NOVEMBER 15 IS I LOVE TO WRITE DAY!

Did you know Tuesday, November is 15 is I Love to Write Day! Those very close to me would know how absolutely fond I am of writing. It one of the most joyous things to pursue and undeniably rewarding to the soul. 

THE GARDENS PERFORM - AN AMAZING NIGHT OF PROSE, POETRY AND MUSIC AT 360 MALL

I got to see a gathering of some of the gifted poets and writers who recited their beautiful work at 'The Gardens Perform', an amazing night of Prose, Poetry and Music at the Vertical Gardens,  360 Mall on Saturday 12 November.  Poem recitals were in English and Arabic which were purely the work of each artist himself/ herself. This event was organized by 360 Mall, as part of the annual Nuqat Conference. 

A variety of poems ranging from saving the environment, musings on Arab women's empowerment, a teacher's reflections on the institute of education, love poem about food, the beauty and joy of color blue as opposed to it being attributed as a color of sadness, a chef's secret behind his delicious Ratatouille owing to his mom's home made recipe, and many other inspiring, thought provoking and soul stirring poems were rendered. You will see them enlisted in the event program photo. It ended with a musical band singing a few timeless songs concluding with Lionel Richie's song 'Hello'. What a lovely finale!

Some photos from the event

2015 A COMBO OF GOOD, BAD, CHALLENGING AND ZENFUL

Happy New Year and thank you for visiting my blog.

When my favorite aunt wished me Happy New year, I told her thank you, good riddens  to 2015 and we laughed. Concealed in my laughter was a sense of relief. After the call, I actually thought of what I said and it reminded me of something I read. Don't say the first thing that comes into your head. Say the second or third thing that comes to you which actually would be the right thing. Those of you who read my October posts would know why I wasn't blogging for nearly a year. 2015 will forever be a year to remember for both rough seas and the joyous times. 2015 started off with celebrating new year and exploring amazing Sydney, Australia, and a fabulous trip to Malaysia and Singapore. This was my birthday gift from my husband.

A stark or should I say dark detour  in events to follow was a fall that dislocated the ulnar bone in my right wrist, wrong diagnosis, failed surgery and months of seemingly endless agonising pain. My shoulder, arm and fingers had turned stiff being in a cast for overly prolonged periods of time. It freaked me out that I couldn't use my right hand. I was out of commision for a good nine months. It took a while to train myself to use my left hand instead. With clumsy yet persistent attempts I got better at it. Incessant help from my husband helped me pull through those trying months. He was my savior.

It was a snail paced slow progress. Each day that seemed like a 100 hours. However as slow as it was, today when I think back, I am thankful for all the progress, grateful for the love, prayers and emotional support from some of my absolutely loving friends, my children and  two wonderful young physiotherapists who helped me with restoring  mobility in my arm and hand.  I stayed with my ever loving  aunt and uncle during post surgery. My aunt who took such care of me. She would call me almost daily to check on my progress when I got home. There was this one friend who prayed for me everyday, checked on me everyday, she felt my pain and cried along with me. She was a pillar of support I leaned on. It was so touching.I am thankful to each and everyone who was there for me, be it daily or even once during this crisis. And  for their inspiring words when I was at my lowest.  Sometimes people come into our lives as angels. And I am surrounded by few wonderful angelic people. And we wonder how could we have managed without them. 

The most beautiful and joyous part during recovery was I traveled to UK in October for our daughter's engagement and to U.S. to meet our son. It was indeed a celebration of life being with them.  When I spent time with my beautiful children, I was so happy, I felt myself healing even more. That's what love does. I began to type, take photographs, chop soft vegetables and hold light objects. In the past two weeks,  I sketched two pictures sent to me by a dear friend. A few days back, I even sculpted a small figure with clay. All this with my right hand.   Difficult chores are entrusted to my left hand.

So should I complain about 2015?. No I shouldn't. 2015 felt like the slowest paced year of my life teaching me what is truly important. You see, the good and the bad take turns, they come and go. Some of the bad has hidden lessons that teaches us what we need to know for our soul growth and our personal life journey. At times, it leads us to discover indomitable strength we didn't know we had. Sometimes it shows us through a filtered lens what we need to see perhaps about our own selves or even others. Certain lessons come in guise of adversities forcing us to cast off or let go what does not serve us any good,  what we needlessly cling to. No words can console those who lost their precious ones. It's only time alone that can heal the pain of loss. Every good that follows gently wipe away the residues of upleasant experiences, bringing us blessings and reasons to celebrate life,  ever subtely reminding us to trust the process. To choose to be a victor and not a victim.

Have you noticed, the most spectacular photographs of the stars are captured in the night when its totally dark devoid of city lights.  Something good is working in your favor when you feel trapped in the dark. Every rainbow is breathtaking after the rain. Like changing seasons, or the tides, nothing is ever constant, not even the bad. Change is the only thing that's constant.  I learnt never ever give up hope and faith.  The moment you do, you cease to live. Faith and hope are the most important and endearing twin components in the belief system  manifesting the extraorindary in life.

So what lies in store in 2016? Life is a mystery constantly unfolding to reveal a new day to create, to explore, to work, to contribute, to help, to love, to, to forgive, to have compassion, to make empowering choices, to pursue your passion, to embrace life with it's challenges and joys.

