She must carry out that mission or go mad

Found this extract to be intense:

I' m only happy when I think that God exists and is listening to me; but that isn't enough to go on living, when nothing seems to make sense.I pretend a happiness I don't feel; I hide my sadness so as not to worry those who love me and care about me. Recently, I've even considered suicide. At night, before I go to sleep, I have long conversations with myself, praying for this idea to go away;it would be such an act of ingraditute, an escape, a way of spreading tragedy and misery over the Earth. In the mornings, I come here to talk to St Therese and to ask her to free me from the demons I speak to at night. It's worked so far, but I'm beginning to weaken.
I know I have a mission which I have long rejected, and now I must accept it. That mission is to be a mother I must carry out that mission or go mad. If I don't feel life growing inside me, I'll never be able to accept life outside me.

The Witch of Portobeloo
~Paulo Coelho

Some Words from Ethereal

Ethereal shares a memory to reflect upon humanity, respect for our fellow beings and how everyone is special in their own way:

So many people lose someone close to them at an early age. There are wars in this world that leave traumatized children. Sometimes it can be depressing but it can also make you stronger. Such people usually rise above others when it comes to showing compassion and love. They have lot of respect for lives around them.

I had a friend in class 3. He was sort of forced upon me as our seats were fixed, front row center, by the class teacher. I was in another section before 3rd class so I didn't know him much and also didn't like him because he was a bit disorganized and mediocre at studies. In the beginning I wouldn't talk to him and would shun him if he tried so. All the while infront of the teacher so that she'd get my message. But she'd only let out a sweet little smile that would further frustrate me. I thought I wouldn't stand sitting with him. I was wrong. I don't know how it happened but after a few days I started to accept him in my life. I don't believe he ever had any problems with me, though. We started to talk. And then we got to know each other a bit. And then we started cracking jokes and doing funny stuff like mock fights during a class. We started to influence each other. We learned from each other. Before we met he was disorganized. I was a crackpot when it came to organization. I would get irritated and at times scold him for little things such as not drawing straight lines. Silly things these seem now. I used to get extremely incesed if things wouldn't go right... or straight. He taught me patience... by example. There were times when I would tease him. True he would give in and would tell me to stop but he'd never ever hit back. Never started anything unruly. Never teased or mocked me in return. I can still remember him calmly enduring all the scolding for not doing his homework. When we were promoted to 4th class only our classrooms changed. We even dragged our old desk from our old classroom because we got used to it. We spent one and a half years together. On the very first day after summer vacations I met a girl from my class with a worried look and she told me that he had died during vacations. In death he had taught me the greatest reality of life, death.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also outward appearances are deceiving. It also shows how quick we are at judging others just by their outlook. Believe me one lesson I've learned in my life over and over again is to always to talk to people before making an opinion about them. I'll narrate a little story here:

In 7th class there was a boy in my class who was much taller than me. I thought of him as a bully who would sometimes tease me. In the summers I went on a week long trip and we had to live in tents. He also came along and were in the same tent as mine which I obviously disliked. As it happened I fell sick and he was the only one who cared for me. Later, in front of everyone he would pretend as if nothing happened. I didn't mention it to anyone but I'm sure he would have denied any knowledge of his good deed.

Hearts can change. They change. Even your enemies become the most faithful friends. Maybe the best deduction from this would be that it is wrong to hate any human.

~Ethereal

Gratitute, Expectations, Uncertainity

Maybe we're not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You gotta wonder why we cling to our expectations. Because the expected is just what keeps us steady, standing, still. The expected is just the beginning. The unexpected is what changes our lives.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To often the thing you want the most is the thing you can't have. Desire leaves us heart broken, it wears us out. Desire can wreck your life. But as tough as wanting something can be, the people who suffer the most are those who don't know what they want.

~Grey's Anatomy

Passion & Persistance

A combo to my liking

10 Useless Matters

There are 10 useless matters:

1. Knowledge that is not acted on.

2. The deed that has neither sincerity nor is based on following the righteous examples of others.

3. Money that is hoarded, as the owner neither enjoys it during this life, nor obtains any reward for it in the hereafter.

4. The heart that is empty of love and longing for Allah Almighty, and of seeking closeness to Him.

5. A body that does not obey and serve Allah Almighty.

6. Loving Allah Almighty without following His orders or seeking His pleasure.

7. Time that is not spent in expiating sins or seizing opportunities to do good.

8. A mind that thinks about useless matters.

9. Serving those who do not bring you close to Allah, nor benefit you in your life.

10. Hoping and fearing whoever is under the authority of Allah and in His hand, while he cannot bring any benefit or harm to himself, neither death, nor life, nor can he resurrect himself.

However, the greater of these matters are wasting the heart and wasting time. Wasting the heart is done by preferring this worldly life over the hereafter, and wasting time is done by having incessant hope. Destruction occurs by following one's desires and having incessant hope, while all goodness is found in following the true path and preparing oneself to meet Allah.

How strange it is that when a servant of Allah has a (worldly) problem, he seeks help of Allah, but he never asks Allah to cure his heart before it dies of ignorance, neglect, fulfilling one's desires and being involved in innovations. Indeed, when the heart dies, he will never feel the significance or impact of his sins.

Source: IQRA Islamic Magazine

Nature 2

SubhanAllah

Photographer: Waqar Azim

K.I.S.S

During an Engineering Project Management lecture I recently attended the professor asked the class to define the term "variance". Let me describe the class first.It's a post-graduate class.It contains students of varying ages and excluding my self the class is a class of geeks.It's an evening program so most students are professionals. They come from different engineering backgrounds with plenty of experience in their respective domains.Some are PhD students, while some of the others already have a masters degree under their belts. So discussions turn out to be a war of words between nerds.
Coming back to the question. Everybody raised hands in a jiffy. One by one the students gave a comprehensive definition of the term variance, some adding mathematical description and application details. I was trying my best to make sense out of every bit of what all of my learned class mates were saying. Clueless I sat and listened.
Amidst the discussion the Professor moved towards the board, picked the marker and wrote "K.I.S.S". Then he turned towards the class.
The whole class subdued.
A moment later the Professor exclaimed
"Keep It Simple Stupid"
While others made surprised faces,one student was rather amused by the remark. Hehe..that would be me.