Goa, India

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Month: October 2017

When Friendships End

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Friendships are an integral part of the human experience. We need our friends to support us, help us out of bad situations, and just to be there to have someone to enjoy life with.

A lot is said about the pain and heartbreak that people experience when a romantic relationship ends, but what about a friendship? While the feelings might not run as deep as they do compared to a romance, you’re still losing someone significant from your life. You will still feel their absence; still miss them; still struggle without them.

The end of a friendship can be a difficult time, full of upset, misunderstandings, and difficulties. To try and understand how to get through this period in your life, read through the below, and try to put your experience into perspective.

Friendships End Naturally and Without Acrimony

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In most cases, friendships rarely end because of a horrible argument. You won’t lose friends to fights and acrimony, leaving you with a feeling of having been wronged, very often. The most common loss of friendship is simply drifting apart from one another, as your lives and experiences go in different directions.

When life changes, our friendships tend to change too. While TV shows and movies tend to depict friendships as existing from cradle to grave, this simply isn’t the case for the majority of us. We might have a few old friends, but we’re more likely to change friends as we go through life, drawing closer to those we share more experiences with. So if you and your former best friend don’t really hang out anymore, that’s not necessarily a terrible thing– it’s a natural part of going through life.

Coping With Bad Reactions When You Lose A Friendship

If you have lost an important friendship — either through an argument or just drifting apart from one another — then accepting this can be difficult. If you felt that person was deeply important to you, losing them can be jarring and upsetting.

If you spiral into destructive behavior, then it’s important to acknowledge it has happened and seek treatment, be it through seeing a therapist or looking for addiction counseling. There’s nothing wrong with grieving the end of a friendship, but you can’t let it drag you under forever. Feel the sadness of the loss, deal with it in an emotionally healthy way, and then allow yourself to put it into the past. 

Look For New Friends Who Suit How Your Life Is Now

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There’s no doubt that it’s tough to make friends as an adult, but the internet makes it easier than it ever has been before. Look at online forums and local Facebook pages and see if you connect with someone who is more on your level. Developing new friendships to replace those you have lost is important, so while it may feel odd to “put yourself out there”, you’ll benefit from it in the end.

Overall, no matter what the reason for a friendship ending, try and accept that it’s a part of life. Move on, with the help of a counselor if necessary, but keep all the good memories. You can then look back fondly, while moving on into the future with new friends, who fit into your life, and with whom you can make new memories.

 

Dress Your Bridesmaids With These Go-To Tips

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

You might think that you and your besties are totally inseparable and that nothing will ever come between you all. But have you ever had to dress them as your bridesmaids? When that day finally arrives and you have to find clothes and accessories for them to wear as your bridesmaids, you will find out that dressing friends is like walking through a minefield!

Your friends might have completely different ideas to you as to what looks good, and you might come to blows other your different ideas of what the ideal bridesmaid dress is. But this doesn’t have to be completely stressful! All you need to do is dress your bridesmaids with these excellent tips, and you should find that there are very few arguments and squabbles between you all!

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Discuss Your Ideas Before You Go Shopping

If you have a specific idea in mind for your bridesmaid’s dresses, then it’s important that you let them know before you all go out shopping together. This will give your bridesmaids a chance to voice their opinions and also let you know any ideas that they had as well. You can put all your ideas together to see if you can come up with a compromise, if needed. It’s much better to get everything out in the open before you go shopping, as it prevents any arguments in the shops!

 

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It’s OK To Be Different

Do your bridesmaids all want different styles of dresses or keep on saying they’d look better in a different colour? If so, don’t worry. The big bridesmaid trend at the minute is to have bridesmaids that are all dressed slightly differently. So, you might want to have everyone in a matching style of dress but by the dresses in different colours or shades. Alternatively, you might want them all to wear different dresses that all have a matching colour. So, if you and your bridesmaids do have wildly differing ideas, you shouldn’t be too worried – it’s now cool for them all to be dressed slightly differently!

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Help Them Sparkle

If you had asked a bride to be just a few years ago what their worst nightmare for their wedding would be, it would probably be something along the lines of their bridesmaids outshining them on their big day. But this is rarely the case now with most brides, and lots of ladies want to help all their bridesmaids sparkle just as much as they do on their wedding day. One way you can do that is buy treating them to some gorgeous jewellery from The Iconic or another trusted jewellers. Make sure there are plenty of gemstones in the pieces they wear so that they catch everyone’s attention! You can also add some extra glitz by making sure their dresses are covered in gems and glitter.

