Critic's Credit

True Story

She was a simple girl. She had dreams and aspirations. It was her effort in every field to give the best of her capabilities. She know her limitations as well. 

As she was hardworking and sincere she often got appreciation and encouragement from her teachers and elders. She never got the sense of pride in her but felt beautiful inside. 

As she grew up she went through school and reached her college level. This was one of the best colleges she could get admission into. She was happy that now she was studying the subjects of her liking and interest.

This college had students from all over the country and even foreign students. They belonged to the best schools. They had had the best education in terms of academics and were way ahead what was taught to her in the normal public school that she had attended.

But, this did not affect her in any way. She was never in competition with others. All she aimed was hard work and excellence in anything she chose to study or do. She kept doing her part. She was not so fluent in spoken English as her fellow girls as she was not from such a background but whenever she did an assignment in English language, her's came out to be among the best ones. 

Her college was a very active and lively one with some or the other activity going on there. Lots of creativity, talent and excellence was present in there. She felt good about her college. 

Once when she was talking about the greatness of her college in front of the brother of her childhood friend he exclaimed,

 "Leave alone what others are doing, tell me what you have done there!"

This was probably the rudest thing she had ever heard as she was a good student and almost all her teachers praised and liked her. No one among her acquaintances had ever told her such a thing. 

But this criticism was something that she learnt for the rest of her life. She kept thinking about it from time to time. She went ahead in life in terms of academics, always on the top list but still the thirst wasn't quenched. 

She realized soon that she was running after merit and qualifications which were not the mark of a person's worth. It soon dawned upon her that real knowledge, intelligence and wisdom were the ways a person deals in practical life and the ways a person actually acts.

Knowledge is not limited to books rather it manifests itself in the person's actions when he or she does something for the benefit of the society.

That one simple statement of criticism got her thinking every other while and she learnt a very important lesson in life.

Criticism or somebody telling you the flaws in your work or your opinion is not always bad. It sometimes turns out to be the changing force in your life.

She then started working on the real education, the education of practical life, the education of the true source of Knowledge, the education of self analysis and self improvement. She started working on expressing her feelings in the spontaneous and sincere ways. She started working on benefiting others with whatever she had collected as knowledge and wisdom over all those years.

A time came when her long awaited dream of becoming something in life and doing something worth while came true and she realized that her life has turned out to be of some help to others and has some meaning with all the useful stuff that she practically started doing.

The sentence by that friendly critic still boomerangs in her mind...but she finds it as a source of motivation for her to keep doing more and more and not to be dependent on any association with any person or institution to be proud of her identity. 

"Leave alone what others are doing, tell me what you have done..." 

The Treasure is Out!

                                                     

Alhamdulillah! many of us know the importance of good deeds during the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. We also know that fasting on the Day of Arafah expiates our sins for a year earlier and the one ahead. Allahu Akbar!

The treasure is being distributed! Are we running to collect it from Allah?

Each one of us has some or the other worry that is bothering us whether light or heavy. 

Each one of us is in need of Allah's infinite Mercy to get sins forgiven, to relieve our pain, to heal our illnesses and to get our needs fulfilled. 

This is another big chance after the Great Night of Ramadan that we ask whatever we want from Allah. 

Deeds can look small but they carry immense rewards during these blessed days. 

We can happily do small things for Pleasing Allah like:

• Giving a glass of water to someone
• Giving food/clothes/money/other good things in charity
• Smiling
• Feeding a stray animal
• Helping out in the house
• Reading the morning evening duas
• Reading other duas
• Reading the Quran with meaning
• Asking Allah for things that are close to our heart
• Being extra kind, good and beneficial to others 
  JUST TO PLEASE ALLAH!

It is Sunnah to recite takbeer (Allahu Akbar), tahmeed (Alhamdulillah), tahleel (Laa ilaaha ill-Allah), and tasbeeh (SubhanAllah) during the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. These words should be recited abundantly in the masajid, homes, streets and in every place where it is permissible to remember and glorify Allah.

“That they may witness things that are of benefit to them (reward of Hajj in the Hereafter and also some worldly gain from trade), and mention the Name of Allah on appointed days, over the beast of cattle that He has provided for them (for sacrifice).” [Surah Al-Haj:28]

Click to read more: 

http://productivemuslim.com/four-things-to-do-on-the-blessed-10-days-of-dhul-hijjah/#ixzz3lLwR61lE 

These are just a few things which I could come up with otherwise there are numerous ways we can earn rewards by doing small good deeds.

