We are and always will be social beings, and friends make everything a lot better! Friends bring more happiness in everything we do – friendships significantly impact our lives – making it all less lonesome for many of us!

Friends play a crucial role in our mental health and development – our successes, failures, and almost everything we go through! Good friends relieve stress, provide comfort and joy, and help us deal with loneliness and isolation – especially in this digitally and virtually advancing world!

Choosing the right people to be friends with who can serve as a robust support system in our lives is crucial. Friends must not be people with whom we spend only the good times but who help us deal with the worst of situations as well. We spend most of our time finding the right life partner – society also emphasizes more on the same – however, research shows that finding good friends is more important to our psychological welfare than looking for the so-called soul mate!  

Friends come with many benefits – physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and more! Good friends improve our mood and help us deal with stressors in life. We just got to make sure our friends are not the stressors! This is where choosing the right people comes into play!

Good friends keen on finding us in a more prosperous place will help us reach and achieve our goals no matter how hard it may seem. A good friend can boost our energy by doing the right thing at the right time.

A good social life is ideal for our immune system, reducing isolation which is a significant factor for depression today! We all need someone to share our thoughts and ideas with – this is another benefit of a good friend. Genuine people around us are such a blessing in disguise. Investing in real people around us is as essential as investing in our finances. Friends don’t just come in handy for sharing Netflix and Amazon passwords but also for maintaining our mental and physical well-being!

No, online friends are not enough! We are all so caught up with the internet and all the different social media platforms we are exposed to. We tend to make more virtual friends than physical ones. However, virtual friends are great for liking pictures, sharing memes, and commenting on Twitter. We need to meet up, hang out, laugh, and grab a meal to feel warm and comfortable with each other. This human touch is lacking in today’s generation, draining us of values and everything possibly human. We are not connected on a deeper level but only on social media. This has to change in some way, and the only way to do so is to be kind and friendly to one another in person.

Something that we always tend to forget is that to have good friends, and we must be good friends ourselves! We must be more considerate, empathetic, good listeners, and genuinely good friends! No one is perfect, and that’s the way of the world. Finding imperfections and matching on that is what life is all about! Let’s figure out the meaning of lost friendships and renew them with the understanding of how small the world is and how short life is to live alone.

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We are all, in some way or the other, at some point in time, attention seekers. I said it! We crave care, kindness, and empathy. Expression of love and affection benefits the receiver and us who show it. The desire to love and receive love is human. The more we lack it, the more psychologically affected, anxious, and blue we will feel. 

According to studies, we must feel a sense of belonging, safety, and mattering to feel human and satisfied. We must also portray emotions of compassion and understanding towards other humans to decipher being alive and happy completely. 

As social beings, humans have an inherent need to feel acknowledged and valued by others. Feeling acknowledged helps to boost self-esteem, enhance social connections, and create a sense of belonging. Acknowledgment can come in different forms, such as compliments, recognition, or validation of our efforts.

Acknowledgment can also have a significant impact on our mental and emotional well-being. For example, feeling ignored or dismissed can lead to inadequacy, low self-esteem, and depression. On the other hand, receiving acknowledgment can boost our confidence, improve our mood, and enhance our overall well-being.

Acknowledgment is also essential in fostering positive relationships. When people feel acknowledged, they are more likely to reciprocate positive behavior and build stronger connections. Acknowledgment can help create a positive feedback loop that reinforces good behavior and builds trust and respect.

Employers can also benefit from acknowledging their employees’ efforts. Acknowledgment in the workplace can boost employee morale, increase job satisfaction, and enhance productivity. Acknowledgment can also help to retain valuable employees and create a positive workplace culture.

Feeling acknowledged is a fundamental human need that significantly benefits our mental and emotional well-being, social connections, and workplace productivity. Acknowledgment can come in many forms, from a simple thank you to public recognition. By acknowledging others, we can create a positive and supportive environment that fosters growth and well-being.

Feeling significant and substantially mattering is the basic necessity for mental and physical well-being in life, and for all the right reasons, it is a community endeavour. In other words, we feel heard and loved because of others, and others think significant because of us. It is a give and takes in this world of different and varied emotions and feelings. 

Wanting to feel loved is a nervous necessity for us – our brains and nervous system must be tuned and given attention to by others to assist in developing emotional self-regulation. We rely on others (our friends and family) for security, safety, and love to thrive and be emotionally stable. 

Just like the strength of purpose is the driving force of human lives, we all thrive and survive on the basic need for feeling desired and accepted. To show the world that we live on love, compassion, and acceptance, we need to be more human and lessen the rates of crimes and dishonest human behaviours. Let us all be more mindful of ourselves, our desires, our basic needs, and others around us. Let us shine this world brighter with more empathy, more testimonials of affection, and honour lives with smiles and positive things. Let us make this world greener with warmth and compassion. Let us build awareness of the importance of being heard and understood.