Don’t Ignore Your Budget

You have a budget for your bridesmaid’s dresses, right? If not, you need to get the calculator out and start thinking about how much you can afford to spend right now before you hit the shops! Otherwise, you might end up going over budget by quite a bit, and this could leave you with a lot less money to spend on other areas of your wedding. So, before you do start shopping or looking at potential dresses outline, get to know your finances, and write the amount you can spend down on some paper. It’s useful to take this paper with you when you are in the shops so that you never forget what your budget actually is!

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If In Doubt, Go Long

If your bridesmaids all have different body shapes, you might struggle to find a style of dress that suits them all. Thankfully, though, there is one way to get around this – just mix up your hemline lengths! Anyone who is average height or above should be able to get away with a maxi-dress. Those girls who are short will need to go for a midi or mini hemline as a maxi one could drown them. So, if possible, look for dresses that come in different hemline lengths. Your bridesmaids will certainly thank you as they will definitely look great in the dress!

I know that lots of brides often get nervous about dressing all of their bridesmaids. After all, each of your friends will know what suits them and might not want to be too keen on wearing anything other than this specific style. But, as long as you follow all of the above tips, you should find that dressing your bridesmaids isn’t actually that bad!

Do You Know How To Act When You’ve Been Wronged?

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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Unfortunately for most of us, life doesn’t always go as swimmingly as we’d once of hoped. Life does come with its ups, of course, but we also have downs. And sometimes, those downs start to take over your life. Whether it’s something that’s affecting your health, your livelihood, or just putting you out of sorts, you have to be able to do something about the way you’re feeling, especially if it’s not your fault. You will find that you’ll be wronged at least once in life. But the important factor is, not to dwell on it if you can help it. Instead, you need to know how to take action.

Lied To By A Friend

First of all, let’s tackle something sensible but not completely soul destroying. Being lied to can hurt. It’s definitely one of the wrongs that most have of us have had to deal with. Whether you find yourself being lied to by a friend, family member, or even a partner, it’s important that you know how to act. Firstly, you’re going to want to confront them, but in a non-threatening manner. If you’re ever going to accept the situation that you’re now in, it’s important that you can clear the air and move forwards, or put that relationship in the past.

Defrauded Financially

Next up, something a bit more serious. Having fraud committed against you can be a really stressful situation. Not only can it make you anxious, but it can also set you back in life. Whether you’ve been scammed online, or you’ve had your card cloned and money withdrawn from your bank account, you need to act. Speak to your financial provider to see if they can retrieve the money. Going forwards, you need to take more precautions with your finances, and even spread money between accounts.

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Hurt In Public

And what about being injured? By now, you’re probably more than aware that you can start a lawsuit for moments like this. So you’re going to need to speak to an expert in the field, such as Patino Law Firm personal injury attorneys, that can take on the case for you. Because you may need the funds to finance your medical care, and to pay your bills if you’re unable to work.

Cheated Out Of What’s Rightfully Yours

Then, there are the times that you’ve been cheated out of something that’s rightfully yours. This is the kind of wrongdoing that you’re either going to have to investigate yourself, like when a colleague takes credit for your work and lands the promotion, or hire a law firm for, such as land or an inheritance that has been taken out from under you.

Attacked Or Victimized

And frighteningly so, it is entirely possible that you could be attacked at some point in your life, or even victimized. When this is the case, you need to speak to the police. Or another professional body that can assist you, depending on the incident and where it took place. But the important thing is that you speak up, as keeping things to yourself will not bring justice down on those who deserve it.

 

 

Ultimate Guide to The Best Travel Backpack of 2017 by Travel Meets Happy

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

I recently stumbled upon this interesting blog post Ultimate Guide to The Best Travel Backpack of 2017 and thought of sharing it with you all lovely readers of mine

How to Buy Your First Travel Backpack:

To make it easier for you, whether you’re buying your first backpack, or you are an experienced traveler, we’ve made a list of our top recommendations for backpacks that are available on the world wide web! We’ve also made our own pros and cons list so that you can decide for yourself what is important to you, based on comfort, cost, color, extra features, and everything else that you can think of!

We’d hate to see you end up buying your plane ticket for your first, second, or even tenth adventure and find yourself both looking and feeling like an inexperienced traveler. Travelers, for either pleasure and business, who are obviously inexperienced with international and other long-distance travel can become targets for pick-pocketers and other petty theft. We hope that we can help you to avoid that situation, and save you some trouble when it comes to locating your luggage on the conveyer belt at the baggage claim! Skip the baggage claim altogether with a backpack that meets carry-on requirements, and makes traveling easier and more fun!