I hope and pray that during these Golden Days we as an Ummah are able to Please Allah the Almighty and Allah becomes happy with us and gives us back our lost glory.

May the light of Iman shine in our hearts the brightest and may all of us keep firm on the straight path.

Notes from a book

There are fifteen types of cures to remove sadness, grief or depression accrording to the Prophet's guidance (these consist in various supplications that are taught to us by our Prophet peace be upon him)

1. Affirming Allah's Oneness in His Lordship.
2. Affriming Allah's Oneness in the Worship.
3. Belief in the creed of Tawheed (There is no true God but Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His Messenger.
4. Praising Allah for not dealing with His slave with injustice and for not punishing him without a reason.
5. The slave's affirming that it is he who has committed the injustice.
6. Pleading to Allah by the most beloved methods to Him, by His Names, Attributes, such as Al Hayy (the Ever Living), Al Qayyum ( Who sustains everything and everyone).
7. Depending and relying on Allah alone for everything.
8. The slave affirms that his hope is only in Allah.
9. Acquiring the true dependence on Allah and relating all matters to Him, while admitting that the slave's forelock is in His Hands alone and that He does with it whatever He Wills. Also admitting that Allah's decision on the slave will certainly come to pass and that His Judgment is certainly just.
10. The slave's heart should enjoy the gardens of the Quran and should make the Quran just like the spring of pure water to the animals. Also, the slave should use the light of the Quran to shatter the darkness of desires and lusts. The Quran should be one's companion when no one else is present; the comfort that relieves every type of calamity and the cure that discards every illness that attacks the slave's heart. In short, the Quran should be the remover of sadness and the end of depression and grief.
11. Turning to Istighfar, seeking forgiveness from Allah.
12. Repenting to Allah.
13. Performing Jihad in Allah's cause.
14. Performing prayer
15. Relating all power and strength to He Who grasps them in His Hands.

Patience

To Faith, Sabr (patience) is just like the head to the body. There are three types of Sabr. 

First, there is the Sabr while performing Allah’s Commands, so that one does not ignore (or get bored with) them. 

There is a sabr with shunning the prohibitions, so that one does not violate them. 

There is also a sabr with the appointed destiny and decisions of Allah, so that one is not enraged because of them. 

When one acquires all three types of Sabr, his sabr will be complete and the delight of this and the Next life will be whole, along with gaining and winning in both lives. No person shall achieve these great prizes except by passing over the Sirat (the bridge over Hell). 

Umar radhiAllahu anhu said, “We achieve the best living by Sabr.”

Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet (ﷺ(By Imam Ibn Qayyim Al Jauziyah

Natural? Calamity?

What is nature and what is a calamity?

Does nature make up things itself? Do calamities occur without any underlying factor? 

Nature, if we truly look around and see, is quite balanced and well organized. Don't we see how each and everything has it's assigned place and station? How things are coordination with each other in maintaining a balance?

We see the mountains standing firm. We see rivers flowing down from the top of mountains. We see blooming flowers with amazing colors, shapes and sizes. We see the trees of varied heights and qualities. We see the earth and the ocean. Each and every thing that is natural seems to have it's own grace and beauty and it looks like it is doing it's duty with utmost obedience. When the grace and beauty of nature is meddled with, attacked or when it is stolen then we can see how the whole balance disrupts. Not only this, nature is there for us. We are also an inseparable part of nature. Don't we get our needs fulfilled through naturally produced things; fruits, vegetables, water, air, wood etc.? Don't we see how nature is subservient to us and our needs? But we do not acknowledge this and do not appreciate this. We want nature to keep up it's good work even when we are attacking, snatching and tearing apart it's beauty and serenity.

By the way, nature, which is so well organized, beautiful and useful to us, is by no means a work of science or scientists. Nothing that we can see exists on it's own. Everything has a process and an origin. Some people give the credit of creation to scientific and chemical processes and changes completely. They forget that each and everything that is present on the face of this earth is not there by accident. If you ponder you will see how each component of nature is in coordination with the other. We can see the skies, the earth, the seas and the clouds. We all know how the rain is formed but we never think about the fact that nature does not do it's work in a mechanical manner unless there is something governing it. Nature is nothing but a creation. A creation of some power which is greater than anything that has origin or existence. The Power which even the scientists admit at the crux of the matter. They also stop at a point where all their theories come to an end. They can not explain further in the light of chemical formulas or eruptions. The how, why and who questions are answered in the highest branches of science with the notion that there is something more to what already has been discovered by human mind. 

