I am not the only one who is obsessed—or writing…It may not be true that “the three most written-about subjects of all time are Jesus, the Civil War, and the Titanic,” as one historian has put it, but it’s not much of an exaggeration. Since the early morning of April 15, 1912, when the great liner went to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, taking with it five grand pianos, eight thousand dinner forks, an automobile, a fifty-line telephone switchboard, twenty-nine boilers, a jewelled copy of “The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam,” and more than fifteen hundred lives, the writing hasn’t stopped.

But today Im not writing about the movie Titanic but using this largest ever built ship, widely admired for its triple-propeller design, and declared by the press to be “unsinkable” as my theme to express the value of human relationships and words.

In a world where vows are worthless. Where making a pledge means nothing. Where promises are made to be broken, it would be nice to see words come back into power and relationships breathe their virtue.

I left every royalty of my family name to keep the promise of togetherness that I made with the man I had loved so much. I spent the glorious, beautiful years of my life making babies with him and building a home. Alas, someone from either of us failed and togetherness withered away. My life was a fairytale and I always longed for a happy ending.. But all fairytales have rules, and perhaps it’s their rules that actually distinguish one fairytale from the other. These rules never need to be understood. They only need to be followed. If not, what they promise won’t come true.

But like every fairy tale, I am also gifted with priceless possessions... my two adorable sons! I made a promise to always stand by them, to hold them up when they’re about to fall, and to always keep them safe. I never believed there was a strength out there for me. Until I had them. They changed everything. And I never want to live without them. I love them more than I ever thought possible.

Linking Titanic again... the success of this movie was also its superb talented cast. God has written your story and its beautiful, it may be tragic for some but a conviction for many to keep promises and that life must go on. Your story also has a unique cast... your selfless parents, true friends, wondrous siblings, amazing children and a beautiful partner. The events may shake you, drown you but the experiences will be intense making your life story a timeless classic and an epic masterpiece.

Pain of the past never goes away, you just find a way to deal with it. And in the future....... all the promise it holds.... that's what keeps you moving forward, and out of the darkness.

Remember the last words of dying Jack :"Rose, listen to me. Winning that ticket was the best thing that ever happened to me. It brought me to you. And I’m thankful, Rose. I’m thankful. You must do me this honor...promise me you will survive....that you will never give up...no matter what happens...no matter how hopeless...promise me now, and never let go of that promise."

Friends, to be born is the best thing that ever happened to each one of us... we should be thankful and make the Creator proud of His creation by leaving this world a little better than we found it.

With all my respect and love,

People of our time are challenged to comprehend the meaning of "celebration". We end up being amused or entertained and call it as "celebration".

Celebration is an active state, it is to feel happiness around and cherish life. When we walk down the memory lane, our childhood was the time when we had celebrated profoundly. I remember buying a pair of red shoes, I was bringing my fairytale beauties Cindrella, Rapunzel and Red Riding Hood to life. I even slept wearing these red shoes and walked proudly like a princess.... a celebration of my fairytales.

The other day, I saw my little champ playing piano with happy moves and trying to make his own composition. The notes didnt sync methodically but the music was a celebration of a toddler's proudest possession ... PIANO.

I have fondest memories of my elder son watching " Lion King" daily at his lunch time when he was in grade 1. He was celebrating his appreciation for "Simba" while learning the lesson of good always winning over evil.

As we leave the wonder years of our childhood, we substitute celebration with amusement & entertainment. We may go for a movie even now but sit there to criticize the director or the actor or give our perspective to the story line making the entire movie experience a business report or a thesis. We forget the days when watching movie was like meeting our favourite stars, laughing , dancing and walking out of the theater with our hearts smiling.

Have you ever thought that why the lessons learned in childhood are hardly forgotten? Its because children take joy in their work and celebrate their wins, celebrate themselves for everything they do. And sometimes as adults we forget that's something we should continue doing.

Give the fullness of your brilliance, play your heart out; life is made up of moments and it is for these moments that we give our lives. And we are not here for that long, we'll all be dust before you know it.

Celebrate God by choosing happiness over suffering; by taking the power to love what you want and love it honestly and by taking the power to make your life happy.

Celebrate yourself with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you, with laughing aloud with friends, cuddling with your kids, with long walks hand in hand with your partner, and with being breathtakingly committed to your goals.

Cheers to an EXTRA ORDINARY YOU. 

don't let your failures define you. It's who you are that matters..

Today I was at a government office to apply for change of my marital status "Married to Divorced" . At the Information Desk, I was welcomed by a decent man who seemed to have all the information that any visitor would need from this office. As I asked him to guide me through my work, I experienced a very different human behavior. There are words we could not say, words that no one might be longing to hear yet we utter them to complete our tasks.

