Do you remember having taken a break from routine work? And that too a long break? Obviously I am not talking about a serious illness that has compelled you to be in bed away from work! I am talking about a long vacation that you have recently taken to chill out, to relax and have fun with your family and friends.

We often get so busy with our office work that we forget to distinguish even between the days and the nights. We work long hours; stay back late and live up to the deadlines. Task deadlines decide our routine and we don't even realize we are not taking out time for ourselves. We should not forget that work is not our life. There are other things to do, hobbies to pursue, activities to enjoy. There is much more to life than work, position and money and it is the peace of mind. Yes, it is your mental satisfaction that matters most. I might be sounding philosophical but it is the fact of life that happiness is of utmost importance. Living is not just about making money; it is also about having fun!

What does taking a break mean? Well, it is taking a leave from work and going out, away from the monotony of life. It is about going on a holiday with your loved ones. Plan for a long holiday. But don't forget to inform your boss, well in advance, about your leave. A real break will mean being unreachable and unavailable! Yes, do not carry your work tensions wherever you go. Just switch off your cell phones and also yourself. Disconnect yourself from work and worries. Try to forget your deadlines and your work responsibilities. Refresh yourself.

After all it is only for a few days that you will be taking a break. Forgetting your tensions for a while is absolutely fine. Being unavailable for the people at your workplace does not mean being insincere. Being unreachable is not equal to being irresponsible. It is just that you are being kind to yourself by giving your tired brain some much-needed rest. I am sure; a break from work will make you realize that you can be even more productive after that refreshing break. You will return with all-new and fresh thoughts and plans for your accomplishments in life!

In the words of Gertrude Stein, Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose! So true this is! A rose is nothing but a rose! I cannot resist the temptation to play with words, as the word I am playing with is again 'rose'. For me roses are wonderful creations of nature. I won't bug you by elaborating on the botanical aspects of a rose. I do not like to get into the science of each and everything. It's the beauty that interests me more. The colors, the charm, the sweetness are what I am drawn in to. While looking at roses, I look at their colors and the moods which link to every shade of the rose.

Think of the bunch of red roses you received from your valentine. Even the memory must have aroused soft feelings in your heart. Surely, that's the magic of their red color. If red and white roses are put together, they represent togetherness. Have you seen white roses with red edges? They are about coming together, for each other. Gentle love is best reflected in the pinks! The dark pinks stand for appreciation while the light ones for admiration. If you know your love is not of the ‘red-rosy' kind, gift him/her a bunch of yellow roses. The color signifies platonic love. Yellow roses are about expressing pure friendship.

Falling in love is such a great feeling. It's actually the most beautiful feeling, the most esteemed emotion to experience and express! Yellow roses with red tips are perfect for the gesture of having fallen in love. Burgundy roses stand for beauty, the coral colored roses for desire.

Before ending this discussion, I have to cater to those of the flora-freaks among you who might feel it necessary to read through the botany surrounding roses. A rose is a perennial shrub of the genus Rosa. It belongs to the family rosaceae. Pinnately compound leaves with oval-shaped leaflets and stems with sharp thorns are characteristic to this family. Roses grow well in temperate climates. They are grouped into wild roses, old and modern garden roses and landscape roses. Do you know which is the Rose Capital of America? Don't google it. I will give you the answer. It's Tyler, Texas.

Superstitions are the beliefs borne in mind about doing certain things for good luck and not doing certain things for bad luck. Superstitions and blind beliefs associate certain events or objects with good or bad omen. Are you superstitious?

If you look at the beliefs in two different countries, you will realize ‘superstitiousness' in them. In some countries, an owl is considered as symbolizing bad omen while the people from other countries think it a wise bird. Obviously owls never bother of what human beings think of them! Similarly actors in the UK once believed it to be a bad sign to have peacock feathers on the stage while peacock feathers are highly appreciated in other countries. Even if certain superstitions prevail in many parts of the world, you should analyze if they have a logical reasoning behind them, before believing in them.

Sometimes superstitions are formed out of coincidences. Friday the 13th is one famous belief held by many across the world. ‘Three in a line', that is the belief of something ill happening in sequences of three is another common belief. These superstitions must have emerged from repeated occurrences of events, which led people to believe in them. The repetition in those incidents might have merely been a coincidence.

I think one must hold every superstition in the tongs of reasoning and try to understand if it has a science to it. Many a time superstitions are a result of certain beliefs, which have come down along generations. They are continued to be followed just because generations before have done so. But we need to wake up to enlightenment!