Yes, even the most brilliant and most advanced science experts admit that there is still something which is not within the human grasp.

Paul Davies (British astrophysicist): "There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all....It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe....The impression of design is overwhelming". 

Alan Sandage (winner of the Crawford prize in astronomy): "I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing." 

John O'Keefe (astronomer at NASA): "We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures.. .. If the Universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in."

Roger Penrose (mathematician and author): "I would say the universe has a purpose. It's not there just somehow by chance." 

And there are numerous other geniuses and masterminds who have admitted the force behind everything that exists.

And that is nothing but God.

Who can say that whatever is so beautifully, artistically and amazingly done is a work of accident or chance?

God has displayed His signs for all to see. Those with the physical eyes alone see the apparent beauty of nature and those with the eyes of wisdom see the truth behind it.

When everything is so well planned and at our service then we are responsible for it. We should be taking care of it and maintaining it's grandeur and balance.

We should be acting as thankful and humble receivers of such amazing bounties by the One Whom haven't yet seen and He takes care of all our needs...every single second.

We need to be obedient to Him. 

It is our duty to search Him in His signs and to seek knowledge to know Him. 

Don't we feel awe inspired when we see the wonders of nature and when man creates something amazing we are all appreciative and surprised?

Don't we enjoy each and every bit of things that are at our disposal, the origin of all those things is ultimately the nature and it's resources provided by God?

We should be pondering on all this. We should be seeking out to know Who has made us and why? 

Why are we born and then taken away?

Why are we here on this earth with everything already set up for us?

Where do we go away after living for a certain time?

All these questions should come up in a thinking mind and one should ponder on the signs of God in nature.

Natural calamities are not just natural and not just calamities. They are signs for us. They are tests for us. They come to shake us. To remind us that everything is not in our control. There is He Who controls everything.

We must turn to Him for all our needs.

God is the Creator of nature and sometimes the disaster in nature is because the users of it are not behaving the way they should be. 

They should not be lost in the temporary joys of life rather should also ponder on their end.

We have come from God and we see so many of our fellows returning back. We too will one day. 

We will go back to where we came from. 

An Open Letter to God.

In the Name of God the Most Kind the Most Merciful

O My Lord! You are the Creator and Shaper of all that exists. You are Ever-Living and The Most Kind. You listen to the prayers of anyone who calls upon You.
I am your slave. You have created me. I have sinned and erred. I have made so many mistakes. I have wronged myself. I acknowledge all my sins which I did out of ignorance, silliness, carelessness or with intention.
I acknowledge that You alone have all the Power over all things. It is only You Who can forgive sins. I believe in You and bear Witness that You are the One and Only God. 
I do not assign any partners with You. You alone I worship, You alone I seek help from and You alone I ask for all my needs. 
I am a weak slave of Yours who has not shown up to the mark that You have ordered Your servants. 
Please my Lord, make me such that I repent sincerely of all my sins and never come back to them. Big or small, open or hidden and all those sins which I am even unaware of, I plead You to remove them from me. Remove them as if there were none and wash away all the dirt and burden of sins from my heart. 
Accept my repentance O God! and remove all the worries that are bothering me. Accept the repentance of all Your believing servants and remove their difficulties. Give the guidance to all those who are wandering in the wilderness and they are not aware of the light of Faith. 
Accept the repentance of all the slaves who recognize You as their Lord and forgive them.
Remove the hardships of diseases, calamities, restricted provision and enmity among Your slaves. O listener of Prayers, You listen to the minutest of Your Creatures in the darkest and deepest of depths. 

Make Your slaves such that they 

recognize Your Blessings and 

Thank You always, 

Remember You Always, 

Give up all sins, 

Worship You Alone sincerely, 

Pray and fulfill all their duties and obligations toward You and Your slaves. 

Make us such that we observe all Your commands with such Faith and beauty that You accept all our worship and good deeds.

O Lord! make me among those whom You have chosen for Guidance, Forgiveness and Mercy on the Day when all Your creation will be gathered. Make me among those Whom You forgive out of Your limitless Mercy.
O Lord! Please Help the people who are suffering on this earth. Please make the believers such that they adhere to Your Commands. Make them good examples for others to see. 
O Lord, accept my prayers and give us peace and tranquility in this world and the next.
Your Humble Slave. 

