The From the Heart Award – and a Thankful Heart

Straight from the heart !!

I was away for some time taking a break from blogging to sort my headspace. But now that it’s sorted I am ready and all set to pop back. So starting right from where I had left, the very talented and sweet Mel Finch from Crushed Caramel had nominated me for the “From the Heart Award”. Isn’t that amazing when such a wonderful blogger as she notices and appreciates your work? I am super elated. I wholeheartedly thank Mel for giving me recognition and finding my blog worthy of the nomination. Do give her a visit for some light-hearted humour hand in hand with some thought-provoking words of wisdom.

“No matter how big or small it is I like to see myself accomplishing things.”

To me, every little accomplishment is a reason to celebrate and rejoice. And this nomination is just as great as any other. The “From the Heart Award” goes to bloggers who primarily focus on personal writing. Their posts are often from the writer to the world at large or from the writer to the writer themselves and they just allow us access to their mind. Their posts are so personal as they have put out a piece of their heart in front of the readers, and thus the name of the award.

The From the Heart Award Logo

I am thankful to Mel for considering my blog for the award. I find it extremely difficult to cook up imaginary stories which are not even remotely related to a true incident or a real person. My posts are mostly inspired by my life – both people and experiences form the basis of my posts. And I believe, that is the reason why I am able to pour my heart into them, strike a chord and connect with my readers. As Mel very correctly stated that creating posts that can touch people’s heart doesn’t need to be very emotional all the time; but to be able to write in a manner that people can relate to and be inspired, and that which can make a difference in their lives is what I feel makes my writing straight from the heart. And as asked this post titled “Motherhood might be my religion, but I am more than just a mother” is one of my very favourite posts. Do pay it a visit. (If you want to know more about me visit my “About page.)

Just so as we are speaking from the heart, before I proceed with my nominations, I want to take this opportunity to thank all my followers who have been so kind to keep me motivated by loving and appreciating my work. My sincere gratitude to all my followers who have helped my blog grow and flourish, giving me abundant confidence and reason to keep me going. Each like and comment that I get on my posts, feel so rewarding and go a long, long way.

Heartfelt Thanks for all the encouragement!

Ever since I started it, this blog has been like a second home to me because the kind of love and support that I get from you all makes me feel so at home. I am incredibly humbled to all my loyal readers who have been making my journey worthwhile. Keep showering me with your love so that I remember to be thankful and in gratitude every single day.

Proceeding to my nominations for the “From the Heart Award”, though I didn’t get any questions attached to it, I would like to add some of my own to spice it up a little.

5 questions I would like you to answer

1) What makes you passionate about blog posting?

2) What is the story behind your blog?

3) What is the one learning or experience from your blogging journey which has helped you the most?

4) What is your vision about your blog in about 10 years from now?

5) If you were asked to provide one constructive feedback to me, what would it be?

Remember guys it should be straight from the heart.

My nominations for the “From the Heart Award”

1. J Blaide from Wit and Whimsy

2. Missterioso Das from Head Full of Dreams

3. Millennial Hygge Wife from Millennial Hygge

4. Natalie Williams from Searching For My Inner Zen

5. Jena Pendarvis

If you choose to accept the nomination create a post telling us more about you, answer my questions, remember to tag me and inform me about your post by leaving a comment here or creating a pingback for me to have a look at your answers. Hope you enjoy answering my questions. And don’t forget to nominate other bloggers who you think blog about their personal accounts to discover, connect and support the blogging community.

Let’s spread the love and joy of blogging!

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

Views: 345

Three days, Three Quotes: Day 3

This is what true friendship means to me.The quote that I am going to share with you all today is by the greatest English writer of all times, William Shakespeare. It’s amazing how words written so long ago have so much meaning even today. This quote of his speaks volumes to me.

A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow. – William Shakespeare

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, the possession of friendship is the greatest of all. It is rightly said that the quality of your relationships defines the quality of your life. And friendship is one such relationship.

What does the quote mean to me?

To me, the quote means to be and to have that friend who can love me unconditionally, who can appreciate me for the good and criticize me for the bad, have trust in me and who can accept me with all my flaws and shortcomings.

What did the quote give me?

The quote gave me faith and trust. The quote not only opened my eyes to the riches I have as great friends but also made me understand what kind of friend I needed to be for them.

Friends are like colours in a rainbow – each painting our lives with a different colour, making it beautiful. Some friends are like the vivacious red, some like the serene green while some like subtle violet each sharing different hues and shades of joy, sorrow and oh, secrets too.

My friends hold an exceptional place in my life. Though we don’t see, write or even talk very often, yet I always know that whenever I call or meet them we shall start off from where we left. Our friendship will never be diminished by distance or time. Separate lifestyles or family obligations have kept us from staying as close as we’d like to, but through all the changes in our lives spanning both time and distance, we have still been there for each other. The sentiments and emotions that cement our bond are simply wondrous and incomprehensible. They don’t need to be told, they just know.

Friends show us new hopes and ways in the worst days, relieving us from our worries and sorrows. They make you a better person and you can be with them uninhibited and without pretensions sharing with them your darkest secrets and deepest fears. Friends are so much valuable and cherishing.

What did I learn from the quote?

Friendship is such a treasure. But we must first learn to give before we want to receive and learn to truly reciprocate. So in order to have good friends I needed to be a great friend first. I needed to “be” that kind of person I want my friend to be like – to be loving unconditionally, to be understanding without reason, to be trusting without question and to be relying without a doubt.

I dedicate this post to all my friends – near and far, young and old, family and acquaintance, girl and boy, and real and virtual. I feel thankful and indebted to each one of you who have stood by me, entrusted me with their unwavering faith, lightened my burden, been my confidants and encouraged me to grow and be a better person each day. I really am blessed blissfully to have you in my life.