Here's wishing you a fabulous 2016

JOURNEYING THROUGH LIFE - THE WINDSHIELD IS ALWAYS LARGER THAN THE REARVIEW MIRROR

The other day I was reading a personal story of a celebrity I am fond of,  whose screen presence is always wonderful. She got into a controversy recently and had to struggle a bit to come out of it. In a public statement, she said, 'The windshield is always larger than the rear veiw mirror'. 

Are you more focused at life's windshield as you journey through life or is your focus fixed on the rear view mirror? How often have you caught yourself immersed in the pain, losses, suffering or disappointments of the past rather than focusing on the present and moving ahead with confidence and faith?. When we drive, don't we concentrate more on the large windshield looking at the big view in front of us and ahead of us? If we were to be lost looking into the rear view mirror, it's hard to keep our eyes on the road. When you glance back, don't be paralysed by any negative experience, because that only causes unnecessary misery and imprisons you in the past robbing you of joys and opportunities in the present and what's ahead of you. It disrupts your peace and sense of balance. You don't live there in your past any more. Time and again when we glance into our past, it should be to help us make better decisions in the present and for our life ahead. Our past has taught us the lessons we need to equip ourselves for this journey. And there will always be so much more to learn. It's an unending nature's process for our personal growth. 

Who we are and how we choose to travel our path is determined mostly by the choices we make today creating our experiences.  So focus on your large windshield to make your personal journey a great one despite the challenges, hurdles and mistakes. Manouver confidently through the sudden curves, traffic jams, and not let the bad drivers ruin your journey. Tune into your internal GPS - guidance positioning system, as it will re-calculate and guide you if you get lost. Whenever you do glance at the rear view mirror, can you see all the beautiful and good things that have happened too? 

ONE DAY WORKSHOP BY ARIELLE FORD BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE SOULMATE SECRET AND WABI SABI LOVE

Best selling author of The Soulmate Secret and Wabi Sabi Love, Arielle Ford, will be presenting a one day workshop in Kuwait on Sunday, April 26th.

To know more about the workshop and what it will cover, visit Dawrat website

Venue : Dasman Ballroom, Radisson Blu Hotel, Bida
When : Sunday 26 April 2014
Time : 9 am to 5 pm ; There will be two coffee breaks. Lunch will be provided for attendees
Fee : 150 KD per person. 120 KD each for couples. Discounts for groups
Tel : 55283501

For registration and details visit : Dawrat or call 55283501

Books by Arielle Ford

THE HEDGEHOG STORY

Good story with a message. 

Have you Ever seen a baby Hedgehog?

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. 

The Hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. 

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. 

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive..

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities. 

The moral of the story is: 

Just learn to live with the Pricks in your life!

SEMINAR - BOOSTING YOUR POSITIVITY

Seminar : Free 

Harmony House Meditation Center working hours : 9:00am to 2:00pm and 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Tel : 25654062 

Location : Villa 3, Shaheen Al-Ghanim, Block 5,Rumaithiya, Kuwait

OUR UNIQUE KIND OF GREATNESS

People we meet, intriguing ideas, movies, books, nature and cultural ideas all have the potential to awaken our imaginative minds. When we are touched by our muses - givers of creative spark, we understand viscerally that we are capable of producing our own unique kind of greatness. - Madiysn Taylor, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the popular inspirational website DailyOM. 

Image : This photo was taken by me at Salmi desert, Kuwait 

NEVER MAKE SOMEONE ELSE TO FEEL SMALL

SMALL WAYS OF MAKING ONE'S LIFE BETTER

NEVER LOOK DOWN UPON ANYBODY

GOD ANSWERS IN THREE WAYS

RETREATS FOR MIND MANAGEMENT

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPTIMIST AND PESSIMIST

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE

EXCUSES

NIKE ad quote

SPREAD LOVE EVERYWHERE YOU GO

UNSOLICITED ADVICE

Not that I wasn't aware of the perils of offering unsolicited advice, I tend to believe, the sometimes unsolicited advice I offer, out of my genuine concern for people I care for, will be received in a good way and will help them. Today I learnt a big lesson. I must refrain from offering any more unsolicited advice. I thought I was offering a smart suggestion, when I gave a person I consider very dear,  a certain advice. And it wasn't very well received at all. Gosh,  I realized at once, that no matter how much we care for those around us, we need to exercise restraint from offering people advice, unless asked for. People share their joy or woes because they consider you  important enough to share them with. Most of the time, they don't need any advice. They just want you to be a good listener and let them know you are there for them. An unsolicited advice is like not believing or trusting their ability to do what's best for them. Sometimes unsolicited advice can be perceived by recipient as critical, harsh or unloving and can play like bad music somewhere in the back of their mind. We must also remember, no matter how much we think we 'know', everyone does not have the same degree of emotional framework.  We shouldn't look at people as a mirror image of us where we can expect them to think and feel the way we do. Most people know what's best for them really and they need to make their journey trusting their decisions. 

We have no right to permit ourselves to give advice and suggestions unless asked for, or if you know the great difference between when to offer an opinion or advice and when not to.

DO YOU RUN THE DAY?

AS WE GROW OLDER WE REALIZE