The Muslimah Speaks....

 

The Muslimah Speaks; Her Voice, Her Spirit 

is a collection of beautiful, heart touching poetry by Muslim Women from around the world. They have expressed their feelings on various topics from worship, life, Islam, Hijab, rights of women and various others.

It is enlightening and inspiring to read the Poetic expressions straight from the heart of the most misunderstood and underestimated women of the world...the Muslimahs. 

The are powerful, graceful, talented, modest, well equipped with their rights to express, choose or decline. They have a mind of their own and a heart full of love, devotion and trust in their Lord, The Almighty Allah. They know their roles as mothers, daughters and wives. They have a heavy responsibility to contribute to the society through their strengths of Eman, Ihsan and Islam. They make the world a better place by working on the guidelines of Islam and adopting a life which is loved by Allah...the life of obedience and devotion.

They represent the modest, peace-loving and productive part of a society which is built on values and hard work.

Read their thoughts and feelings and get a glimpse of what morals and standards the Muslimahs reflect! What they speak and what is their substance ! 
Have a look and get enlightened and inspired. 

Get your copy now on:

http://www.amazon.com/Muslimah-Speaks-Her-Voice-Spirit-ebook/dp/B00JPK7OAK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1399588719

https://www.createspace.com/4699471

She is after me...

     

She is always after me. She spies on me and never leaves me alone. She doesn't let me sit in peace...always being critical, always admonishing...I am never free from her constant watch. She inspects me and tries to find out everything about me. I don't feel comfortable with her always around me. But she is not ready to leave me. I can not get rid of her either. She stays with me and we are inseparable. She nags me for being lazy, for doing things the wrong way and even for thinking in a negative manner! 

Although I do not like her constant monitoring over me, I can not do without her. She has to be with me and I actually need her critique and advice. I simply can not do without her.

I do not like her because she doesn't let me live in a carefree manner, she doesn't let me waste my time as I please, she doesn't let me abandon my duties and when I behave badly she gets even more strict. 

If she goes away and leaves me alone I will not exist any more. I keep on doing the tough things and the things that I do not feel like doing just because of her. She gets me to do things that matter to me the most and are in my favor but sometimes such things call for hard work, giving up sleep, getting up and going and just doing the action. She is always after me to improve myself and never likes it when I lag behind or feel sluggish. 

I can not but let her do her will even if she doesn't let me live in ease and comfort, joy and playfulness and enjoyment and irresponsible attitude. She wants to see me keep on struggling and working toward a better me though I have fallen many many times and she has seen it herself. But she believes in me. She wants me not to give up and wants me to keep going till the end...till the time when she leaves me but still does not...she will leave but will again take me with her...

I will be with her where ever she goes...

she is my inner voice...

my conscience...

the 'me' which needs to be under constant watch and scrutiny and it is best for me I know.

Where have they gone?

I used to be with them, talk and laugh with them, and they were a part of my life...they are no more now.

My parents whom I used to love and look up to for each and every thing in life..they are no more now.

My loved ones, my relatives and friends...my neighbors, school mates and acquaintances...many have gone away...they are no more now.

Where have they gone? 

They were so lively, so full of energy and activity, they were so ambitious and full of aspirations...all is left behind and they have gone past.

They are now just memories. They are now just the things that they had taught me through their life, their actions and their words. 

They are alive in the sense of the work they did and the legacy that they left behind.

Howsoever hardworking one might be, howsoever healthy and smart...he or she leaves this world and that too without any prior notice. It is highly desirable that a person thinks of this as the most predictable thing in life that one can be overtaken by death any time...any moment.

The memories of those who have left me and passed away are what keep me thinking that a person as a physical body might be there no more but his or her values, words, teachings, wisdom and way of life can have a great impact on others.

One of my friends from high school was highly ambitious. She was doing her Ph.D and had almost completed it when suddenly one day she was detected with blood cancer. She stayed alive for a few years and was in bed for chemo therapy. She was brave. Her struggle with life continued but she never gave up. She used to tell us that it was what God had decreed for her. She prayed and supplicated and never gave in. Then one day life handed her over to her everlasting abode. May she rest in peace.

So was my father, a very hardworking and energetic man. He was always in research, learning and teaching. He left the world but his work, his thoughts, his open mindedness and his affection still benefit us and others. 