According to the famous theory of relativity by Albert Einstein, one hour spent with your beloved seems to be a minute while a discussion of a few minutes with someone you don't like can feel like an hour! This is so true! Most of the human perceptions are relative. What I fell about a certain thing may be exactly opposite to what someone else feels about the same thing. While I am feeling cold, someone may actually feel sweaty. It all depends on ones perceptions and reactions. Reactions are relative. It so happens that incidents that have taken place a few years ago seem to have happened a very long time ago. It appears to have spent a long time in something when one has actually not. Why does this happen? Some theories say, having crossed many milestones in a relatively shorter span of time makes one feel like having spent long years. Similarly, the more eventful a span of time is, the more time appears to have passed.

 Sudden transitions, you have gone through, drastic or sudden changes that have taken place in a few years make that period of time eventful and the more events that occur, the more experiences that you have in a certain span of time make that span appear long. Eventful years filled with undulations look like a long long time and things that have happened before those undulating years seem to have taken place a very long time ago and they go out of memory. We all know of the Einstein's theory of relativity and experience it in daily life but this aspect of the relativity of time leaves me in amazement. Life is so interesting. Isn't it?

Laughter the best medicine is not a new thing. However, its use as a medical therapy is something new. Have you come across the term humor therapy or laughter therapy?   Humor therapy or the laughter therapy is a therapy that uses the positive emotions that are associated with laughter. It is claimed to be beneficial to cure heart diseases and depression. Laughing loudly reduces stress and lowers blood pressure.

Feeling sad and depressed? Try laughing more. Join a laughter club or watch a comedy movie or even try reading an Archie comic. This would make you feel better and helps place you back in a good and happy form.

There are many times when you think you know someone in very little time but then there are times when it takes a lifetime to know someone. How often have you wished to know a person's thoughts? Folks, you can do the same with some know-how about body language! Yeah! Knowing body language can help you read a person like a book and help solve your problems in personal and professional life. Keep a watch for the facial expressions and body postures and gestures. This can reveal so much about a person! A person who has his hands crossed across the shoulders would mean he is rather in a defensive position and is not actually agreeing with what you are saying. A confident personality would have confidence in the way he walks or talks. Body posture can reveal more about the person than what he is trying to reveal! Even when you are getting to know a person better, there are certain signs of flirting you can study to know whether the pretty girl likes you! Twirling of the locks whilst she talks to you or her unknowing acts of touching her hair or fiddling with her bag would show she is interested in you! A lot of your feelings are transferred through your body language. Some observation from your side, would help you to know a person better!

On seeing something never seen before, have you felt you had seen it? Have you ever sensed of already knowing about something that is yet to happen? It might have been a deja vu. Wondering what it is all about?

Well, Deja vu, also called paramnesia is categorized into three classes. First is Deja vecu which is the feeling of already having lived a particular moment. Surveys have revealed that more than three fourths of the human population experiences feelings of deja vecu. Deja senti is another form of deja vu, which relates to having felt the same way before. A person on some occasions recollects to have felt the same under some similar condition in the past. Deja visite is the third kind of deja vu feeling. It is when a person feels he/she has already been somewhere when he actually hasn't.

Research attributes these feelings to certain neurobiological phenomena. Sometimes events are stored in memory even before the conscious part of the brain receives the information and processes it. This can lead to a deja vu feeling. One theory says that one eye may record things a bit faster than the other. If the scene is viewed milliseconds later by the other eye, one might sense it as already having seen it. These conclusions are interesting and leave us in amazement about the human brain; its abilities and the interesting phenomena they give rise to!

Now don't say you are feeling like you have already read these words somewhere!

As I look back and think about all these years spent pounding away on the keyboard, I wonder what our life would have been without the Internet! The Internet being a tool to mainly date, flirt and be in touch with one's friends is something that cannot be denied! We all love the convenience it offers, but sometimes I wonder whether this is a boon to maintain relationships! How often have you looked over your cubicle to smile at your co-worker rather than sending him a smiley through chat??!! I feel maybe your girlfriend would be more impressed with genuine red roses rather than those sent via E-mail! Sure, the Internet is a great way to be in touch for long distance relationships, but are we letting ourselves be obsessed with the same? Isn't it better to spend quality time with the person you care instead of all those endless mails and chat emoticons! I think couples are more susceptible to develop shallow bonds by being addicted to the Internet. It reminded me of a friend who spent endless hours chatting away to glory with a complete stranger...only to be bamboozled when she discovered she actually had no chemistry when she met him in person. Sigh! If only people wisen up...knowing somebody in person is far more better in the initial stages of a relationship. Truly the Internet is a boon but are we misusing the same?!