Thank you for considering me to be a GOOD EGG!

Big and final thanks to the beautiful Jena Pendarvis for having me for the Quote Challenge. It was exciting to be a part of this challenge. Thank you for this fun opportunity. Dear readers, don’t forget to pay a visit to her blog and shower her some love. For previous two quotes please follow Day 1 and Day 2.

Rules of the Quote Challenge

1) Thank the person who nominated you

2) Write three consecutive quotes for three days (one quote per day)

3) Nominate three new bloggers each day for the challenge

My Nominees

1) MillennialHygge

2) Head Full of Dreams

3) Quirky Kay

I hope you all have fun playing along!

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

Views: 768

Three days, Three Quotes: Day 2

Life goes on!

This quote by one of the most prominent American poets Robert Frost is probably one of my favourites.

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on. – Robert Frost

What does this quote mean to me?

This quote has come to be the perfect succinct of my life. It holds so much meaning in my context that it has become a favourite and a constant source of motivation. To me, it means rising from the pain and the suffering, and treasuring the most precious gift called “life” and preparing to unravel the miracles and mysteries it has to offer. Isn’t it what life means – even in the wake of struggle and despair, the ability to “go on”?

What did this quote give me?

Loss of a dear one can be shattering. My mother left us for the heavenly abode when I was about 4 months pregnant. I lost a life when I was nurturing another life within me. I was broken and devastated. So many dreams and wishes had crumbled and lives had come to a still, refusing to move forward. But as I continued to dwell on the sadness of the parting life, it gave way to a new life lifting me of my perpetual sadness.

This quote gave me hope – hope to laugh, hope to be happy, hope to love and hope to live. In spite of the massive loss that I suffered, life is still continuing to move forward. I know it will never be the same again. But there’s hope that I will rise from the pain. This quote taught me that it is easier to dwell on the past than to move forward, but life isn’t going to pause or start over. It’s a fact. Bad things happen, but either we can choose to be immobilized by the gravity of our loss by dwelling on it, or choose to honour it and move forward. And to let go of the past burdens and knowing and believing that life goes on definitely gives me strength and courage to make the best out of the worst.

What did I learn from this quote?

When I felt the flutter of the innocent life growing within me, it suddenly brought a smile on my face and I loved my life for this blessing. I was alive again. This is when I realized that life goes on. Despite the fact that my eyes were blinded by tears of despair and my heart hurt, there are going to be myriad opportunities for loving, laughing and enjoying life. However hard it might be to believe at the moment, but nothing can change the fact that life must go on and it is truly possible that the best is yet to come. And so long as her memory lives in my heart, I will say that life is good.

My humble thanks to sweet Jena Pendarvis for having me be a part of this fun Quote Challenge where we get to discover and know new bloggers. This opportunity is simply amazing. Dear readers, please check out her blog for some good stories. And read my quote for Day 1 here.

Rules of the Quote Challenge

1) Thank the person who nominated you

2) Write three consecutive quotes for three days (one quote per day)

3) Nominate three new bloggers each day for the challenge

My Nominees

1) Wit and Whimsy

2) BeLoved

3) The Moose Poop Diaries

I hope you all have fun playing along!

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

Views: 412

My Mess-monster is Learning and Getting Smarter the Messy Way – Stop fretting about the mess!

My little Picasso aka My mess-monster!

I am a neat freak, I have always been so. I just cannot stand a mess. You must believe me when I say I become a maniac when I am on one of my weekly cleaning sprees, and by that I mean literally. According to Mr. Husband, I become this crazed woman and boss him around when he forgets to make the bed in the morning or wipe the floor after taking a shower.

The Lost Cause

But after the birth of our little 14-month old mess-monster Shaarav, I’m forced to, though reluctantly, let go of this habit of mine as now I am beginning to understand that trying to keep the house neat when you have a baby around is more or less like a lost cause. Well, that’s the thing; you can’t boss a baby (wink wink). Babies are meant to be messy, delving into their surroundings with gusto as they explore and discover the world the only way they know how.

Being a mother of a toddler can be a tough job, and more so when you have a handful one as my kiddo Shaarav. My little one surely knows the trick to create maximum mayhem in minimum time; he has got this exceptional talent which sometimes makes me wonder if he’s purposely trying to drive me crazy.

When Shaarav first began having semi-solids after completing his 6 months, I would jump up to clean each time he would spill or drop his food. But now I’m about ready to let go of this habit of mine and there’s a rather beautiful and one-of-a-kind story behind it.

The Story

Of whatever little time I get off of him, I use it to pursue my hobby of painting, crafts, DIYs, etc. Painting my heart out really acts as a stress buster. One fine morning when I had washed him up and he had finally dozed off after a thorough massage, I began painting. Shaarav at the time was about 7 and half months old and had still not begun to crawl. So we had safely assumed that he’s among those who would skip crawling and move directly to standing and walking.

Suddenly halfway between and still keeping things at a safe distance I had to go away to attend to a visitor at the door. I was away for about half an hour and when I returned what I saw not only did amuse me it changed me for good.

The Learning

Shaarav had crawled and reached for my colours and had created a colourful mess staining his clothing and toys. He had paint all over himself. Now coming to the interesting part, despite giving him various stimuli he would still not crawl, but the colours gave him the exact motivation he needed for making him crawl. Shaarav never fails to amaze us and though I had a long day cleaning the mess he had created, one thing I learned from the incident is that by not letting him get messy I was depriving him of a wonderful learning and sensory experience. So from that day onward, we let him hands-on allowing him to drop, roll, splatter the food and explore the different textures, colors, and flavours.

So people stop fretting about the mess and embrace the mess, you never know your kid just might be getting smarter in the process.

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

Views: 310