 I said " I am here to change my marital status; back to my father's name". I could see the man struggling to choose what is right over what is best  in selection of his words to continue this conversation. He hesitantly answered " may I know the reason of change, is it divorce or god forbid a young death" . I answered " Divorce". He then continued with the procedure. Around the same time, a lady in her late fifties ( looked more aged beyond her years) approached him with a similar question. I immediately turned to listen as how would he attend this lady. Here he questioned " is it because of death" and the lady replied " No, divorce after 33 yrs of marriage and now im 59". The man replied "do you still want to go through this hassle of name change" and the lady said "yes, I want to live and make my own identity. I gave my youth to this man and his children, now I want to see what I can give to myself".

Friends, we all dream for fuller lives, healthy relationships but when we fail, we start blaming ourselves till we brutally kill our own existence. No matter how hard it is for you to decide whether to leave that person who had played a vital role in your life but has hurt-ed you, you have to do it with conviction- for yourself and for all that wants you to be happy. At some point you need to stop looking out at others and start looking inward, at yourself, at your own accomplishments and your own failures. It's only when you begin to look inward that you can begin to have an effect on those out there.

Many a times you fail over and over and over again in life , only to succeed. You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It wont happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.'

I leave you today with a thought as why  are you going to choose failure when success is an option? why are you going to choose pain when joy is an option?

Remember always..instead of regretting about the past what's more important now is to change the present for the future.

                                 Cheers ..to a real YOU!

We all die... the goal is not to live forever, the goal is to create something that will...

Each day is an opportunity to make more beautiful memories

There are memories that time does not erase... Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.

Eighteen years ago, I lost my Dad... the man who believed in my strength; I wish I could turn back time to be his little girl again but I know it can never happen to me again. I still remember tears rolling down my cheeks while I sat looking at my Dad lying breathless, helpless as death has embraced him forever. I was unaware of the intensity of my pain and trust me that very moment none who has lost his / her loved one could ever imagine the loss. It is when you wake up the next morning and see the sun rising , you realize that this sunrise and many more to come will still leave your soul dark and your home dull. It is when you sit for your dinner, you realize that the empty chair will never help you heal the loss. The pain gets deeper and deeper till it becomes part of your existence.

Yet most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through is now like something from the distant past. We’re so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about everyday, too many new things we have to learn. But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone.

Perhaps, I have yet not accepted the death of my father and so make attempts to keep him alive. I can see him smiling when I live through his noble lessons of life... I can see his teary eyes when life treats me hard and hear him demanding me to be strong and be his happy little girl always.

Friends, what I expect from each one of you is to come out of your pains and losses a little more stronger and a little more better. Let your loved ones in heavens beyond stars sparkle a little more brighter when they see you making this world a little better place than what they had left with you. When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you.

Everyone wants to be excited by something magical and wondrous - to be reminded of how they once saw the world ... but most importantly it is all about how you would leave the world better than you found it.

All in all it is what makes life worth living!!

Each day is an opportunity to make more beautiful memories... aim for iconic, go for legendary!!

IMAGINE with all your mind, BELIEVE with  all your heart, ACHIEVE with all your might.

With my majors in English Literature, I always wanted to be someone known & acknowledged for her mastery in English language. But, the divine script had a different act for me. I started my career in textile merchandising and now it pulsates in my existence.

Over the years I found that merchandising  have many levels of ability of mathematical calculations,  building trust, enduring relationships and the power of words. I knew Im not good in numbers, it was always an uphill task for me to comprehend calculations but I knew I can always present my number sheet to audience with finesse using the power of words.  

One day my boss asked me to travel to Hong Kong for a meeting with buyers of reknown USA sports brands to win football business for Pakistan factories. He gave me a list of a variety of data that I would need to discuss with them; it ranged from export market value to analysis of all kinds. It took me 3 days to complete the task but then he asked me to prepare a coverage on our football industry. I could hear my inner voice screaming to convince me that " this is your game, play it well and win " . 

Friends, I spent a night redesigning the entire presentation; I transformed it from a mathematical business analysis to a real story of FOOTBALL MANAUFACTURING. The day I was leaving for Hong Kong, my boss asked me if Im all set for this big meeting and I still remember answering him " Ten days ago, all I knew about football is that its round in shape but today I know the value of this product".

The meeting was a complete hit, I flew back with huge orders and was the star of the organisation. 

I would have been an absolute failure had I spent my energies in mastering the numbers  for this meeting. I won only because my boss directed my strengths to win over my weakness. All through our lives we err by trying to work on our weaker areas and thus nurture the fear of failing. Why not appreciate our strengths and our weaknesses will become too small and too weak to  stop us from winning our game.