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Life is too short to live mediocrely. Life is too short to miss out on things I want to do. Life is too short not to make it fancy! Life is too short not to take that vacation! Life is too short not to try that bodycon dress I have always wanted to flaunt! Life is too short not to make memories. Life is too short not to experiment. Life is too short not to fail. Life is too short not to make an effort. Life is too short not to give it a chance. Life is too short to hold grudges. Life is too short to harbor hatred. Life is too short not to smile. Life is too short not to take that risk. Life is too short not to live it.

I have already come to an age where I want to return to being five – unfortunately, I cannot. Soon I will be sixty years old – smiling at my partner (maybe just me smiling at my reflection in the mirror), remembering all the good times and bad, waiting for the little things to unfold. Life is a beautiful journey – it is best if I travel it happily, making memories and going with the flow. Life is too short not to paint it vibrant – it is rather foolish not to make it wholesome. Life is too short to miss those opportunities and take a stand.

Life is too short to break those promises I made to me. Life was too fast for me to realize later that the best thing I could do was to wholly accept who I am and be the best version of me. Life is the best teacher – what I have learned from my personal experiences, none could have taught me otherwise.

Soon I will be sixty, with wrinkles forming on my skin and memories fresh yet flashy – a surreal smile and a heart that races back to the 90s when I was a kid. Rooted thoughts and long-lost love for the little things in life, age is not just a number. It opens windows of wisdom, power, fears, and scars. Soon I’ll be sixty years old… I might as well use each day to the best, to be the best!

Falling in love is a beautiful feeling. Humans are born to feel emotions, and falling in love has a very different and powerful grasp over all the various sensations you experience in a lifetime. For some weird reason, love is such an emotion where there is hurt and pain together. That teenage love, school crush, and college romance would have all given you feelings and emotions that are beyond explanation. What if I tell you that these feelings grow inside you for not another person but for yourself? You love someone else for yourself more than the partner you choose to be with, and not many people have thought about this. Falling in love is a personal experience – you do it for all the right reasons – to feel the need to be taken care of, heal scars, experience a new feeling, and feel protected and pampered. 

The love you show another person is more of a reflection of how you want to be loved. Love is immeasurable. It is an emotion that can grow strong or fade with time. And it is entirely natural. People do not realize that falling out of love is as valid a feeling as falling in love. This has nothing to do with the partner, whether a man or a woman, but the expectations of how YOU want to continue with the partner. If YOU feel that the relationship is not giving YOU the right vibes, you end it. If YOU think that the love you offer gives you happiness and satisfaction, YOU continue the relationship. It was considered rude and perhaps wrong to be selfish in love earlier, leading to relationships lasting longer than they do today. People were made to feel guilty (especially women) and even to feel the need to be selfish in committed relationships.  

Times have changed, and life is a hustle daily. Relationships have evolved. How people perceive relationships and commitments is way different than what it was years before. Humans have not rooted anymore. It has drastically changed how society views the whole scene, too – divorcees are not looked down on anymore, for starters. LGBTQ+ communities are accepted more widely today. Single parents exist. 

People fall out of love too quickly these days, and in some way, why not? Why are people told to stick on for the sake of family, children, and other commitments that are not bigger than individual lives and feelings? Yes, what can be fixed must be fixed but what if not? To understand this concept better and avoid jumping to conclusions, they must know what it is to love themselves first. Self-love allows you to see things that people often ignore. Self-love aids in making choices that may seem unrealistic to many, but maybe that is what you want, and only you know what you want! 

Be where your heart is at peace – even if you don’t have a partner. I feel falling in love, getting married, and having kids have all been so hyped up lately. So many people are just doing things for the sake of it and end up breaking each other’s hearts. It’s time we re-train our mind to love ourselves first. Self-love lays the footing for wholesome connections with others. When we have a positive relationship with ourselves, we are better prepared to have positive relationships with others. 

Self-Love makes loving others easier! How?

1. Improved Self-Esteem
   When we love ourselves, we feel good about who we are and what we bring to the table. It helps boost our self-esteem, making it easier for us to value and appreciate others.
   
   
2. Better Boundaries
   When we love ourselves, we are more likely to set and maintain healthy boundaries, which can help prevent us from becoming entangled in unhealthy relationships.
   
   
3. Greater Empathy
   When we have a strong sense of self, we can better understand and connect with the experiences of others, making it easier to love and support them.
   
   
4. Reduced Judgment
   Self-love can help us be less critical of ourselves and, in turn, be less judgmental of others. This can make it easier to approach relationships with an open heart and mind.
   

