I Raise My Hands Up & Ask Humbly

May I always be able to spread love & goodness;
May I always find happiness & joy in small things in life;
May my eyes are set on the inner beauty of human beings;
May I realize when I can swim with the flow & when to swim against it;
May I find the strength to focus on the good in my life and master shifting myself out of worry & negativity;
May I have free spirit to travel new paths;
May I choose my life in independence of what others think;
May I always find the way to grow and evolve;
May I find joy in who I become and the trip that is taking me there;
May I have a pure soul not contaminated with jealousy and/or greed whether it is money or power;
May I be humble yet assertive;
May I always chant the gratitude prayer.

Please help me to find home & my passion in life.

Anthem of Bread & Flowers

Here is an attempt to translate to English the lyrics of "Anthem of Bread & Flowers" a song by Marcel Khalifeh

You have enough of bread,

But

Not enough for all the people

And the earth is full of spikes of wheat

Uprise

And fight

You have enough of love

But

Not enough for all people

And the earth is flowers and letters

Uprise

And fight

You have what is sufficient from land and house

But

Not enough for all the people

And the earth is full of sand

Stand Up and struggle

Uprise

Don't keep prisons,

Uprise

Don't keep chains

Stay

Between the torches a torch

The Quest For My Passion

“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few that will catch your heart . . . Pursue those.” Anonymous


I am in a stage where:
1- I have accomplished much in my life on different levels i.e. education, career, & more.
2- But now I am in a point where the dreams and goals I pursued in my life have either been accomplished or don’t seem appealing anymore.
3- I have a wonderful life and yet something is missing. Simply I am dissatisfied & restless. What shall I do with the rest of my life? How can I make the most of my years to come! (Is this what they call mid life career crisis? :-))
4- I want to use my experience, knowledge, and talent to make a difference in some way and to enjoy it!

This is my puzzle! What catches my heart?

All I know in this moment is that this passion; has to make my life satisfying and fulfilling, matters to me, is intellectual & cultural, and can make at least a slight difference in the world.

My Recipe to Happiness

At a certain point of my life to be more specific in June 2003 I decided that life is not worth living. Life is ugly, hard, tough and not fair. So, I took the decision that either I find my way to happiness no matter what I go through or....

After 5 years of my decision, I can say I am happy this does not mean that life got much better! My secret recipe might be applicable to others.

First -Happiness is now, not when I get a better job, more money, or find a partner. No more postponing. My happiness is met with minimal conditions, in indifference if my “if conditions” are met or not.

Second- What happened has happened in the past. It shaped me, made me who I am. I am grateful for all what I went through. I tired hard to deal with my past, pain, & agony. I did my best to get over it & let it go. Sometimes past do pop up again but now I have better things to focus on :-)

Third – Over the years I cultivated good habits through daily practice. I no longer put effort to do them but I can't claim it was easy. My new routine allowed me to maintain a certain momentum of happiness even when things go wrong. What have worked for me are:

• Keeping my gratitude list active
• Nurturing my relationships; specially my 1^st circle of relations
• Doing some random acts of kindness to strangers & people I love
• Exercising; walking, swimming, playing squash, etc..
• Connecting to nature, spending as much time as I can out doors
• Contemplating on beauty; sunset, sea, mountains, kids clouds, smell of flowers, delicious food
• De-cluttering- I no longer keep things I don't use in a year. I no longer keep books from university days or documents from my work, or cloth that I don't wear. I enjoy giving stuff away.

Fourth- Happiness is my internal status not the result of life circumstances. I do get sad when my company lay me off, when my relationship with my partner is spiraling down, when.. when. But they don't knock me down or let me lose my insight on the other great things in my life. By having happiness as my ultimate goal I became healthier, stronger, more helpful, creative, and willing to try new things.

Tweeting what I said: Happiness is achivable coz it is state of mind that consist of positive emotions and & positive activities.

May we all be happy.

Follow Your Destiny Wherever It Leads You

I bought myself a gift; a Blue Mountain Arts poster“Follow Your Destiny Wherever It Leads You”, and since then it is hanged where I can read it. I find it a truthful one and something I can relate to in my own life. Life brought me equal amount of surprises and disappointments that altered my path and directions in life. In both ways I had to be decisive to do something about my plans and choices, and never just wait for them to fall right in front of me. For me it is claiming my life, and be in charge of it.
I guess by being decisive I am believing in my own capabilities, skills, values and ration. I wish never to let life steer me but I to lead my life despite how harsh or kind are the circumstances.
Here are the words of the poster:

There comes a time in your life when you realize that if you stand still,
You will remain at this point forever.
You realize that if you fall and stay down, life will pass you by.
Life's circumstances are not always what you might wish them to be.
The pattern of life does not necessarily go as you plan.
Beyond any understanding, you may at times be led
in different directions that you never imagined, dreamed, or designed.
Yet if you had never put any effort into choosing a path,
or tried to carry out your dream,
then perhaps you would have no direction at all.Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life has taken,
accept the fact that there is a path before you now.
Shake off the ‘whys’ and ‘what ifs,’ and rid yourself of confusion.
Whatever was — is in the past.
Whatever is — is what's important.
The past is a brief reflection.
The future is yet to be realized.
Today is here.
Walk your path one step at a time — with courage, faith, and determination.
Keep your head up and cast your dream to the stars.
Soon your steps will become firm, and your footing will be solid again.
A path that you never imagined will become the most comfortable direction
you could have ever hoped to follow.
Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey.
You will find it magnificent, spectacular, and beyond your wildest imaginings.

Vicki Silvers