Tag: Personal growth

The Art of Never Stopping Wonder

I have a tiny problem.

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I refuse to outgrow curiosity.

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While sensible adults
are busy pretending
they have life all figured out,

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I’m still the person asking,

“Ooh… what’s that?”

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I have Googled things
I absolutely didn’t need to know.

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Why octopuses have three hearts.

Why bread smells so good.

Why socks disappear in the washing machine.

(That last one is clearly a conspiracy.)

I read signboards in unfamiliar streets.

Open books just because the title winks at me.

Take the longer route home…

just to see what I’ve been missing.

People call it distraction.

I call it field research.

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I collect tiny adventures
the way some people collect souvenirs.

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A new word.

A forgotten lane.

A café chosen
simply because it smelled like stories.

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I’ve started conversations
with old books,
street cats,
my houseplants,
and yes…
they all seem
better listeners than some humans.

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Curiosity has an expensive hobby.

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It steals my time,
fills my phone with screenshots,
opens thirty browser tabs,
and somehow convinces me
that I absolutely must know
how astronauts wash their hair,
why flamingos stand on one leg,
or who decided
pineapple belonged on pizza.

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My search history
could confuse a detective.

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Honestly…

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what a delightful way
to confuse one.

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Life has taught me
that the best discoveries
rarely arrive with a grand announcement.

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Sometimes they hide
inside a conversation with a stranger…

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a recipe from an old aunt…

a child’s impossible question…

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or a wrong turn
that somehow feels exactly right.

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The day I stop wondering,

“What happens if…?”

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someone should check my pulse.

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Because I don’t want a life
where every page is already highlighted.

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I want dog-eared corners.

Unexpected chapters.

And enough curiosity
to keep annoying algorithms
that think they’ve already figured me out.

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After all,

the world is far too interesting

to behave like I already know it.

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So yes…

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I am a lifelong learner.

Not because I want all the answers—

but because being an explorer
is far more fun
than pretending to be an expert.

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Until the next story… 🤍

—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari

July 12, 2026
Be Your Own Therapist | A Poem on Self-Healing

Be Your Own Therapist is a heartfelt poem about self-healing, emotional strength, and finding peace within. Sometimes, the person who understands you best is your own heart.

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Be Your Own Therapist💗

Not every wound asks for witnesses.
Some only long for your gentle touch.
The heart doesn’t always need answers…
Sometimes, it only needs acceptance.

Be Your Own Therapist: Self-Healing Begins Within

The world may hear your words,
but only you can hear the silence between them.
Sit with your pain.
Listen without judgment.
Be kind to the soul that has carried you this far.

Understand Yourself First

Not everyone will understand your battles,
and that is perfectly alright.
You don’t have to explain every scar
to prove that it once hurt.

The strongest conversations
are often the quiet ones
you have with yourself.

Choose Yourself Every Day

Be your own safe place.
Your own comfort.
Your own reminder
that healing isn’t loud—
it blooms softly,
just like the quietest flower after the longest storm.

When Silence Speaks

There will be days
when your smile feels heavier than your tears,
when your voice trembles
even in the quiet of your own room.

On those days,
don’t abandon yourself.
Sit beside your broken heart
the way you would sit beside someone you love.

Healing Is a Gentle Journey

Healing doesn’t arrive overnight.
It comes in small moments—
when you forgive yourself,
when you stop chasing everyone’s approval,
and when you finally realize
that your peace is worth protecting.

Every gentle step you take toward yourself
is a victory no one else can measure,
but your soul will always remember.

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Sometimes healing is not about fixing yourself. It is about sitting quietly with your emotions, accepting every broken piece, and trusting that even the deepest wounds soften with time. The love you keep searching for outside often begins within your own heart.

Closing Thoughts

When the world cannot understand your heart, let your heart become the place where you are always understood.

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Until the next story… 🤍

—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari

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Read More: The Hard Years: Not the Final Chapter

July 11, 2026
The Hard Years: Not the Final Chapter

Daily writing prompt
What’s a chapter of your life you’d title "The Hard Years" — and what got you through it?
View all responses

The Hard Years: Not the Final Chapter

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Hard Years don’t always arrive with a warning. They quietly become a chapter of our lives where every day feels a little heavier than the last. If you’ve ever lived through The Hard Years, you know they don’t just change your circumstances—they change you.

When Life Quietly Changes You

Have you ever looked back and realised there was a season that quietly changed everything?

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Not one terrible day.

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Not one heartbreaking moment.

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But a chapter that stretched longer than you ever expected.

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If I had to give it a name, I’d call it The Hard Years.

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They’re the years when you keep showing up, even when you’re running on empty. You smile because people expect you to. You answer, “I’m fine,” because explaining the truth feels exhausting.

