2011, A start of a new era

2011!
you started with a fire in a church, bullies, death of innocent people, burning cultural books!
But! you were the wake up call that we needed, the first time we stood up to corruption, the first time we had fair elections and our voices did matter!
The first time, I felt safe although the bullies were everywhere, just because I know that our men are down the building guarding us! The first time thousands of people protested because one girl they don`t even know was attacked and forced to go nude! and for the first time I am so proud to be egyptian!
and finally, you end up with a new born baby to my family, and that`s why I will always be optimistic :)
2011! no matter what people say, you were a turning point :)
happy, peacful new year everyone!
 

Echoes

Once upon a time, an old man took his son to the dessert between the mountains; the man then screamed with his highest voice “I love you!” then what he said was repeated by even a higher voice! The man then screamed “I hate you!” and also that one was repeated. The wise man then looked at his son and said “Do you see son? This is how life works! You give love and happiness, you get love and happiness! You give hatred and hostility, then that`s exactly what you`ll get.”

Echoes! They`re not just repetition of your words, they`re the reflection of what`s inside you on the outside world; what you think of life is exactly what you`re going to get. If a person believes that getting a good job is hard then he will never find a good job, unless he works so hard; on the other side, if a person knows in his heart that good opportunities are always there, he sure will find them! Just like “Mark Zuckerberg” when he invented the Facebook, even though he was so young, he knew that there was an easy way of success that was there in his hands, and he found it. Other people works their whole life and they don`t achieve anything compared to him!

In our society, we grew up to believe a lot of wrong thoughts about life; we believe that money is hard to get, we believe that relationships are full of problems, and we believe people can’t be trusted. Well, these thoughts aren’t 100% wrong, there are people who suffer to get money and people who have very bad relationships; but these people are not the "RULE", they are the "EXCEPTION"! But because we`re too scared to lower our defenses we can’t see the difference anymore! Because we believe that “Expectations leads to disappointment” we choose to expect the worst; even though every religion teaches us to be optimistic.

If you believe that people are bad and they can`t be trusted, you will live your life looking out for bad people that you will miss all the good people around you! So stop being defensive and open your heart to people and to life; I am not asking you to trust anyone, I am just telling you that there are some people that are trust worthy,  even if you haven’t met them yet!

Dear reader, most people spend their lives trying to find happiness, but they never recognize that happiness is inside of them! A happy person isn’t a person who has no problems in his life; a happy person is the one who chooses to be happy no matter what! He stands up to life and shouts “I am happy”, and then his echo fills the space with happiness that reaches him and the people around him too.

Dear reader, try changing the way you see life, and I guarantee your life will change. You only have one chance to live so don`t waste your life being scared of dreaming, dream big! Believe in a better life! And be positive!

Little things always matter….

Few weeks ago, me and a group of my friends decided to start a project; our first meeting was great, and afterwards I went to McDonalds with the girls and we had an amazing time… the day was perfect and I was so happy and excited; I ordered a happy meal and I got a small “smurf” toy :D.  But after few meetings, we started having problems and the thing didn’t work out. At the beginning, I was disappointed and I kept telling myself “Oh! That was just a waste of time”, “It was a stupid idea”, “we shouldn’t have started this project anyways” and many of my depressing thoughts!

But after a while, I started to forget how mad I was when the whole thing was blown off; and now, whenever I look at my “smurf” I remember the perfect day I had with those friends and the happiness I felt back then so I go from my disappointment to my contentment.

And this, my great readers, is one of the things that make me who I am. I always work so hard to make little things that I like however bad the situation is; I am the girl who brings a video camera to the class and record a funny movie; I am the girl who collects the cinema tickets from the outings and write on them her favorite memories of the day; I am the girl who makes scrapbooks and photographs every good memory; and the girl who remembers every compliment that was said to her through the years.

People call me crazy for it but I think it`s totally smart. Now, instead of remembering my college years with the boring lectures, the harsh professors and the gibberish texts I can look at my album and remember all the great times I had with my friends back then, instead or remembering the criticism I remember the compliment.

Why are people so focused on the serious, regular things but they never look at the little good things? Just because it`s fun, doesn’t make it less important than any serious subject. When I remember my old friends that I haven’t seen in years, I remember the fun stuff we used to do together, the laughing, the outings… I don’t want to remember how we used to sit in the lectures staring at the board understanding nothing from what the professor was saying; and I definitely don’t want to remember the exams and the assignments.