Fall in love, be in love, and grow in love; love is what each one needs, but don’t destroy yourself in or for love – it is not worth it. Love is complete only when you know yourself fully. Self-love is meaningful because it lets us have a healthy and positive relationship with ourselves, making it easier to have positive and healthy relationships with others. Only when you love yourself wholly and entirely can you love someone else. So stay true to your love for yourself to love others and to find true love in others. 

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The feeling of Boredom is quite intriguing. You feel unproductive and lazy – unsatisfied, to be precise. Guess what? It is natural for someone to feel Boredom! Well, you might not be enjoying or entirely into whatever you are doing. So you have to figure out what needs to be done about it. 

Your job may not be as creative and fun as you expected it to be. Your body and mind are craving some peaceful time. You may need a break from the monotony of your home. Whatever the reason, you can do several things to boost your adrenaline and get yourself back to action. 

Take a pause from what you are doing. Make it a habit to give yourself some time off. It is natural to feel exhausted doing the same things repeatedly. Change your patterns, change how you do something, think outside the box, and break that comfort level you have created for yourself. 

Make sure you are taking care of yourself. Lack of self-care and self-confidence can also lead to Boredom – simply because you are not feeling the best about yourself to feel good about anything around you. Be glad for a new day each day, and try to build a positive aura around yourself. Take the initiative to be active and take up tasks when you know you can do an excellent job with them. 

Stretch and move your body during the day – some physical activity can bring freshness. You can even take short walks, take short breaks, take the stairs at times, and indulge in anything that gives you happiness and contentment. 

There are different types of Boredom. Calibrating Boredom is the first type. It is the unpleasant feeling of wanting to do something different but not knowing what. If something interesting comes your way, you might be happy to pursue it. The difficulty is in thinking of alternatives. 

Searching for Boredom is the second type, where your experience makes you feel unhappy. You could remain proactive and focused on searching for something to appease restlessness. This was looking out for something fun and exciting to do, perhaps the essence of this Boredom. 

Reactant boredom is associated with anger and frustration. You will find yourself twitching and squirming, feeling tense and anxious, and desperately seeking an escape from where you are and what you are doing. It is the most unpleasant kind of Boredom. 

Indifferent Boredom is when you appear calm and relaxed rather than irritable and restless. Some people who experience apathetic Boredom do not find it to be an unpleasant experience but a chance to relax, rejuvenate and recoup. 

Apathetic Boredom is a more recently discovered kind of Boredom. This is where you would feel helpless, and this type of Boredom could lead to depression. Feelings and emotions of unhappiness are experienced, but you might not be able to do much about the whole situation leading to a vicious cycle of chronic apathy. 

Beat Boredom when it tries to put you down and make you feel unproductive. Understand your inner self and identify what you are experiencing. Whatever it is, always be in control of your life. Never let situations and circumstances take over your rational thinking ability; rise above these temporary mood swings and build a persona worth it all… 

here are a few tips

1. Engage in physical activities, like exercising, playing sports, or walking. Get active: Exercise, join a sports team, or walk. Physical activity is a great way to boost your mood and energy levels.
   
2. Try something new: Try a new hobby, cuisine, or activity. This can help you learn new things and challenge yourself. Try a new hobby, like painting, cooking, or gardening.
   
3. Spend time with friends or family in person or through video calls. Connect with others: Spend time with friends and family, join a social club or volunteer in your community. Interacting with others can help you feel more connected and fulfilled.
   
4. Explore new places or travel, even if it’s just to a new part of town. Exploring new places and cultures can be a great way to beat Boredom and broaden your horizons.
   
5. Read a book, watch a movie, or listen to music.
   
6. Volunteer for a local organization or help someone in need.
   
7. Learn a new skill, like a language or a musical instrument.
   
8. Get organized and tackle tasks you’ve been putting off.
   
9. Meditate or practice mindfulness to relax and refocus your thoughts.
   
10. Reflect on your goals and make plans for the future.
    
11. Pursue your passions: Identify what you’re passionate about and find ways to pursue it. This could be anything from painting to writing to playing an instrument.
    
12. Learn something new: Take a class, read a book, or teach yourself a new skill. Continuously learning and growing can help you feel more engaged and fulfilled.
    
13. Take care of yourself: Prioritize self-care by getting enough sleep, eating well, and taking breaks when needed.
    
14. Help others: Volunteering, donating, or simply being kind to those around you can be a great way to feel fulfilled and add purpose to your life.
    
15. Plan an adventure: Make plans for a future trip, event, or experience you’re excited about. Having something to look forward to can help break up the monotony and add excitement to your life.

Everyone gets bored sometimes, and it’s normal. Just find an activity you enjoy and be creative in keeping yourself occupied. What others want may be different from what you want. So find your niche and make your life unique. Always remember, DO YOU. 

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