Where are those people now? We can never tell for sure what happens to them after they die. But we can always pray for them and get a good lesson for our own selves. Just the way they are remembered for all their good deeds, actions and words we too will be remembered for the same. 

We might not be around in the physical form but our ongoing beneficial deeds will benefit others. We must learn the lesson from other's demise and leave such legacies behind that will keep us alive even after we die. 

These people are there within the memories of those whom they affected in a pleasant way, whom they loved sincerely, for whom they were helpful and caring and to whom they were examples or courage, love, hard work and sincerity. 

The Hierarchy of Love

Love! 

One look at this word and you feel good about it!

We have been exposed to many variations of love but the only thing that is dominant in all of them is sacrifice.

Even in the love of worldly things people sacrifice their time, their comfort, their energies and their life itself! 

But love for people requires even greater sacrifice. The sacrifice of self, ego and personal preferences sometimes.

Love demands attention, care and possession too. 

The highest form of love which is unique and has no equal in any of the worldly and physical forms of love, which demands loyalty, submission and devotion not for it's own benefit but for the sole benefit of the lover, is the Love for our Creator. 

The Creator is the source of all Love. He is the most loving to His Creatures. He loves them much more than a mother loves her child. He wants the best for them. He has prepared everlasting joys for those who submit to Him and seek His love. He is in no 'need' of our love but because He loves us He wants to see us in the best of places-the Paradise! We can achieve it by loving Him and obeying His commands with sincerity.

The Hierarchy of Love for the Believers thus reaches up to the source of Love- 

The Creator

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then His Messenger The Last Prophet Muhammad 

Peace be Upon him 

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and then the parents

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the family

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friends and

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the Whole of Muslim Community who

Submit to the Will of Allah the Almighty!

Guests are a blessing!

When guests come to a home the whole environment comes lively. Every thing seems to welcome them. Even the inanimate things seem to have an association with the guest. You try to put things into their places, clean, dust and make arrangements. The otherwise normal and static routine just comes alive with the mere mention of a guest. You try to see that every corner of your home is in order. You take out your best things in store to make the house more welcoming and appealing to the guests. Why is this so? 
The reason is that the guests bring with them the blessings. They bring with them happiness and some bonding which makes you feel owned, liked and worthy. 
They make you feel that they trust you. Guests are people who come to make you realize that for them you are important. They care to meet you and spend time with you. 
Think about it..how their arrival makes everyone smile..giving gestures of welcome and thankfulness.
Whether they stay with you for a while or some more still your home is completely changed beaming with pleasant vibes and you can notice how you suddenly feel active and vibrant to make them comfortable and offer them your best in everything.
Not to mention the best food that you try to offer them, the best cutlery you use and and and...the best way you present yourself in terms of clothes and manners!! 
So to be more specific...guests come to make you lively and energetic with all the positive energy. They are a blessing indeed, sent by God to make you feel loved and appreciated, to make you feel trusted and to bring out the best in you.

Loving the Hater!?

And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. 
41:34 

The Noble Quran 

Love is something that everyone likes and hate has no takers. 

When you know that someone hates you it is naturally difficult and seemingly impossible to love that person. This is human but not impractical.  It can be achieved by humans who know the art of forgiving. Those who forgive have a hard time forgetting. When both of these states are achieved it becomes possible to even love your hater! 

Actually the forgiver begins to find himself in a position where he can see that there is something or the other that led to that person's hate. When he realizes that he uses his wisdom not to instigate that very thing and not to make it obvious every time in front of that person.

Actually the hater hates only when he feels uncomfortable about something in you. Either he is jealous, angry or not ready to accept you. 

If it is your intelligence, your worth or your position that makes him jealous and hateful then it is easy for you to control the influence in front of that person (provided that you like to forgive and stay peaceful and calm with him). 

The positive thing that the hater offers you is the feeling that there is something in you that is worth a thought!!

What will hate benefit him with anyway? Hatred does harm both the hater and the hated one. Learn what makes him hate you and then try not to flaunt that when you confront him. Your thoughtfulness and kindness can turn his hate into love! This can happen, has happened and will happen only when you want to replace his hatred with love, when you want to free him of this discomfort and when you want to forgive and forget! Difficult it is, for sure. But isn't love better than hatred? Isn't harmony better than discord? 

Spread love, replace hatred, try to forgive and do not flaunt your brilliance all the time! 