I don’t mean to say that we shouldn’t care about our studies or that we should ignore the serious things in life, I swear. What I mean is, we should enjoy everything we do no matter how hard it is; we should make great memories out of the bad ones. I believe that life was made to be enjoyed! But people focus so much on their duties in life that they forget how to enjoy it! It doesn’t have to be an overseas adventure that makes you happy; sometimes, just enjoying your cup of coffee can bring you happiness, but only if you do it right! Think about it, if you don’t do it now, when will you? Trust me, little things in life always matter the most…

Changes

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr

“Change”; the scariest word in life, has always been that way. People are always afraid of change; they find security in habit; they like everything to remain the same so that calm and peace will prevail in their lives, and they won't have to think too hard.  

Whether you`re happy with what you have or not, when it comes to change, we hear the same old phrases “What if I make a mistake?” “What if it’s worse than what I have now?” “What if I fail?” New weds get really scared of marriage that they can blow the whole thing off even though they are in love. A man won`t risk quitting his job, even if it sucks; and he keeps telling himself “The Devil you know is better than the one you don’t”.  kids are afraid to grow up and to be independent, parents are afraid of their kids growing up and becoming independent… it`s just the way it is with changes.

The reason I started my article with Reinhold Niebuhr`s amazing quote is that I want to show you the difference between the changeable, and the unchangeable; I can`t change the fact that it`s summer and it`s hot out there, but I can choose to enjoy an ice-cream instead of complaining about the weather. I can`t change the fact that we grow up, but I can choose to be healthy and happy no matter how old I am. I can’t change the past, but I have the choice to have a better future. The thing is; you have the power to make any point the turning point, and you have the choice to make the change a good one.

Looking back at the last 5 years of my life, I am surprised to see that much change; I see that girl who used to be my best friend, even though we promised that it will last forever now we are like strangers; This school where I used to go every day, everyone there was my friend; now I am not allowed to be there. Amazing how the people who didn’t matter, matter and who did matter, don’t. Nothing went the way it was supposed to… or was expected to. My life changed.

I remember the day before my first day in college I cried all night because I was afraid of the change; the word “change” used to freak me out; I liked my life the way it was and I didn’t want to risk what I had. But after a while, my college years turned out to be the best years in my life. I have a crazy beautiful life and my amazing friends and I was never that happy in my school days.

So, after doing a lot of thinking, I discovered that “Things don’t change, we change”; I am the one who has been changing the whole time; I am the one who made my new life better than the old one; It was never about the people or the place it was always about me, like it`s about you. If I was the same old me, the school-girl version of me living in my new college life; It wouldn’t be the same here, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now. But thank God, I saw the difference between what I could change and what was out of my control. I couldn’t change the fact that I grew up, and I am a big college- girl now; but I could change my attitude about it, adapt, and choose to be happy.  

 Change is not something you do, it's something you allow. The first step toward change is acceptance. Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. Love yourself and appreciate it and you will always be happy, you will never fear the word “change” again, because no matter where life throw you… you make the change .

Are you ready?

I was reading “Act like a lady, think like a man-Steve Harvey”. He said that for a man to be ready to fall in true love and commit to a relationship he must first define who he is what he does and how much he makes.  I wandered “how do we girls know that we are ready?”  

You thought you were ready when you were a teenager having a crush on the guy next door. You made a story up in your mind because you just couldn’t wait for the real thing to happen. You covered your eyes in order not to see your lover`s reality.. And when you got to know him better, and saw all of his flaws. You either acted childish and said “I love him and I can live with this flaw” or acted more childish and said “I can change him”. This story keeps happening over and over again till you realize that he is not the one. And then you say “when will I meet Mr. Right?”

We girls are always searching for Mr. Right since we were little kids we always dreamed of our prince charming...  I was searching for mine too… until I discovered something… “I am not ready”. I am not ready to commit or to fall in love. I still don’t know what I want in life.  I am still learning, trying new things.  I don’t know whether I want to travel, to open my own business or to change my entire career. I am not ready to settle down and have my life decided. Unlike married or engaged girls who have it all figured out. I still need my time to figure out what I want in life, which plan I can fit in?  and that`s not a bad thing because before I meet my Mr. Right there`s a long surprising journey of me becoming the person I am supposed to be. I don’t have to jump to the end. Because remembering my first crush and how much I liked him. And remembering the girl who I used to be… I am not this girl anymore… I wouldn’t choose him now. There is a reason why he didn’t make it.  And since I want “Mr. Right” not “Mr. Right now”, I will have to wait untill I am ready. And then he will come along… I will just let life surprise me.

