Recently I started reading 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin. It’s an interesting book about her year of trying to improve 12 aspects of her life one for each month, and in the process trying to become a happier person. Some of the areas she focuses on include energy, marriage, kids, work, relationships with friends and her spiritual side. You ...

The first time I heard about the concept of ‘The six degrees of separation’ was soon after I joined Facebook. A friend had sent the ‘Six Degrees’ Facebook application which calculates the distance between people on the network. As I disliked having lots of applications on my profile, I did not accept it, but read up on ‘Six degrees of ...

It was more like 4 nights in Paris! and while we didn’t meet the great artists and writers during late night strolls through the lovely streets of Paris, we did manage to go back in time and also to enter a whole new magical world during our visit. La vie en rose (French for "Life through rose-coloured glasses", literally "Life ...

Yesterday some friends and I met up for a lovely pot luck dinner with International food and while chatting watched the ‘Adjustment Bureau’. I had watched it already some time ago, and a few of us started discussing it’s concept… Whether there really is something called ‘Free Will’ or as in the movie whether we’re all living predetermined paths leading ...

This morning I was pondering about doggy heavens while playing with our dog Lassie. She seems almost human, the way she looks at us, how she gets excited when we come home, how she looks sad when we leave, she is the epitome of loyalty and unconditional love...There are so many other loyal dogs too, that have saved their owners ...

Since the day I arrived in Sri Lanka the most common question I have had to answer is ‘Is it difficult adjusting back to Sri Lanka after staying for four years in Switzerland?’ or ‘You must be missing Switzerland a lot'. My reply is always, it's your attitude towards the location rather than the specific place. Of course if you ...

Today I had totally run out of food in the house as I was sick last week and went to our neighbourhood supermarket to stock up. In the supermarket I passed by a guy who had one arm which seemed paralysed but the other arm was fine. As I was buying the veges he was struggling to open a clingy bag to put his ...

This year I spent Easter in Rome with Lakshi and it was my second time in the city… surprisingly it wasn’t as exciting as it was the first time I was there. The first time I remember I was so excited and loved all the sculptures, paintings, historical buildings and ruins. I think it was also extra exciting as I ...

This is a question that I was thinking about and I realised that it is an espectially suitable question now, at the beginning of the lental period. Last Wednesday (Ash Wednesday the beginning of the Lental Period) I went for the evening mass after work, and the preist was discussing the three pillars of Lent, Prayer, Fasting, and acts of ...

These last few days have been quite difficult, as I’m getting ready to leave Geneva, my home for almost 4 years. While the physical aspect of leaving the apartment, dealing with administrations, ending contracts with phone, electricity, etc. getting rid of all the furniture was challenging, especially as they needed to be done in my broken French, the hardest part ...

I often hear older aunts and uncles say how ‘In the good old days morals were much better, or the world was less materialistic…etc.’While we see terrorism and murders and rape in the newspapers every day, there are also lot of young people getting involved in social services and trying to make the world a better place. Unfortunately the virtuous ...

I came across this amazing video on Facebook. It's done by a group called Life Vest Inside. Simply put, they are promoting random acts of kindness. I was really moved watching the video and so decided to post it here. It has a similar theme as the movie 'Pay it forward' where each person who is at the receiving end ...

I just came across thisarticle recently which says to think ‘help this person’ whenever we meet someone as it would supercharge your career and improve your quality of life. By reducing the focus from ‘me’ to thinking about others might have a reciprocal effect and it would leave you feeling better. This is also related to my previous blog post.Some ...

I spent twenty years tryin' to get out of this placeI was lookin' for somethin' I couldn't replaceI was runnin' away from the only thing I've ever knownAnd like a blind dog without a boneI was a gypsy lost in the twilight zoneI hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of goldI've been there, done that, now I ain't ...

Were the wise words of uncle Ben to ‘Spiderman’, and so it is with any kind of power, not only ‘Super powers’. I just started to think about the power of technology and social networking while reading about the recent London riots which were organised and planned using blackberry messaging and through social networks like Twitter. These are the same ...

Will this comment help our company?Will this comment help our customers?Will this comment help the person I’m talking to?Will this comment help the person I’m talking about?If the answer is no, no, no and no, don’t say it!-Turning a Negative into a Positive by Marshall Goldsmith I came across this article and I feel it is very relevant, especially during ...

Recently we had a communication skills training where our trainer described the many stages between when someone says or does something until the point when we react. First we hear or see the action of the other person, then we interpret it taking into account our own world view, we judge what that means to us, this judgement may cause ...

Lord, a candle stands before me. It burns restlessly, sometimes with a small, sometimes with a larger flame. I too am often restless. Let me find rest in You.It gives me light and warmth. Let me too be light for the world.It consumes itself in its service. May I also be of service to ...

I just dropped off Lakshi at the airport yesterday and started to write this post while waiting for him to confirm that everything was ok... Just waiting there gave this very lonely feeling...I've always disliked airports; whether coming into an empty airport seeing everyone else being reunited with parents, kids, husbands, wives, friends and even dogs; or saying good bye ...

Last weekend Lakshi and I visited Lucerne and Zurich. While I found Lucerne to be one of the prettiest towns I’ve visited with ancient bridges and churches and the world famous ‘Lion Monument’, the highlight of the weekend was our dinner at the Blindekuh (literally meaning Blind Cow and the word is also used for the game ‘Blind man’s bluff’ ...