have nothing good to work with, this thought reduces the capacity to work with our strengths and the opportunities.  This is where we lose focus, self-confidence and hope.

Robert Fulghum, author of that classic book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” put it this way:  “The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you are.” The book is about our adult-world. The information which we receive corrupts our mind and there is very little educational value in what is disguised as education and sold to us. In reality, most of what we need to know to live good lives was already taught to us when we were in kindergarten. That, and only that is education. Everything else is a sales pitch. Isn’t it true?

We often say that we don’t know what it is that we are missing until it’s gone. We don’t realize how good our life was during our school days, until we are thrown into the workforce, and our parents cut us off our pocket money. We don’t come to understand how nice our childhood friends were until we meet shrewd people in later part of life, we don’t appreciate importance of a people until they leave us.

I think, the problem with having choices is that we become restless. We can’t settle for what we already have or be satisfied with what we’ve got because we will always be wondering about the next big thing. It’s called “the grass is always greener” syndrome. We think someone else is having a better time elsewhere. We make ourselves miserable by constantly thinking about the unknown in an endless quest to find happiness. We lie awake at night torturing ourselves over what we should do next, wondering if we’re missing out on something big. We feel we’re wasting our lives if we’re not doing something more important, and we are unable to define the ‘important’.

Mindfulness helps you to appreciate life as it happens; it stops us from agonizing over what might’ve been or what could be. It just brings us back to the present. Because happiness isn’t about where you live or the things you do. It isn’t about being on an impossible mission to do everything. Of course, have achievable goals in life, plan your strategies and achieve everything you ever dreamed. How you achieve it is by building a life around your current location. Making new friends, settling into a routine, finding ways in which to enjoy “the moment” rather than dwelling on all the things you could be doing or the places you could be visiting.

Remember that all we ever have is right now. Forget about the past. Don’t worry about the future. Take each day as it comes, and most of all, stop thinking that the grass is greener, because it never really is. Happiness is a state of mind.

‘Zindagi na milegi dobara’ is an excellent masterpiece movie directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Excel Entertainment.  The maxim of the movie is that each individual creates meaning of his/her life; we create our life day after day with our own actions and thoughts.  The movie is all about enjoying life and gratifying our dreams before we realize that we have lost chances to live them. In this movie Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) has the motto to work hard till 40 and then retire with a huge bank balance, and Laila (Katrina Kaif) makes him realize that that there’s no guarantee that he’d live up to the age of 40. From then on he takes the plunge of living life each day as if there is no tomorrow. The movie is about living for the moment, and never delaying doing things that will make us happy. The movie also is about bonding with friends. Great friendship is spirit of life.

Life is about moving forward. We cannot keep blaming other people for our failures. Recognize that life is a journey, not a destination. This saying is a cliché, but it’s also true: life is as much about how you get where you’re going as where you go. Living your life to the fullest is a process that will take your whole life to develop. Don’t get frustrated if it takes a little time to learn some things, or if you experience setbacks. This is a natural part of life.

When we make friends, we don’t go by their background. The movie Zindagi Na Milegi shows that Hritik Roshan – a successful investment banker, Abhay Deol – (a wealthy businessman) and Farhan Akhtar (a writer from a modest background) are buddies from childhood; they are least   not bothered about each other’s family backgrounds. These three friends have nothing in common, they have very contrasting personalities. Despite the differences, they are best of friends who want to be with each other. The film opens with Kabir (Abhay Deol) proposing to Natasha (Kalki Koechlin). Their families meet at the engagement party where Natasha learns that Kabir is planning a three-week bachelor road trip to Spain with his school friends Imran (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrithik Roshan). Kabir is confused about his marriage plans, he is not sure whether he wants to marry Natasha, his confusion gets sorted out because of his buddies.

The movie shows that when it comes to friendship, family background, education, status, bank balance has nothing to do, the friendship blossoms despite all of this.

All too often, we spend a lot of time looking at what we don’t like about ourselves, what we’d like to change, we keep struggling to look different, to stand out. We spend a lot of time focusing on our past and future knowing jolly well that the present is most important. Katrina explains this to Hrithik.

Your core values are the beliefs that shape who you are. You are more likely to feel fulfilled and happy when you’re living in harmony with your value. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t let others push you around. It’s possible to do this and still be open to other people’s ideas, as they may surprise you.

The movie portrays how to get over our fears. We limit our lives when fear sets in. The movie gives a message to dare or die.  While we all have some unreasonable fears and do not want to face them. Our friends play a big role who can help us to get over them. In this movie the three friends decide on three adventure sports and dare the other two to do it. And they end up picking scuba diving, sky diving and Bull Run; all three have some deepest fears, which they get over with help of each other.  There were many first for all three actors. They felt jittery, out of their wits while shooting many scenes.

The movie is shot in picturesque virgin locations of Spain, yet the beauty of the picturesque country is used only as a substance and not as a gimmick in this road flick. The beauty of Spain fosters positive emotions in viewers. The movie talks about mindfulness. Learning to be aware of our feelings can help us live life to the fullest by keeping our focus on what is happening in the present moment. Mindfulness helps in avoiding judgment of our experiences; instead, it encourages to accept things just as they are.

As the title suggests you will never get this life again.