We should dutifully review our scales and some elementary pieces required to improve upon our weaker areas but we should focus, nurture, strive and encourage our strengths to transform our life into a masterpiece.

Your belief in yourself to win over our shortcomings will make you a legend like Mozart . Your fingers will be light on the keys of all challenges in life , they will even dance nimbly on the ivories of joy and love. Embrace your strengths and you will  end in a grand crescendo and immense applause.

We can all make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan. So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a spark of the Divine? Or do we pass up that opportunity, and leave the world a bit colder in the process? 

With respect, encouragement and tons of great wishes. :)

"Shake it off and step up"

There was an old mule. One day accidentally he fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer has evaluated the situation and thought to himself, that neither the well nor the old mule was worth the efforts to save them. Thus he decided to haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well.

So the farmer called his neighbours and together they started shoveling dirt into the well. The old mule was terrified and hysterical in the beginning. But soon one hopeful idea came to his mind – every time when a shovel of dirt landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up!

He repeated these words to himself again and again: "Shake it off and step up“. This way he could struggle the panic and encourage himself. After some time, the mule had stepped over the well‘s wall. Although terribly tired, he was the winner, he saved his own life. He decided to face his adversity positively and not to give up, and thus he won. What seemed like it would bury him, actually saved him, owing to his own confidence and efforts.

Some people will intentionally or unintentionally make efforts to bring us down but we have to keep moving and we will emerge as a winner, a savior for someone, a support and inspiration to a few more. The stories that we tell ourselves and each other sound remarkable, don’t they? They romanticize us. They sweep us off our feet. They persuade us to believe that if we dive head first into an intimate relationship, a big financial purchase, greasy foods, imported beers, or whatever it is that temporarily pacifies our worried mind from reality, then we will somehow find what we are truly looking for.Our obvious dilemma is that reality is not temporary. Reality keeps on coming. That intimate relationship will have our heart blissfully skipping beats until it doesn’t any longer. That big financial purchase will be fun and exciting until it isn’t any longer. Greasy foods and beer will comfort us until they don’t any longer.

Some people come into our life disguised as angels, and sometimes angels come into our life disguised as people. It is possible to see God anywhere. All it takes are open eyes and ears and the willingness to see miracles. They are everywhere. God is as available as we are. Having friends that inspire us to rise to higher and greater levels is an awesome gift. Surround yourself with people that inspire you to do better and inspire your friends as well. It is a profound truth that the people we spend time with, shape the path that we travel.

Like that old mule, struggle through the worst and emerge as a winner; some people will aim to shatter us but they are not stronger than the people who are sent in our lives as angels to walk us through all the thick and thin. We have to cast our faith in our God and make our world an Eden of happiness.

You can change the world – maybe not all at once, but one person, one animal, and one good deed at a time. Wake up every morning and pretend like what you do makes a difference. It does!

Cheers to a stronger you!!  :)

 

"To be what you were born to be and to explore your full potential each day is life’s only goal"

Recently, my sons developed craze for cactus plants and each bought one. The 13yrs old has the cactus plant in his room because he read on the internet that if cactus plant kept near laptops / PC etc, it helps reduce the radiation effect.Apart from the reason that his elder brother has one, the 6yrs old has the cactus plant because he doesn't like flowers.

Its the same cactus but it is approached and seen with distinctively different reasons. Similarly, what tests God put us through may appear painful to us but God has to offer us some beautiful insights into life through His tests and is probably preparing us for something more beautiful and vibrant.

As cactus is usually grown in deserts, its anatomical and physiological features are in accordance to support its life span which varies from 25 to 300 years. Similarly, humans are born to live through variety of experiences in life and so God has tuned every single human being with the strength to live and shine. We not only have to help ourselves but as we go along the journey, it is our duty to spread help, encouragement and love to our fellow beings.

I still remember, 25 years ago, I was walking home from high school in the pouring rain without an umbrella. I was just walking behind an elderly man who had an umbrella. As we both passed under the overhang to an apartment building, he stopped, turned around and handed me the umbrella. He said, "this is my stop and it looks like you need an umbrella. Pass it along someday when the opportunity arises."

We have to acknowledge the variety of facets that we are blessed with; each has uniqueness and power to pull us through anything and everything. Your soul always have the answers; your life's purpose is just under the surface waiting to be explored and realized. Don't cast your opinion about people and things as the world gossips about each of those... live wholeheartedly , look out for beauty and truth and you will be amazed by your discoveries about this world.

Cheers to a unique YOU :)