Read the full post here

As I surfed more on the blog, I just fell in love with the content and this surely is one blog one shouldn’t miss. Really commendable work by Colleen. Do subscribe and follow her blog and I am sure you will enjoy the read

Travel Meets Happy

A blog on location independence, backpack, and travel reviews. Because the experience is worth the adventure.

Fighting Fit: Staying Healthy At Work, And For Work

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

It’s a real fight sometimes staying fit and healthy at work. However, it’s definitely worth doing, and this is for two reasons. The first is that no job is worth sacrificing your health for. After all, it’s really the only thing we have when you take all the trappings of life away. The second is that poor health can endanger your job. Leading to excessive time off sick and even resulting in you no longer being able to work and support your family. With this in mind read on for some advice on how to stay healthy at work, and for work.

Look at your work environment

The first thing you do to keep healthy at work is to look at the environment that you work in. Is it conducive to health and wellbeing? If not, what can you then do, or ask your employers to do to improve it?

It may be that you work in a shop or restaurant and are on your feet all day so you can decide to swap from heel shoes to flats. Something that will put less strain on your back and knees. You may work in an environment where the risk of infection is high, such as a hospital or public building. In this case why not ask your employers to provide hand sanitizer, and items like automatic doors, that can reduce the risk of infection? If you work in an office environment and are indoors all day, you may choose to start taking your breaks outside. This can help you stay healthier because you can access natural light that helps your body to create D vitamins, as well as getting a break from your desk.

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Just remember whether it is a change that you or your employer makes your environment can have a big impact on your health.

Use work health benefits

Next, a good way of staying fighting fit at and for work is to use the health benefits that your company provides. They may offer a free or reduced-priced gym membership. They may even be generous enough to provide health insurance. Although it is always worth asking what is covered by your policy, as not all grant access to eye health services as well as medical help. If this is the case with yours ask to add vision to your business insurance plan that your employer provides. They may even offer to pay for this for you, especially if you can prove that your eye health is vital to your job.

Manage your stress

Next, to stay fighting fit for work, it’s absolutely essential that you acknowledge and deal with stress. Just pretending that it isn’t affecting you will not stop it having a negative impact. Instead, you need to find constructive ways of dealing with it, ones that you can use while you are at work.

To this end, consider short guided meditations at your desk, taking breaks outside of the office, or even using a stress relief app like the ones here to help you manage any negative feelings. This will then help to stop them building up and causing more major health problems later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does A Healthy Body Really Equals A Healthy Mind?

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

There’s a common saying that having a healthy body means having a healthy mind, and while some people believe this, others aren’t so sure. Is mental and physical health that closely linked or is it just a myth? Well, that depends on who you ask, but there is a lot of evidence that suggests that our physical health has a huge impact on our mental health and vice versa.

The ancient Greeks, one of the most advanced civilizations during their time, understood the importance of taking care of your mental health as well as your physical health, which could be why their civilization thrived. ‘Sound mind in a sound body’ was the credo of their civilization, and it worked wonders. It’s clear that in the past a healthy body equalled a healthy mind, but what about today?

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It’s time to explore whether, in modern day life, a healthy body equals a healthy mind. For everything that you need to know, read on.

Regular exercise reduces stress

It’s no secret that exercise is good for our bodies, but what about our minds. Various studies have shown that regular exercise can help to relieve stress because working out acts as an outlet for stress and worry. While activities like running, cycling and swimming can be great stress relievers, meditation-based exercise can also work wonders. Take pilates and yoga, for instance, these two activities are made to reduce stress while toning and conditioning the body and its muscles. It’s amazing how you can put on some yoga clothes, grab a mat, and begin to practice this ancient form of exercise, and instantly start to feel happier and less stressed. A bonus of which is that the less stressed you are, the less likely you are to fall foul of anxiety or depression.

Being healthy boosts self-esteem

Did you know that it is scientifically proven that being healthy boosts self-esteem? When you are regularly active and take steps to feed your body with healthy foods, you feel better for it, which then helps to boost your confidence. Being healthy can help to foster your sense of self-worth and boost your strength and power. By meeting your health and fitness goals, you will begin to feel better about your appearance.

People who are more active, sleep better

Obviously, the more active you are, the better you sleep. But what you may not know is that a lack of sleep is linked to many mental health problems, such as depression, post-natal psychosis and post-natal depression, and anxiety. By regulating your sleep patterns, you can help to ensure that you get plenty of sleep, and thus you are mentally healthier. Referring to your physical health, when you don’t get enough sleep, your body sufferers as a result, with your immune system being impacted the most.

