T is for Tequila, Tintinnabulation & Them

If you are reading this, my trick to lure you to this post has totally worked! *high five in the air*. Well, I do have quite a few things to write about today which starts with T but for the title's sake, Tequila seemed like a much fancier option. I mean who wouldn't read a post on Tequila?!

Just to make sure you guys will carry on reading this, I will make a little confession concerning Tequila (or all alcoholic drinks in general). Yeah, I am that girl who can't handle her alcohol. My only desire to drink arises when I am having a great time in a friendly gathering or when I am extremely nervous (Come on, I have done live television shows of up to 8 hours duration on an International TV channel on a subject I didn't feel much confident about but hey, I got messages afterwards telling me how confidently I presented them. Ting!) Tequila in particular has given me some cherished memories (or stories of me narrated by my friends ) involving sleeping on the top of the shiniest (read: latest model) car in the parking lot and later puking on its tyres, crawling under people's legs on a dance floor and bumping head on with someone else who probably got inspired by my original style and was attempting the same from the other direction. I swear I heard a "Crash"! I don't remember what happened after but I am glad none of us ended up in a hospital with head injuries. Although sometimes I feel this strange sensation in my skull but It has nothing to do with that collision, right?! Ummm, just in case, I think I should bring this up to the doctor during my next appointment.

That was my tequila story! Have you got any special memories with tequila *pun intended*. What I meant is have you ever heard someone telling you what you did when you were drunk with tequila? *wink*

So here comes my T list:

1. T is for Tintinnabulation: It is just a word I really fancy for the way it's pronounced. For those who don't know what it means, this is your chance to pick up that lonely dictionary from the behind of the shelf and feel the joy of turning pages and reading something printed on a paper instead of a screen. Don't be too glad if you can pronounce it in English. I learned recently that it's a French word originally and so here goes the challenge of the day: Pronounce Tintinnabulation in French. A little advice I will offer which may come handy if you (like me) want to show off this word to your friends: Wait till you have a bad case of cold and flu. Works for me, like totally!

And I really think I have experienced tintinnabulations after that tequila influenced head to head bang!

2. T is for Tarot cards: I have really enjoyed trying all available kinds of astrology, palmistry, numerology, natal charts and even "left over coffee" readings in my life. I have never found any of these convincing enough to go back to (although I kept going back to my palmist as she became my coffee buddy). Tarot card readings however does the trick for me! The only person who did my Tarot readings in my life so far once told me to not to ever rely on the readings in a narrow minded way. His words precisely were: "Our mind is a beautiful thing, use it to think beyond the possibilities. Tarot is just to help you see what can possibly be (since we are always so interested to find out our future) and then it's entirely on you for how you interpret your reading. Interpretation is the truth of Tarot readings." Till this very day today, I haven't forgotten his words and so tarot readings serve me well each time I am looking for answers. Moreover, with the fact that he told me to pursue tarot reading on my own and gifted me my first deck of tarot cards, I learned that there may possibly be some capacity of intuition in me (he said he can see that in me) that needs to be cultivated further. Thank you Mr. K!

3. T is for Triple H: Back in my tom boy teenage school days, Triple H (yes, that long haired, water sprouting, sledge hammer misusing and cheating to win WWE wrestler) was my dream guy. I mean if I am still able to talk about him, imagine how strong that feeling was. I have lost a lot of lunch money betting on his matches against Shawn Michael in early 2000's. I had pictures of him in my scrap book and artistic drawings of his name logo in my class work journal. However, it wasn't meant to last. He married the daughter of the rich WWE owner and someone's heart was broken in this classic case of money vs love. Anyways, now that I see him, I think he is not aging gracefully enough for my liking. So yeah, end of the story! Why does my friends call me a Drama Queen, I wonder?

4. T is for T-shirts: I believe in building a wardrobe with all possible styles of clothing in it. That's another question if you will ask me how many of those clothes I can actually fit in. I also have some really beautiful futuristic pieces which simple means that I am supposed to fit into those some time in future. I mean, one day when I am super fit, what am I going to do if at that same time I am out of money to shop the right size of clothing? I have got to be prepared! Anyhow, I was never a huge T-shirt fan (although they make a great replacement for a night suit) and still am not unless they are collectible. And by collectible, I mean that they have to be from the range of merchandise from my favorite products, cartoons, films or TV series. Those with catchy and cheesy phrases printed on 'em are also considerable. Honestly, I only have one such T-shirt in my collection so far with a Marlboro Packet print on the entire front but I am awaiting to add T-shirts from Grey's anatomy, Desperate housewives, How I met your mother and Friends in my collection. And of course I will wear them............ sometime in future!

5. T is for Them: With this one, I am giving away my golden thought for the day: "Don't ever listen to Them". We are all surrounded by "Them". In any given situation, they try to belittle our ambition, tell us it's unrealistic or impossible, suggest that we should give up on the dreams and become practical. They try to influence our capacities with their narrow-minded approach to life and question our decisions with their fake concern for our "immature ideals". It's easy to recognize them: They can be anywhere around you, in the disguise of a colleague, partner, friend, spouse, family member or even that friendly salesperson who always tries to sell you something expensive which they think is good for you. Watch out for these free advice dispensing mouths and avoid them from influencing your choices. If it's getting too difficult to spot them, wait till any of your choices goes wrong: They will be right there telling you how they always knew this would happen to you and how they told you so! Don't take that for their sympathy, they just are trying to remind themselves how great their judgement is and are mad at you for not giving in to their ideas for your life.

You don't need to fight them away. They are not bad people but they really enjoy imposing their ideas and decision on you. We don't know where and what they are coming from but if you have them around you, it's very important that you recognize them and ensure that you don't give in to their "imposed" concern for you. Be loud and clear that you are entitled to all your choices, decisions and mistakes as well as good and bad experiences in life and no one has a right to question them or hold them against you. Spend some time into sorting out the people in your life: Not every acquaintance is a friend, not every social friend is a good friend and not every advice is a genuine advice. Choose the people you want to share your concerns with and be sure that they will give you genuine and unbiased suggestions without enforcing them on you.

In extreme situations, It's important that you detach "Them" from your life especially if they have managed to sneak into important roles in your life. Either you will keep listening to them and wonder why on earth you were given a brain exclusively for your own use or you will get exhausted fighting back with them to make them see why you have a right to make your own choice. They love you, I can't deny that. But their love for themselves and their need to be right is of more importance to them and this, my dear, is not ever going to change. And we shouldn't try to change people either. So the best we can do is to stay ourselves while recognizing them and speak up out loud why it's never going to work between you and them. This is not easy as we love them back too but not all forms of love are the right forms of love. In the long run, being on your own and living your life your way is better than being with them unhappily and questioning your self esteem.
We can love them back with all our good intentions. It's just that we can't live with "Them". Unfortunately, they will never understand this and will even hate you for your guts but that is exactly when you have to make the hardest right decision of your life. Live your own life or let someone else tell you how to live your life the way they think is right for you. It's your call!

And on the last note, try and think if you have the symptoms of "Them". If you happen to be a self-questioning and self-evaluating individual, understanding where this need to control people around you comes from will be a great step to start with. At the end of this self-correcting process, the biggest reward lies in the fact that you will finally be "You" instead of "Them".

Gosh, that was long!