My Inner Shakti

finding strength in everyday things

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Charlotte Eriksson quote

Ready for Spring + Woe is Us + Moment App

written by Parita 8 Comments

This isn’t meant to be a ‘woe is us’ post.  I think everyone is ready for Spring – warmer weather, more sunshine, etc.

But woe is us, you guys!  Kaiden has hand, foot, mouth disease. Ay ay ay!  It all started on Friday morning when he woke up with a slight fever and bumps on his face.  By the time Saturday morning rolled around, I knew something was up.  He had a 102 degree fever, the bumps were super red and more pronounced, and he just wasn’t being himself.  I’m so thankful our doctor’s office is open for a few hours on Saturdays.  We got there just as they opened and were able to see a doctor ASAP.  Unfortunately, because it’s a viral infection, there’s no real treatment.  You just have to wait it out 7-10 days (or more).

The more I observed Kaiden this weekend the more I realized what a little trooper he is.  I mean, he’s obviously in pain to some degree and shows it, but he’s still in a great mood overall.  If it were me, I would make sure everyone and their mamas knew I was miserable.  My little love bug!

We’re super lucky Vishnu’s mom been able to stay with us.  She flew in to help us out when Kaiden was sick a couple of weeks ago.  We asked her to stay for two weeks because I had team meetings and didn’t want to risk Kaiden getting sick and having to stay home from daycare that week.  When Kaiden presented with these new symptoms, we asked her if she minded staying another 1.5 weeks so we could keep him home until our trip to Costa Rica.  She loves her grandson and is happy to help and spend time with him so it worked out.  I thanked my lucky stars multiple times this weekend for my MIL.  She’s the best!

I’ll be honest, it’s hard to stay upbeat when your baby is sick for months at a time.  It’s miserable on multiple levels actually.  HOWEVER, I had a major revelation the other day.  I can either think very negative thoughts and fall deeper and deeper into a self-imposed funk, OR I can practice what I preach and think more positively, live in a state of thanks, and take things one day at a time.  Your thoughts really are everything.  Period.  It’s amazing what a slightly stern self-pep talk can do.  And in reality, even in the midst of this current chaos, we have so much to be thankful for…SO MUCH!

Charlotte Eriksson quote

To take it one step further, when I started thinking about what else put me in a funk, I realized social media and my phone usage definitely has something to do with it.  I downloaded the Moment app and am hoping it helps curb my Instagram time.  For me, it’s not about staying off social media because it makes me sad or puts me in comparison mode.  In fact, scrolling through Instagram truly brings me some joy, especially since I’ve become pickier about who I follow.  Tracking my phone usage is about more than just that.  I don’t want to be on my phone as much as I am and want to be picker about how I fill my ‘free’ time.  I always make excuses about not blogging, not reading, not meditating, not keeping in touch with friends and family, etc.  As I’ve come to realize, it’s not about the absence of time but about how I choose to spend it.  Essentially, I’m hoping Moment keeps me honest and off my phone.  I’ll share my takeaways soon!

If you made it to the end of this post, thank you!  Consistent blogging hasn’t really been top of mind as of late, but it felt good to share and get my thoughts on screen.

Happy Monday!  Make it a good one. 🙂

Written on March 12, 2018 Related:Baby, Blogging, Life, Parenthood, Uncategorized

Chicago skyline

5 Things Making Me Happy Right Now

written by Parita 5 Comments

The world is a crazy place right now.  And just when you think it can’t get any crazier, it does.

For better or worse, I’m the kind of person who can’t easily shrug off the things that are happening “out there.”  In my opinion, there is no “out there.” While it’s not healthy to focus on the pain, fear, negativity, etc., it’s also not right to ignore it all.  Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t found the right balance of feeling/understanding/processing everything and living/doing/moving forward.  Perhaps there is no balance…perhaps it’s about learning how to do both concurrently.

Anyways, I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know that by choosing to focus on things that make me happy (and fill me with gratitude), I’m able to stay positive (most of the time!) and see the light.  And in this crazy world, that’s often the only thing we can do.

So with that, I want to share the top 5 things making me happy right now…

1 – Being in Chicago

Big shocker, right?!  But seriously, there’s something truly magical about this city.  Even though we’ve been here for over a month now, I still can’t believe we get to call this place home for the next few years.

Chicago skyline

2 – Seeing Roshni and Samir 

If you’re a long time reader of MIS, you know that Roshni is one of my very best friends.  You may or may not recall that her and her husband used to live in Chicago.  Basically, they moved back to Atlanta a year before we moved to Chicago.  Like ships sailing in the night.  🙁

Luckily, Rosh and Samir love Chicago and are planning to visit a lot!  They’re going to be in town this weekend, so we’re meeting them up for dinner tonight.  And the fun doesn’t end there.  Rosh is coming back in a month and spending a whole weekend with me.  Woot woot!

Ringing in 2014 079

3 – Seeing our families this weekend in St. Louis

Aek, Adarsh, Vishnu, and I are driving to St. Louis tomorrow morning.  Adarsh’s parents are hosting a religious ceremony at the temple for the newlyweds.  The best part is that my parents and Vishnu’s parents will also be there!  I’m really looking forward hanging out with everyone and hopefully eating some delicious South Indian food.

T&C 155

4 – Learning that a coworker wants to be part of a two person book club with me.

I haven’t picked up a book in SO long which is unfortunate given how much I love to read.  Thankfully, one of my coworkers and I figured out that the two of us love to read books AND discuss them at length, so we’re starting our very own book club.  Lunchtime is about to get pretty deep!

If you have any book recs, please leave a comment!

5 – Listening to Donovan Livingston’s Harvard commencement speech.  

There really are no words!  But if I had to pick one, it’d be powerful.

Your turn – what’s making you happy right now?

Written on July 22, 2016 Related:Life, Self, Uncategorized

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