So there you have it, a healthy body does equal a healthy mind, or at least in most instances, it does. Admittedly, there is no way to completely prevent mental health problems from occurring. However, that being said, if your body is healthy, then the chances of developing mental health problems is much lower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Fall Is The Perfect Time To Try Something New

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

It can be all too easy to start feeling blue around this time of year. The skies are getting a little darker, the days are getting a little colder and everywhere you look people seem just a little grumpier and more ill tempered. This is a shame because there’s a lot to love about the autumnal season. The reddish brown leaves of the trees, the slight mist that pervades in the air, the slightly smoky scent carried on the breeze. It’s a beautiful time of year! The trouble is that when the sun starts to retreat behind the clouds and the nights grow longer most of us find ourselves starting to feel down through no fault of our own. Fear not, however, you can mitigate the effects of these seasonal blues by shaking things up and trying new things.

Going back to school

It’s this time of year when kids and college students are going back to school which lends the season a certain frisson of excitement and opportunity. Just because your school or college days are behind you, doesn’t mean that you can’t energize yourself by trying something new. As we get older we tend to fall into the same habits and behavioral patterns and our brains go on autopilot as it’s not required to make new neural pathways. That’s why the days seem to last forever when we’re young and months go by in the blink of an eye when we get older, it’s because back then our brains were making new pathways all the time and we felt stimulated and excited. No matter how old we get, fall always seems like the start of the new year so now’s the time to reignite those feelings again.

Image by Pixabay

Change your eating and drinking habits

Even if you enjoy a healthy, balanced diet now is the perfect time to open yourself up to new culinary experiences. If you only ever drink white wine, try red. If you only ever drink vodka try whiskey, which can be an intimidating drink but there are plenty of more accessible starter whiskeys. Check out this Kikori review for a great example. The food we eat is a great way of understanding the various cultures of the world so trying a new cuisine is a great way of broadening your cultural horizons (without having to read subtitles). If you’ve always likes your food on the bland side, open yourself up to trying Indian, Thai or Malaysian foods. While these richly flavored foods utilize a broad palettes of spices to create dynamic and interesting flavors there are often plenty of accessible dishes to ease new diners into the flavors.

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Take a class

If you were a drama queen at school, join a local amateur dramatics society or (better yet) get yourself an agent and try and get some paid acting work in your free time. Or, why not learn a new craft. Most community centres and colleges offer classes in all kinds of arts, music and dance as well as sports. These are great ways of keeping in shape (why wait till new year?) while teaching new new skills and introducing you to a whole new circle of friends.

 

 

 

 

Don’t Wait Until The New Year to Break Those Bad Habits

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

If there’s one phrase guaranteed to make eyes roll the world over it’s New Year’s Resolution. This ancient custom has been with us since the days of ancient Rome and while we’ll never know for sure, it’s a good bet that those ancient Romans sucked at keeping them as much as we do. And they didn’t have nearly as many temptations as we face in the modern age. Let’s face it, we all have habits we’d prefer to kick and it can be all too easy to mollify ourselves into indulging our bad habits as we embrace fall and face the coming prospect of winter. After all, ‘tis the season to be jolly (and for jolly read gluttonous). As the skies darken and our hibernation instinct kicks in it’s tempting to spend every available moment huddled under a duvet quietly stuffing our faces, vaguely assuring ourselves that we’ll kick our bad habits utterly and completely (and this time we really mean it). There is, of course, one problem with that logic…

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If it’s difficult now, it’ll be even worse in January

Sure, it’s getting darker, colder and drearier outside. The thing is, come January, it’ll be really dark, cold and dreary outside. As hard as it is to stay motivated to develop healthy habits in the fall, it’s much, much harder at the height of winter. Instead of deferring your self-improvement for a few months, this is a better time than ever to work towards a happier healthier you.

Now is the time to get in shape

It’s around this time of year when many of us begin to experience the onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. While this can lead to a sharp decline in motivation and energy, the natural endorphin spike that exercise provides is a great antidote to this affliction. Start your day with a trip to the gym or even a brisk jog and you’ll start to feel brighter and more positive as you go about your day.

Now is the time to admit you may have a problem

The upcoming festive period brings certain temptations with it, and these are often accompanied by a spike in alcohol related crime and illness. If you (or those close to you) are worried about your current alcohol consumption then you may need support over the coming months or risk lapsing into problem drinking. If you admit that you may have a problem now, you stand a much better chance of staying strong when the temptation is at its greatest. Check out https://broadwaytreatmentcenter.com/treatment/detox-program/ for examples of treatment that may be beneficial to you. Even if you don’t feel that formal help is appropriate to you, now is the perfect time to open up to someone you love. There’s no reason why you should face your troubles alone.