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From the outside, life looks ordinary.

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Inside, you’re simply trying to make it through another day.

The Battles No One Sees

The hardest battles are rarely visible.

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Someone is grieving while attending family dinners.

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Someone is worrying about bills while laughing with friends.

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Someone is carrying fear behind a perfectly normal conversation.

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That’s the strange thing about The Hard Years.

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They teach us how much people can hide behind a smile.

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Maybe that’s why kindness matters so much.

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We never really know what chapter someone else is living through.

Hope Doesn’t Always Make a Grand Entrance

Looking back, I realised hope never arrived like a miracle.

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It came quietly.

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A cup of tea on a difficult evening.

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A message from someone who somehow knew I needed it.

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The smell of rain.

A familiar song.

A peaceful sunrise.

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None of these things changed my life overnight.

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But they reminded me that even difficult seasons have moments worth holding on to.

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Sometimes, hope isn’t about escaping the darkness.

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It’s about finding one small reason to keep walking through it.

The Chapter That Never Got the Last Word

People often say difficult times make us stronger.

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I think they make us gentler.

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They teach us to listen more carefully, judge less quickly, and appreciate ordinary days we once took for granted.

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Every life has a chapter called The Hard Years.

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Some chapters last longer than others.

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Some leave deeper scars.

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But none of them were ever meant to be the ending.

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One day, you’ll look back and realise those years didn’t just test your strength.

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They revealed it.

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And perhaps that’s the most beautiful plot twist of all.

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The Hard Years were never the final chapter.

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They were simply the pages that made the next ones worth reading.

Until next story,

Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari

July 10, 2026
I’ve Been Eighty Since I Was Eight

What do you love now, that you hated when you were younger?

I stared at this prompt for a good five minutes, convinced my brain had simply forgotten something.

Then it hit me.

I’ve Been Eighty Since I Was Eight.

That’s the only answer this prompt gave me.

Surely there had to be something.

Bitter gourd? Early mornings? Silence? Staying home? Folding laundry?

Nope.

Maybe that was the answer.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized…

I couldn’t answer this prompt because the things I love today are the very things I loved as a child.

I’ve been suspiciously eighty years old since I was eight.

As a child, I loved hiding in a quiet corner with a notebook, doodling, writing stories, humming old melodies, and creating entire worlds that existed only in my head.

Apparently, my idea of fun has always been… unconventional.

And some things, apparently, never left me.

I still stop to admire butterflies in the garden.

I still collect pretty leaves because… well, someone has to appreciate them.

I still get embarrassingly excited when a rainbow appears, as if the sky made it just for me.

Apparently, I’ve been delightfully easy to please my entire life.

Some people outgrow these little joys.

I seem to have renewed my subscription every year.

I still get ridiculously excited by a blank page.

I can lose track of time while making something with my hands.

The smell of books still deserves its own perfume.

A beautiful sky can stop me mid-sentence.

A handwritten letter still feels more magical than a text message.

Growing up didn’t make me fall in love with these things.

It simply gave me permission to stop apologizing for loving them.

Maybe that’s adulthood.

Not discovering new passions…

But realizing the little “boring” things you loved all along were never boring at all.

Turns out, my younger self wasn’t strange.

She simply knew what made her happy.

Although…

The more I think about it, the less certain I am.

Was I really eighty years old when I was eight…

Or am I still eight at heart?

Because I still stop for butterflies.

I still smile at rainbows.

I still bring home pretty leaves.

I still think clouds tell stories.

I still believe the sky puts on a show just because someone remembered to look up.

Maybe I’ve spent my whole life being an old soul…

With the heart of an eight-year-old.

And honestly?

I hope that never changes.

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Until the next quiet thought,
—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari

June 30, 2026
Which Languages Do I Speak?

How Living in Different States Shaped My Life

Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life?

Which Languages Do I Speak?

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I’ve lived in different states and picked up bits of different languages along the way—like collecting pretty shells on a beach. Some I kept, some I misplaced, and some are probably hiding somewhere in my memory, waiting to be found.

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Hindi is my comfort zone. It’s the language my heart reaches for when it’s happy, upset, excited, or simply in the mood to talk endlessly. It’s the language of family conversations, childhood memories, and countless cups of tea shared over stories. When I need to express my feelings without searching for the right words, Hindi is usually the first language that comes to my rescue.

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English has been a faithful companion in my reading, writing, and learning adventures. It has introduced me to wonderful books, new ideas, and people from different walks of life. We don’t always agree on spellings or pronunciations, but somehow, we’ve made the friendship work.

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Telugu keeps me connected to my roots. It carries memories of home, family traditions, and the familiar comfort of belonging. It quietly reminds me where I come from, even when I occasionally fumble over a word or two.