Not like the movies

If we were a movie…you would be my right choice…we would fall in love and we would go on life together. But we are not in a movie, we are in real life...so… not everyone gets happy ending.

And there she was, she fell in love… she didn’t understand why, but for some reason, she couldn’t take her eyes of him, for some reason she couldn’t stop thinking about him, for some reason she felt he was her security, her happiness and her dreams….

The story went on, and that feeling was growing day by day… the girl cried “help me!! I am totally in love with the guy…help me…I am trying to forget but it`s useless…tell me how to end that story”. The girl had no one to trust and to speak to except her best friend…who was thought to be a true friend.

The girl trusted her friend, she told her every secret of her heart…she told her how she was afraid to get hurt.

The girl went on her story…she thought everything was fine, the guy was so sweet….and the girl was pure, he meant the life to her…but she never knew that she was nothing to him .

The girl worked hard to change, she wanted to be the perfect for him, and she tried to get closer to his heart because she didn’t feel safe anywhere else. But what a surprise, what a smile could be on the face when you find the so-called lover, with the so-called friend?!....except the smile that hides tears and pain….the smile of a girl that couldn’t even cry… although she was screaming on the inside…she was afraid that he would hurt her, but she never thought that her best friend would …. She didn’t know who she would miss, her love, or her best friend.

The girl was so hurt; she didn’t think that she could survive. She thought that her life stopped and her world ended. But the story went on; the girl held on….her pains taught her how to forget…

She learned that life, not like the movies….it never stops at a point. No matter how cruel the moment is, it will pass. And no matter how much we wish that time can freeze in a happy moment, it doesn’t. Not like the movies, we can’t just show the credits and have a happy ending…

The power within

Once upon a time, there was a small happy family of a father, a mother and a baby daughter. The father was a great king and the mother was his queen. They lived in their beautiful castle and they couldn't be happier.

 But unfortunately, like any other story must go.. The big bad witch came to their kingdom, but the good king didn’t invite her in. she was very angry with him, so she threatened him to ruin the little girl`s life, she said that on the girl`s 16 birthday, she would touch a spinning wheel, which would make her sleep for eternity.. nothing could save her but the prince`s kiss, and that was the little girl`s curse.

The parents were scared to death; they tried to protect their daughter and to stop her form touching the spinning wheel. But no matter how hard they tried, the day came and the girl turned 16, and the misleading ways lead her to the spinning wheel. But you know what happened next? The girl said “No, I won`t touch the cursed wheel. I won`t lie down waiting for some prince to kiss me, i won`t let that witch bitch manipulate me”

The princess had the courage to protect herself and the power to stand against the bad witch, no matter how strong was the witch. She didn’t need a prince to save her; she didn’t need her parents to protect. She alone had the power to control her life.

Every one of us is the princess. We live in this life full of bad people who try to use us “The witches”, whose powers and strength differ from one another. And full of temptations, that attract us to do stuff we might regret after, that`s the “spinning wheel”.

Our parents are always trying to protect us, even if they have to isolate us from the society. But it doesn’t matter, because we can never escape the witches and the spinning wheels that are surrounding us all the time. And there`s always a prince, he doesn’t have to be on a white horse wearing a costume. But he can be a dream. Any dream that our minds create, and thinking of it helps with our pains. Just like pain killers. They stop the pain but they don’t really cure the wounds.

And in the end, the only one who was capable to stop the bad witch was the princess, just like we have to. We are the ones who have to stand for ourselves, protect ourselves form bad people, and keep ourselves away from sins. We can`t depend on our parents forever, and we can’t rely on a dream. It`s the power within each of us that can help us through this life against any spell or curse.

My fairy tale

I had never believed in love before I met you

But now I wish I never met you

Standing here not knowing where I am and where to find you

Wandering if my fairy tale would ever come true

I turn around, my heart is beating so fast

Is that really you? You are here, you came at last

You`re on your knees with my favourite flowers

You`re dazzling me with your secret powers

You catch your breath, you hold my hand

You say the lyrics of my favourite band

The sound of rain falling in my head

I opened my eyes, am I in my bed?

I wake up. It was one of my dreams

It`s just a regular night as it seems

I closed my eyes… listened to the rain

I wanted to sleep to see you again