What’s in my Bag?

My bag is one important part of my daily life. Therefore it contains a lot of stuff and is always very heavy. Some contents of my bag are permanent, which I don’t remove.  Whereas, other items find room in my bag according to the place I am heading to.  

Right now I opened my bag and the first thing I found is my WALLET. My sleek black wallet bought from Jaffer Jees, about 4 years ago, with my name engraved in it. My wallet contains small amount of cash and my debit and credit cards. I cannot go shopping without my cards because I am not used to carry huge amounts of cash with me. 

The second item I lay my eyes on, in my bag, are my SUNGLASSES. Even though I don’t use them that often, they are still there. I am just not comfortable removing them. I remember carrying them on my trip to Saudia also even though I never used them. Not even once!The third item is a HAND MIRROR. I might have used it just once or twice in the past 2 years but I still keep it in my bag, just in case!

 

The fourth item in my bag is NAPKINS, with the label Arcadian Café. I have a habit of grabbing all the unused napkins on the table and putting them in my bag. Probably it was the last place me and my husband had dinner, that’s why the napkins in my bag. The fifth item in my bag is a small toy/rattle for my little one. I always keep one in my bag, in case I forget to pick one whenever I am going out with him. The toy/rattles keep him distracted atleast for a while. 

The sixth and seventh item in my bag is a PEN and a small NOTEPAD. These both are new contents and have found room in my bag for the past 3-4 months. They are there just in case. The pen showed its usefulness once about a month ago when I was standing in a shop in the nearby market and had purchased some electric equipment and I demanded a payment slip. The shopkeeper could not find a pen and I was already running late. He was about to rush outside to borrow a pen from the next shop when I stopped him and handed over my pen. I was atleast able to save a few minutes this way which seemed a lot as I was running late. 

The eighth item in my bag is some CHANGE in Rs. 20 denominations. I prefer to keep some change in my bag, sometimes I keep Rs. 50 notes or Rs. 10 notes too. The ninth item in my bag is my NEW WALLET, which I bought form Splash, Madina. Technically it’s a passport holder but I intend to use it as a secondary wallet for trips when I only carry my wallet and cellphone in my hand. It is a nice presentable wallet. The tenth item in my bag is MINT STRIPS. I guess I bought this pack about a year ago and it’s lying there in my bag still half unused. I rarely use it but still carry it around. Next I find 2 small packs of sugar in my bag, making it the eleventh item. I don’t know from where it landed in my bag but it is there; probably some coffee takeaway or tea takeaway. Wow I also have a small pack of TULSI SAPARI in my bag, making it the twelfth item in my bag. I have no clue when and why I put it in my bag, I don’t even eat Tulsi.

This sums up my bag contents and it still has room for other stuff which I put in my bag according to the place I am heading too. And yes women carry a mini wardrobe( of a different sort) in their bags.

P.S. Listing down the contents of my bag made me realize I know longer carry a comb in my bag; neither there is any perfume or moisturizer. Also I don’t have my small make up pouch. Wow!! How the changes in your life even effect the contents of your handbag!

How to Improve your Day!

There are days when one feels low and sad for no reason. No matter how much you think you just can’t find any reason for your mood. Those are the days in which doing something you enjoy or you like or doing something new would uplift your mood. It might not resolve the reason for your low mood but It will atleast deviate your mind. 

Words for Thought!

Below are the ways I change my bad day into a good day:

1.      Drink Tea

2.      Listen to the latest music

3.      Dance around while doing chores

4.      Have random talks with yourselves, out loud

5.      Wear clothes in which you feel good- it can be the latest outfit you bought or your pajamas

6.      Take pictures of yourself

7.      Write. Just about anything. Grab a paper(anything to write on) and pen and let the words flow

8.      Do something new. Even if it is wearing your hear in a new style or applying the new scent lying in your cupboard

9.      Try a new recipe. Make the usual meal with a new twist.

10.  Sit outdoors- in your lawn, under the sky/stars

11.  Sit alone. Pause everything around, even your thoughts. Close your eyes and just sit.

12.  Bake! Even if it’s the Betty Crocker Cake Mix

Try any one of them and notice the change it brings. Sometimes a small act can change everything around!

Enjoy your Day!

Bye Bye 2016. Welcome 2017

So 2016 is coming to an end. December is here and it welcomes the winter season and the quiet nights and on the same time bids farewell to the year 2016. Yet another year gone by with goals unfulfilled targets, not achieved and making new lists of new targets and new goals to achieve this coming year. 

Turning the TV on to the English movie channels (HBO, AXN and WB) all you see are Christmas related advertisements, movies and cartoons. And you realize its Christmas! Now you start noticing all your friends, residing abroad, wearing cool furry coats, posing around the Christmas trees and lights and taking selfies while pouting. The brightly lit Christmas trees are the main focus of attention and you can’t stop admiring the Christmas decorations in the back. You then take your own coats and jackets, hanging in the cupboard since ages, brush the dirt off them and try them on. After examining yourself in the mirror, from a all angles, and admiring yourself, with a sigh you put all those coats and jackets back because the weather here in Pakistan doesn’t allow you to wear such clothes because it’s never that cold.

Its Christmas!

Turning towards Facebook , the only social media you use 100 times a day, all you see is year in review videos, a feature introduced by Facebook to celebrate coming year. All your Facebook friends are posting their videos showing all happy and festive moods, making you realize you are not happy because you haven’t posted your each and every eat out picture, occasion picture and/or any post about anything new happening ( even if it’s a picture of your new dress from the latest collection of a designer). Hence you year in review video is not worth sharing.

The days go by with the month of December ending and all you see around are the so-called year end sale banners and billboards around the city. And to further add to this supposedly charm of the new year every Restaurant, Cafe and Fine Dine place starts publicizing about their discount on its entire menu on the 31st of December and 1st of January. Furthermore, some eat out places arrange some sort of event and attract customers by inviting them to participate in the countdown.

31st December is here it passes by and the new year starts like any other day. All this hype, charm and attraction do nothing to change the pace of the day passing and the year is here...

10 Benefits of not having a television

Yes living without TV!! It seems impossible, I know. But trust me it’s not the end of the world. I have spent a whole month without it and I never missed watching television even once.
For a start once you know you don’t have a television to kill time you start thinking about other (productive ) ways of spending your time. So below are the 10 benefits which I have summed up of life without television.

10 Benefits of not having a television in my home:

1. I started thinking about creative ways of spending your time
2. I started focusing on writing by maintaining a daily journal
3. I had more time for my books
4. I started going outdoors for small walks with my little one
5. I started enjoying nature more
6. My husband and I had more time for each other and we were able to connect better
7. My husband and I understood the concept of living in comfortable silence with each other
8. There was no fighting over which channel to watch (neither I had to watch the silly nonsense channels they call kids cartoons these day)
9. I had a cleaner house (or a less messier house because with kids houses is never clean)
10. I started meeting with actual people in the neighborhood (instead of watching the fake people on TV)

We are so used to killing time in front of the TV and wasting our time doing nothing other than surfing the channels that for us thinking about productive ways of spending time seems like a burden and many of us just can’t do it!