Stop!

~Helen Ward drew for One Tree Hill

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Saira Andleeb once wrote "There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who wont any more, and who always will. So don't worry about the people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future" BUT "You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories" and there's a reason for that too !

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My thoughts:

The loss of a dear one is saddening. Unfortunately or fortunately people do leave, but they don't always leave. Sometimes they come back. Destiny has ways of bringing them back to us. Destiny brings together people who are meant to be together, for better or for worse. They say it is destined. They say it is written. Indeed it is! But do we sit back when we fear losing someone, hoping that destiny would magically bring them back to us. NAY! we fight for them! By doing so, sometimes the stars change course. Sometimes destinies are written to be erased and rewritten by forces of love! But sometimes we have to have the courage to let go and embrace destiny and have faith that Allah wills for the better. In such conflicting times the heart knows the difference. The guidance comes from within. God speaks through hearts. Listen to the inner voice. Celebrate!

Plan, but understand that we only live by Allah’s grace

Sometimes Allah breaks our spirit to save our soul.
Sometimes Allah breaks our heart to make us whole.
Sometimes Allah allows pain so we can be stronger.
Sometimes Allah sends us failure so we can be humble.
Sometimes Allah allows illness so we can take better care of ourselves.
Sometimes Allah takes away some things from us so we can learn the value of everything He gave us.
Plan, but understand that we only live by Allah’s grace.

~Anonymous

Forgive everyone for everything

Disconnect

It is useless to have a learned tongue but an ignorant heart.
~Shaykh Abdal Qadir al Jilani

Prayer of a wise man

"The wise man in the storm prays to God, not from safety from danger, but deliverance from fear"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reflect

Watch your eye, should it ever reveal to you the faults of others, say to it: “O my eye, other people have eyes too.” [Ahmad al Zarruq]

Love lights

The night has a thousand eyes, and the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies, with the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes, and the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies, when love is done.
~ Francis W. Bourdillon

Already there

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there? "
~ Richard Bach

Think

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.
~ Bernard Baruch

Do our schools, society and set up hamper our thinking? Or are we compromising our own capacity to think? Do the social or cultural filters in place defer our judgment? Do we question the norms, preconceptions, traditions before agreeing on to them? Or do we follow them blindly?

Passion & Persistance

A combo to my liking

This I believe too

Love is trust and faith, in all circumstances. Love is never giving up. Even in the most devastating conditions, never doubt the power of will, never doubt the human capacity for great change. This I believe, I believe that people must love, unconditionally.

Sometimes things seem difficult and impossible. I tend to go with the tagline "Where there is a will, there is a way".If the will is strong and is coupled by love (trust+faith) and persistence, and if one is sure that his\her path is correct and if one is ready to fight the good fight and face the challenges laid down the unachievable may actually become achievable. Do you believe so?

One shot away

"Things usually are one shot away but it takes one to play that shot" ~A friend

Some say life is a game, so if life is a game and things are one shot away why then why do we delay and lack courage to play that one shot that will get the job done.Sometimes we don't know that we are one shot away from being victorious.Sometimes it requires careful planning to play that one final shot.We don't know if we will succeed.But being victorious doesn't even matter. Playing that shot matters.Wanting to play matters.Wanting to win matters. Not giving up matters.Not quitting matters.Having the heart to play that one final shot and putting all the energies behind it matters.Giving it your best shot and leaving the result to Allah matters.The results may not go in your favor but at least you tried your best, that's what matters.Doesn't It?

In the game of life, sometimes you have to struggle over and over again and keep playing the shots until the task is done.Quitting is not an option.Others may want you to quit and give in to wrong.The opponents will try to bribe you. Your own team mates or coach may turn against you or lure you into false play.You have to know what is right and keep playing.You have to beware of who is on your side and whose team you are in.Are your team mates sincere to you?Are you sincere to your team?Are you in the right team playing the right game?Sometimes it takes team work to win. While you are playing your shots, are your team members doing the same? Is your partner backing you up? Or are they double crossing you?

You may feel out of form and want to retire from the game. But why not keep playing the shots and get back to form.

One should build the innings tactfully but sometimes the game of life can be tight.You may need 6 runs of the last ball to win.The opposition will make every effort to knock you down. You are to hold your nerves, take a look at the field placing, make a prayer, get into position and swing your bat. You may completely miss and the crowd will boo. But as long as you didn't panic, and carried the courage to make that last shot, never mind you didn't score a 6.You scored way more.You had what it took to play the last shot.You tried and that's what matters. You prayed and thats what mattered. Maybe God was testing you. And maybe moments later you will hear the crowd cheering because the umpire will signal a no ball. God may give you another chance. And this time you can close your eyes and swing blindly. God is on your side and you will succeed.

It takes one to play that shot. And it takes another to pump another to play the shot.But one has to make the shot for oneself.Do you have what it takes to play the shot?

Live Your Life So That You Will Have No Regrets

"Everyone is dying all the time. Everyone is also living all the time. It's all in your perspective which one you're experiencing! Choose wisely."

~Nancy Yucius

All thanks to Allah,I believe in living my life. Do you?

The Other Side Of You

I was watching Grey's Anatomy last evening, Season 1-episode 2. I thoroughly enjoyed this dialog

"At some point you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out.They fence you in.Life is messy.That's how we are made.So you can waste your life drawing lines, or you can live your life crossing them.But there are some lines that are way too dangerous to cross. Here's what I know, if you are willing to take the chance,then the you from the other side is spectacular."

Thanks to Isbah, for introducing the show to me. I am growing fond of it.

This I believe

"Happiness is not a situation to be longed for, or a convergence of lucky happenstance. Through the power of our own minds, we can help ourselves.”

Wayne Coyne in his article Creating our own happiness : I believe we have the power to create our own happiness. I believe the real magic in the world is done by humans. I believe normal life is extraordinary.

I was sitting in my car at a stoplight intersection listening to the radio. I was, I guess, lost in the moment, thinking how happy I was to be inside my nice warm car. It was cold and windy outside, and I thought, "Life is good."

Now, this was a long light. As I waited, I noticed two people huddled together at the bus stop. To my eyes, they looked uncomfortable; they looked cold and they looked poor. Their coats looked like they came from a thrift store. They weren't wearing stuff from The Gap. I knew it because I'd been there. Read On

Just Be You

The article Don't Worry, Be You imparts a significant message:

"...........Just be you. You are good enough. In the long run, any success you achieve, if you don't act like yourself, won't seem real anyway. You will just feel like an imposter or a phony.........

............If you have an idea that sounds good to you, go for it. Just be you. Do what is in your heart. You may fail, but at least you will have tried. Don't waste your life worrying too much about being normal. Lots of people are normal. It is more fun to be different. Just be you......."

Another point to ponder

"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. "

Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters to a Young Poet

NEXT

Earlier today I watched the movie NEXT. There was a dialogue in the movie that struck to me

"Here is the thing about the future,every time you look at it, it changes, because you look at it, and that changes everything"

Point to Ponder

For every hero in the spotlight, there are dozens in the shadows.They don't get press.They don't draw crowds.And a revival can begin with just one sermon.

We'd do well to keep our eyes open.Tomorrow's leader might be mowing your lawn,and the hero who inspires him might be in your mirror.

Max Lucado

When God Whispers Your Name