When you come to the hater with warmth, giving him worth, showing him that even his worst feelings didn't put you off, for it wasn't for the things that he hated but for the person that you actually were behind all your shine and worth; a simple person, a loving and peaceful person. A person who prefers love over hatred. 

Which one do you want to hit?

Parents

Parents are like a tree with a dense shade. They protect you, make you feel secure and comfortable.

Even when they are not around they have left the warmth and values with you which keep you strong and well placed. 

As long as they are alive we must take good care of them and respect them. We might find the changes in them as they grow old in the form of them being a little impatient or irritable but we must understand that they have become like children again in this frail age. 

As they were cheerful and patient with us when we were small and made numerous demands we should try our best to be a little forbearing and patient with them.

God loves those who are obedient and kind to their parents. 

Let us put our best in taking care of our parents if they are with us and if they have passed away, the best thing we can do now is do make lots of prayers for them and give in charity so that God keep showering His blessings on them.

Keep your duty and be patient with them especially in their old age. 

Keeping busy.

The secret is keeping busy doing constructive and beneficial things.

Keeping busy has lots of advantages. A person who keeps herself occupied has no time to waste. She has no time for over thinking and taking tension. It is a great blessing in the sense that she does not bother about the negativity in life. 

When one keeps busy with some or the other work that she likes and loves to do she does not have time to needlessly think about others. She has all the things around her but she just does not have spare time to brood over unnecessary things in life. When we keep busy with things we do not pay much attention to the views and opinions of others about us. sometimes those views harm us in the way that they hurt and discourage us. But if a person is too busy she will not have enough time to think over what others said about her or what somebody did to her which made her feel bad. She remembers everything but as she is busy she is not getting time for all these things which is a good sign. 

Keeping busy and loving what we do is very important to lead a happy and contented life. Each of us should be working toward a focus and purpose in life. Nobody runs aimlessly without direction. There should be a direction, an aim and a set of priorities to get the focus on. The purpose or direction itself is the driving force or motivation for any person's meaningful life. 

So, set a target, find your priorities, work toward it daily and keep yourself busy. 

Personal Touch

 I had never been good at judging others although I had been a student of Psychology for many years. I have come to realize that no bookish knowledge can be beneficial for you until you get to have some practical experiences related to it. Whatsoever we read in books does not seem to go into our heads until we get a first hand experience of it.

It is expected of a psychology student that he/she might be having a good understanding of the human behavior, but when real life situations occur whereby one needs to have such an understanding of the persons around we require some period of time to achieve it.

You actually need to get interacted with the person and that too for a good period of time to get a glimpse into his/her nature and behavior. It is possible only over a time-period that one really gets to know people.

Otherwise, only a part of the personality is revealed to us. When we actually live with someone then we know him better. Also, long-lasting friendships and marriages are good examples of how people get to know each other well and then find happiness together. They know each other's weaknesses well so they get along taking each other's faults and good points.

Some aspects of people's personalities can be very obvious and for that we do not need much time to understand them. Some behaviors and expressions are so apparent that you can easily tell if a person is of what type. But as we do not always take so much time while interacting with each and every person that we meet in daily life we tend to take them at face value and they do the same with us. 

Hence, the routine courtesies and manners play a vital role in making us acceptable and welcome in other's zone and vice versa.

General behaviors and expressions are sometimes skin deep and we have to take others at face value and the true nature of the person lies inside him, unrevealed, hidden. 

Just Around the Corner

They are playing hide and seek. The first one has to run around the streets, lanes and by-lanes, cross-roads and junctions and go about the place anywhere. 

The second one is supposed to hide somewhere in any of these areas and show up at any corner of the street suddenly. 

As soon as the second hiding playmate finds the first one at any point the game is over for the first one. She will lose and the second one will be the winner. 

The first one just keeps on taking the tour of the place and during the game she forgets that her playmate will come by at any point and catch her. 

For a while during her running around and touring in the game she forgets about the partner and enjoys her journey around the lanes and by-lanes. 

At some place she finds beautiful flowers so she stops by and smells them. At the other corner she finds an ice-cream cart and she buys one for herself and enjoys it. 

Then she moves on and finds new places to discover and gets fascinated by the buildings, beautiful houses and graffiti on the walls. 

Now she has completely forgotten that she was in a game! 

She hops around, jumping and running and singing to herself. 

At one point as she turns around the corner of a street she finds her playmate standing there...! She says to her,"Gotcha!" 