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The funny thing is, living in different places taught me that communication isn’t just about language. A smile, a nod, expressive hand gestures, and confidence can get you surprisingly far.

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Living in different states did more than add a few words to my vocabulary. It introduced me to different cultures, traditions, food, and ways of looking at life. Every move taught me how to adapt, connect, and find a sense of belonging in unfamiliar places.

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I may not speak every language fluently—in fact, some languages and I are still in a long-distance relationship—but I’ve learned to appreciate different cultures and find common ground with people wherever I go. The biggest impact wasn’t becoming multilingual; it was becoming more open-minded. My world became bigger, my conversations richer, and my life far more interesting than if I had stayed in just one place.

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So, which languages do I speak?

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A little Hindi, a little English, a little Telugu… and a lot of human.

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And after all these years, I’ve learned that people rarely remember whether you spoke perfectly. They remember how you made them feel.

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That’s a language everyone understands. ❤️✨

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With stories gathered from many places and words borrowed from many languages,

—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari

June 24, 2026
The Fears I Overcame (And the Ones Still Paying Rent in My Head)

What fears have you overcome and how?

What Fears Have You Overcome and How?

I’ve overcome quite a few fears.

Well… “overcome” might be a strong word.

Let’s say we’ve signed a peace treaty and occasionally exchange awkward nods.

The biggest one?

The Fear of Not Being Enough

Not smart enough.
Not successful enough.
Not pretty enough.
Not productive enough.

At one point, I was collecting “not enoughs” the way some people collect souvenirs.

The Fear of Being Judged

I used to think everyone was watching my every move.

Turns out, most people are busy wondering if they’re being judged.

A surprisingly humbling discovery.

And let’s not forget the fear of failure.

The funny thing about failure is that it spends years terrifying you, then finally shows up and says,

“That’s it? You were afraid of me?”

Most of the disasters I imagined never happened.

The ones that did happen taught me something useful.

Rude, but useful.

I also feared speaking my mind.

So I stayed quiet.

Nodded politely.

Rehearsed arguments in the shower three days after the conversation ended.

You know, the usual.

Over time, I learned that being misunderstood is uncomfortable, but losing yourself to keep everyone comfortable is worse.

The fears didn’t disappear.

They just got tired of running the show.

And I got tired of giving them front-row seats.

Making Peace With Fear

Now when fear knocks on the door, I let it in, offer it tea, listen politely, and then continue doing what I was going to do anyway.

Because courage isn’t the absence of fear.

It’s realizing that fear is a terrible life coach.

And honestly?

The fear I’ve truly overcome is the fear of being imperfect.

These days, I’m less interested in being enough for everyone and more interested in being myself.

It’s cheaper, less exhausting, and requires significantly fewer existential crises.

That’s growth.

Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. 🙂

—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari. All Rights Reserved

June 2, 2026
Stop Treating Yourself Like You’re Temporary

What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?

“Maybe the smallest improvement I can make is treating myself like someone I actually plan to keep for a long time.”

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Which honestly means
drinking more water and having fewer imaginary arguments in the shower.

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Maybe it means sleeping on time
instead of collecting emotional damage and dark circles like limited edition souvenirs.

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Maybe it’s learning that I deserve the same softness
I so casually pour into everyone else
like warm chai on rainy evenings,
like fairy lights glowing quietly in a messy room,
like finding one stubborn little firefly still shining in the dark. ✨

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And perhaps healing isn’t some dramatic movie montage.
Maybe it’s just:
buying yourself flowers for no reason,
laughing at your own jokes,
walking slowly after the rain,
letting your heart do tiny butterfly dances again,
and no longer treating your happiness like a guest who should leave early.

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Because life feels strangely lighter
when you stop behaving like you’re temporary. 🌈

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Maybe that’s the real surprise adulthood never warned us about
that peace does not arrive with fireworks and background music.
Sometimes it arrives quietly…
through clean bedsheets, a favorite song at midnight,
unexpected compliments, sleepy smiles,
and those rare sparkling moments when your heart suddenly whispers,
“wait… life is actually beautiful today.” ✨

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And maybe loving yourself is not always deep or poetic.
Maybe sometimes it’s wonderfully silly
dancing badly while cooking,
watching the rain like it personally wrote a love letter to your soul,
smiling at strangers,
buying snacks as emotional support,
and protecting your inner light like a tiny jar full of fireflies glowing against the dark.

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Because after everything,
I think we all deserve a life that feels a little softer…
a little warmer…
a little more like butterflies, rainbows, laughter, rain-soaked evenings, and coming home to yourself again. 🦋🌧️✨

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Tiny acts of softness can save a heart quietly learning to stay. 🌈✨

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—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari. All Rights Reserved

May 13, 2026
Everyone I Met Changed Me Somehow ✨

Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.

