Wednesday, November 23, 2011

You A Mosquito in Somebody’s Room!



If you think you don’t have any influence, think again...

Even though you are not aware of it, there are people doing things, or more importantly, not doing things because of you.

I know this because I am forever doing or not doing things because of various people.

I call these people mosquitoes...

That’s because every time I think of their example, it reminds me of that quote –

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room"

Here are a few of the mosquitoes in my life...

Pick Up Your Litter Mosquito
Every time, I accidentally drop some trash, say a piece of paper, and I want to just leave that piece of paper and go on my merry way because my hands are full.....I think of a mosquito who would never do something like that. I usually end up picking up that piece of paper. San Jose is cleaner by a few less dropped pieces of litter thanks to this mosquito.

Finish What’s on Your Plate Mosquito
Every time I am tempted to pile my plate with more food than I can finish, I think of what a mosquito said to me some years ago. We were at Hometown Buffet.  Observing  abandoned plates piled high with leftover stake and chicken and chops around us, a look of sadness crossed the mosquito’s face. She said to me “they would have valued the food if they raised that cow or chicken themselves. They would not be so callous about wastage”. These words come to my mind almost every day.

Do You Really Want to Eat That?
Like everyone else, I am tempted to reach out for food that is overcooked, over-processed or over-sugared. But there's this one mosquito whom, ever since we met, has continuously poured nutritional advice into my ears. Brainwashed by her into good eating, it's almost as if I can't eat bad things without feeling bad about it.

Don’t be So Negative Mosquito
Once upon a time, I was such a darling human being, that for every positive sentence which came out of my mouth, there were two negative ones.  Then a mosquito – a wisp of a mosquito at that – began to call it out by saying “you are so negative!”  After hearing this comment enough times from this wisp of a mosquito, I began to observe myself and slowly but surely became more mindful about my words.

Don’t Hurt the Ones Who Love You Mosquito
A wise mosquito once pointed out to me:  “We hurt the ones who love us the most because we know they will love us and not abandon us no matter what we do; with friends on the other hand, we would think twice about doing the same things because they would just walk away and never see us again.” I do not know how many times I have thought about these words. If at all today, I am less hurtful to those who love me, it’s because of those influential words from that mosquito.
  
These are just a few examples of the mosquitoes in my life.

Of course there are more. In fact, everyone in my life is a mosquito in one way or another.

I just typed examples of what immediately came to mind.

My last post too contains examples of mosquitoes -  Family Advice I Am Grateful For. In it, you will discover mosquitoes from my own family. Starting with the matriarch and ending with the little tyke!

The reason I wrote the last post and the current post...

It's because I want you to know, that like all these other folks - you too are probably a mosquito in somebody’s life.

Don't ever think you are too small, or too unimportant to have an influence. Pssssh!

The Mosquitoes in Order of Their Appearance in This Post:

Pick Up That Litter MosquitoKrysia – she’s also the Bigos Boss in my post Our Cake Boss Family

Do You Really Want to Waste That MosquitoNadya – she’s also the Stuffed Bell Peppers Boss in my post Our Cake Boss Family

Do You Really Want to Eat That?:  Julia – she’s the Green Smoothie Boss in my post Our Cake Boss Family, and the star of my post 4 Healthy Eating Ideas I Learned From My Friend Julia

Don’t Be So Negative Mosquito: Tanita –the star of many of my posts including “The She Victories

Don’t Hurt The Ones You Love Mosquito: Shreekant – one of the southpaws in my post Commonality Explained

P.S. Hope you enjoyed this post.  As always thanks for reading and hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Post as always Minoo. Thank you for the same. guiiiiiii nngu iiiii iiiiiin....
.............
..
..........giiiuiii nhiui .....
. . By now you must have recognized this mosquito.Do you hear any Kannada swara? That's the clue.

ajay said...

Another great post from Minoo.....really makes you think, what, what?

Minoo Jha said...

Thanks Ajay and Aarathi.

Aarathi....I have not heard back from Lakshmi....so I will now need turn to Chandrika to write that response in Kannada I have been meaning to write....meanwhile, I thought I'd redeem myself by looking up Kannada Swaras online and I can now say with confidence there are 2 swaras, Hrasva Swara and Deergha Swara. Of course, thinking about Kannada, it leads me to wonder whatever was I doing from 5th standard to 8th standard when I had Kannada as a second language in school. However did I manage to learn nothing in spite of 4 years of being taught Kannada? Absolutely Amazing!!!!! Shhh....don't tell my daughter - it will give her an excuse to goof off from her Spanish!

Anonymous said...

Swara here is 'musical note'!
For those who have succeeded in their efforts to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room, the sound it makes may be 'music' to their ears...
Thank you for refreshing my mind about short and long vowel sounds in Kannada...
Minoo,I REQUEST YOU TO LISTEN TO THIS SONG 'MUKTA MUKTA' on you tube.
PS:A few minutes ago I read online, about- anti-loitering device 'mosquito'.
Aarathi.

Minoo Jha said...

Aarathi...can you send me the link to Mukta Mukta - since a search on Google pulls up multiple You Tube videos and I am unsure of the one I should watch. Also, the link to the anti-loitering mosquitos. Thanks for giving me Kannada lessons in each of your comments.

Anonymous said...

For the device follow the link:
www.movingsoundtech.com/loitering.../teenage-loitering-problems-a...

Follow this link for Mukta Mukta...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzvDhwXbbIY

Aarathi.
PS: Please forgive me for pasting the link to Mukta mukta twice.Last night I saw your replies just before shutting down the PC for the day.....
Any luck with Lakshmi and
Chandrika? Please convey my 'Namaskara' to both of them...