And this one is taken by surprise! She can not do anything now. 

She has lost the game. 

She goes with her mate silently. 

The first one is named Life and the second "Death". 

Yes, death is just around the corner. 

We better be prepared before it takes us by surprise. 

We should not forget the end of the game while being in it. 

The game will be lost one day. The fun will not go with you but the endeavor will. 

Have Faith.

As human beings we are weak and erring. No one on the face of this earth is perfect. It is natural that we forget, fall into error and make mistakes. This does not mean that we will not be conscious of it. It simply means that we do not do all these mistakes and wrongs purposely, deliberately or intentionally rather we are caught in a moment of weakness, forgetfulness, negligence, irresponsible behavior and the promptings of the devil. Any of the mentioned things can happen and make us do the thing in the undesirable way. 

The thing which is now to keep in mind is that we realize that we have done something wrong. It keeps us poking and twitching in our heart to the point that we are unable to get it off our thoughts. This is the first step toward the journey of self analysis and finally self actualization. We have realized that we have done some bad thing. First we recognize it as something bad and secondly we accept that we have done it. 

From this step begin the other steps which can lead us to a state where we can feel light and free of the burden of wrongdoing.

After we realize our mistake we feel bad about it. We feel guilty and remorseful. We can have the choice of letting us be in the state and always bear a burden upon us. The other choice being accepting the mistake and consciously seeking to rectify it. 

We can see now the nature of our wrong and according make amends. If we have hurt someone verbally or physically we can always ask him or her to forgive us. We can do some good to the same person and try erasing the effect of our misbehavior. In the similar way we can rectify any wrong done by us through admitting and saying that we are sorry about that. 

If it is something against our own selves which no one knows and only we know in our hearts about it then we need not make it known to anyone. We can just take sometime to ourselves and think over it. We can ponder over the reasons as to why it happened. Then we can firmly resolve never to repeat the same thing again. Here comes the power of Faith and Prayers. We all know that we are created beings and our Creator is far superior to our humble selves. Our Faith gives us hope of forgiveness from His Vast and Unlimited Mercy. 

We just need to have faith in ourselves and not punish ourselves by always brooding over the mistakes and remaining sad and hopeless. On the contrary we should be positive in accepting that we did a mistake and sincerely want to put things into place again. The Faith in the Creator gives us the Hope and Courage to carry on and move on in life howsoever bad we have been but only have sincerely felt the need to cleanse ourselves of all our wrongs and to free ourselves from the burden of guilt and remorse. 

The conscious efforts not to repeat the same mistakes again can finally lead to lesser chances of falling deep into the same mistakes. Have Faith. Have Courage. Have Hope and Just Move on in Life with Sincerity and Honesty. 

The Tongue!

The tongue is indeed a miracle from the Creator and a great blessing. Have we ever pondered on the working of the tongue? How does it move and how do the sounds and words come out of our mouths? How is speech related to the movement of the tongue? 

This is just one of the numerous and mind boggling workings of the human body. When you think about how we have come into being and how we grow up from a baby to a full human you can not stop wondering and thinking about what the driving force is. 

The tongue is no less than a miracle and a great blessing because with it's help we are able to communicate with each other. It has given the human beings so many ways to express ourselves. We use numerous words and languages to talk and express our views. 

 Only when tongue, lips and teeth work together do sounds from the throat turn into understandable letters and words. The tongue is extremely agile and quick: It can produce more than 90 words per minute, using more than 20 different movements. The tongue is essential for pronouncing the consonants “t”, “d”, “l” or the rolling “r”. When pronouncing the letter “k” the tongue is slightly narrowed at the back. And when we say “s”, the tip of the tongue moves backwards. If the tip of the tongue remains between the teeth, we hear a typical lisp.

The fact that the tongue is essential for speaking can also be seen in the ability of parrots to imitate human language: Although they only have a very simple organ of speech with fewer muscle groups than humans, they have an extraordinarily thick tongue. This helps them to produce the sounds of human language. They can touch the tip of their tongue to certain points of articulation in their mouth to imitate human words in a deceptively similar way.

Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0033703/

Speech is bestowed only to human beings. No creature can communicate the way a human can.

The tongue and the speech are great source to either spread goodness or otherwise. It is indeed wise to think about a very good use of this great blessing that we carry around. We can make friends or foes by the good and bad use of the tongue. We can tell lies or always speak the truth. The choice is ours.