Now is the time to treat your body to some real nutrition

Of course your brain’s telling you to load up on fatty, sugary, salty convenience foods, but these will only feed the cycle of lethargy and unhappiness. Treat your body to fresh, natural whole foods which are scientifically proven to beat the winter blues and give your metabolism the boost that will help mitigate the wobbly effects of the inevitable indulgence of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

VLCC Facewash, just what you need for a perfect skin!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Finding a face wash as per our skin type isn’t a challenge anymore these days, as there are plenty of options available in the market, yet finding that perfect face wash remains a task. Certain face washes cleanse, but make your skin feel dry after the wash, and certain leave them too oily. There are face washes that manage the hydration and cleansing part, but they leave the skin plain and dull. It gets difficult to achieve all of these from one face wash. I have tried a lot of brands and options but never got satisfied until recently when I tried the VLCC Ayurveda Double Power Double Neem Face Wash. This is surely one gem of a product, it not only cleanses and purifies the skin, but also leaves it glowing.

Now with the festive season approaching, I am sure all of us would want our skin to feel nourished, cleansed as well as glowing, I highly recommend trying this product out and I am sure you will love it.

Salient Features:

  1. Gel Type Face Wash
  2. Not too thick, and hence easy application
  3. Purifies skin deeply
  4. Prevents acne
  5. Leaves skin replenished and moisturised
  6. Doesn’t dry the skin
  7. Skin feels glowing

The best part about the product is that it is effective for all skin types, though oily skinned people like me benefit the most out of the anti fungal and acne prone qualities of neem, but overall it helps all skin types for an extremely satisfying purifying experience.

Also its very simple to order the product, just log on to VLCC personal care site and order yourself not just this face wash, but a wide array of personal care products. With the festive season right there, you can even order yourself or your loved ones some amazing hampers from the site.

For myself, I know for sure that after using this Double Power Double Neem Face Wash, my search has ended, I am now only gonna explore more products from VLCC as the affects of this product on my skin have given me the confidence to try more. Don’t believe the glow, see my picture below and you will know what I mean

Prepare Your Skin For The Winter Season

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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You should always take the time out to look after your skin, but now so more than ever because temperatures are changing. It’s been hot and humid which your body has adapted to, but now the cooler days are introducing themselves, so your skin is going to need some time to readapt to the change, so it’s extra important – now more than ever – to look after yourself properly.

Here’s how you can do that.

Change the moisturiser

As winter is coming, the products that you are using now just aren’t going to cut it. In the summer months, your skincare routine will include lightweight lotions, but the colder it gets, the dryer your skin becomes, so it needs more moisture otherwise it will start the crack. So it’s important to stay on top of the task at hand by investing in the right creams to coat your skin and protect it from the cool weather.

Reduce your shower time

It’s clear that hot showers are greatly welcomed in the winter, but believe it or not, they can actually do more harm than good to your skin. The hot water from the showers will cause your skin to dry out even more which can leave you feeling very irritated and sore. So although you don’t need to suffer by taking a cold water shower, it’d be wise to just shorten the length of time you bathe.

Focus on sensitive areas

It’s very ordinary to have some areas that are affected more than others. A common place is the lips and around the nose, and in that case, they will require a little more attention. In order to solve this problem, you will want to apply a moisturising lip balm on your lips to prevent them from cracking, and keep reapplying your usual moisturising lotion on any other areas to keep them soft.

Exfoliate

Exfoliating is a way of removing any dead skin that you have that is clogging your pores and clinging to you when it doesn’t need to be. It removes the dead cells while leaving your skin feeling silky smooth. There are many other techniques out there which claim to do this in a different way – you can find more ideas on sites like Exfoliate.com, along with personal advice and reviews on the various approaches.

Keep yourself healthy

Although you’re paying attention to the outside of your body, you should also make a conscious effort to take care of the inside, as it’s all connected and will make a big difference in your results if everything works together. This means maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle to keep your appearance looking good, all while feeling great.

Stay hydrated

Water, water, water. You can never have enough of it. It’s what keeps the fluids pumping and your skin glowing – even in the winter. When you hear people complimenting one another on how radiant they’re looking, you’ll find that that is down to how well hydrated they keep themselves – look on homemadeforelle.com to find out more. So always keep a bottle of water on you so you can top it up throughout the day.

 

 

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