Honestly… at this point, my entire life feels like one long educational group project where everyone came to teach me something. 😭✨

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Some people came like motivational speakers

“Believe in yourself.”
“Follow your dreams.”
“Stay positive.”

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And some came like unpaid life coaches disguised as red flags. 🚩😂

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One taught me patience by replying after 3 business days.

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One taught me self-respect by underestimating me.

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One taught me boundaries by crossing every possible one.

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One taught me trust…
and then personally demonstrated why trust issues exist. 😭

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But if I’m being real, every person left behind something valuable.

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The kind ones reminded me that humanity is still soft somewhere beneath all the noise.

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The difficult ones taught me strength I didn’t know I had.

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The temporary ones taught me that not everyone is meant to stay forever… and that’s okay.

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And the people who hurt me the most?
Surprisingly, they pushed me closest to myself.

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Because after every disappointment, every awkward ending, every silent goodbye…
I met a newer version of me.
A stronger one.
A calmer one.
A wiser one.

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So when people ask,
“Who had the biggest positive impact on your life?”

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I genuinely cannot choose one person.

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Some healed me with love.
Some healed me with lessons.
Both mattered.

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And maybe that’s the beautiful thing about life
not everyone enters our story to stay,
some simply arrive to help us become who we were meant to be. 🌸✨

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Some people became memories, some became lessons… all became a part of me. 🌸✨

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—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari. All Rights Reserved

May 12, 2026
Be Loyal to Yourself (Soft, Not Easy)

Not the soft, aesthetic, “love yourself” version…
and not the cold, unbothered “I don’t care” version either.

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Somewhere in between
where you’re still kind…
but no longer easy to take for granted.

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Be loyal to yourself when
you don’t feel like replying and you actually don’t.
when “no” doesn’t come with a long explanation.
when your peace matters more than being liked.

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Because truth is
you were never “too much.”

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You were just too real
for people who were comfortable with half-effort,
half-love,
half-respect.

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And now that you’re asking for more?
suddenly you’re “changed.”

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Funny.

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Be soft but not spineless.
Be kind but not convenient.
Be understanding but not endlessly available.

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That’s your magic.
That quiet glow… the butterfly energy…
soft to touch, impossible to hold 🦋✨

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And here’s the thing
the moment you stop over-explaining yourself,
people either step up…
or step away.

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Either way,
your life gets lighter.

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Stay loyal to the woman
who finally chose herself—
without guilt, without drama, without permission.

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The rest?
They’ll adjust 😉

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Soft… but not easy 🦋✨

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—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari. All Rights Reserved

April 22, 2026
Maybe the Community Doesn’t Need Fixing. Maybe I Do.

How would you improve your community?

How would I improve my community?

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By doing something slightly uncomfortable.

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I’d stop assuming I’m always right.

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Not a great personality trait to give up, I know.

But most of our “community issues”

feel less like real problems…

and more like a collection of people

(me included)

who don’t pause long enough to think,

“Maybe it’s not just them.”

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I’ve judged people in seconds.

Misread silences.

And replied “hmm” to things

that probably deserved a little more heart.

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Efficient? Yes.

Helpful? Not really.

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So maybe… I’d start there.

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I’d listen. Properly.

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Not the kind where I nod

while preparing my next sentence

but the slightly uncomfortable kind

where I don’t interrupt,

don’t fix,

don’t turn it into my story.

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Just… listen.

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I’d also retire my habit

of building full personalities for people

based on one moment.

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Because apparently,

people are not trailers.

You don’t get the whole story in 30 seconds.

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And kindness

I’d stop treating it like a rare personality trait

and start using it like a default setting.

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No announcements.

No “look how nice I am” energy.

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Just…

a softer tone,

a delayed reaction,

a message I choose not to send.

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Because sometimes,

what I don’t say

improves things more than what I do.

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And when I don’t understand someone

instead of guessing, decoding, overthinking

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I’d ask.

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Directly. Simply. Humanly.

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Will this fix everything?

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No.

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Someone will still misunderstand.

I’ll still have off days.

And someone will definitely still send

“Good Morning 🌹” at 6 AM.

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But maybe

someone around me

will feel less judged.

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One conversation

will feel a little safer.

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One moment

will feel… lighter.

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And honestly,

if my presence can do that

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then maybe I didn’t fix the whole community…

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but I stopped making it harder to live in.

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And these days,

that itself feels like a pretty good improvement. 🙂

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—Rajeshwari 🧿💕

© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari. All Rights Reserved

April 3, 2026