You, Your Mind, Your Life

I have been pressing my younger sister to blog about her life experiences since she has been living such a diverse and interesting life. I have the same intentions though my life is less diverse than hers. The recent thought about writing n sharing our life stories is how it will be perceived. I was talking to few of my co-workers last night and started telling about some experiences of mine as a teenager in Pakistan. They looked amused. They kept asking questions which reassured me they are actively listening and want to know more. I often try to listen to myself as I speak, my attempt in improving myself. The images of my memories kept playing in my head as I listened to myself talking about them while trying to stay present at the ICU nurse station and also listen to the monitor alarms of patients. Then I started to switch place with my friends/audience and listen to my stories. That's when I questioned the reality of my experiences. I started wondering if my experiences sound...

United States of America, the land of hyphenated citizens, is like a safe house for many people around the world. It is certainly true for me. I wasn't born here but I have had many of my best experiences and opportunities here. I earned college degrees, chose my career (even changed it with no social limitation), worked as I wanted, made my own life choices (some didn't work well), broke old traditions without retribution etc. I can  go out of my house without fear of being raped and killed, can leave my house without a man accompanying me and dress as I preferr. I am safe from many life threatening phenomena that women face around the world. I have lived the best moments of my life here, in this land. But I can never venture too far from my afghan roots. I spent the crucial learning years of my life in Afghanistan. Most of my values and personal preferences are based on my upbringing in Afghan culture. Those values and standards were refined by the education I earned and the ...

Being Muslim is getting harder even in a liberal country like US. I blame it to the generalized ignorance that is gripping the land of the free. It was 5-6 years ago that I noticed ignorance was becoming the new trend. People were not smart, just smart mouthed. We started to over simplify theories, to summarize philosophies and lower standards and excuse continuous failure while accepting mediocre performances. At time, I didn't think much of the trend. I assumed it will die away with time. Obviously I was wrong. Ignorance became widespread between many layers of society and now it is the accepted norm. Just listen to some talk show hosts and news reporters and you will see what I mean. The content of their questions, the direction of their proposals and the background of their arguments are shockingly primitive and presumptive. You want to answer the question or argue the idea presented, but for immature debater like me, it gets confusing. Confusing because the question posed or t...

Life in Afghanistan was simple in all ways. Relationships, needs, work, house chores, celebrations, endings and beginnings even sufferings and pains were all simple. I miss simple life. As a child, you could play outside your house with friends and neighbors's kids, go to school, and help around the house. You didn't have many unnecessary facilities like smartphones, facebook and instagram to distract and confuse you. You would go to school in uniform and held accountable by your teachers and parents the same way for your behavior and academic accomplishments. You would follow your education to college, be married (probably arranged), have kids, maybe have an easy government job, struggle to make ends meet and see your kids grow old. You wouldn't have many options regarding your work environment or accessories to facilitate your chores around the house. Your older siblings or your in laws would limit your choices and in return provide support, social, financial and etc. E...

It is liberating to know that You are not the center of the universe. This means events of your life aren't scheduled around your desires and demands. So life happens. How do you live with that? You plan, you choose, you avoid and only a percentage of your life turns out as you want. To be honest, it is very liberating to know that you are not totally in charge of your life. It is Not all up to you. What is your attitude toward life now? Do you see your life as a series of unfortunate events or

Life is unfair and unpredictable. To say life is beautiful depends on your state of mind at the moment of confession. If you have been experiencing favorable situations recently, you will have a positive and hopeful outlook on life. However, calling life unfair and unpredictable is as objective as it gets. There are pleasure and pain in life. You can't avoid the pain nor can you increase your worldly pleasures, regardless of your intentions and efforts. The only way to live is to endure and rejoice the ups and downs of life and keep going. Keep going  for different reasons at different stages of your life. It's critical to find these reasons as they will keep you going. Again awareness is the key. Be aware that nothing lasts forever! 

Afghanistan is near and dear to my heart. It is the place where i grew up, where i spent my childhood and some of my teen years. I still remember playing outside till late, walking to school, taking public transportation to relatives house, celebrating Eid and Nawrooz and many family gatherings. Our house with its big yard planted with lots of vegetables and flowers was like the main attraction for close relatives and cousins. Life was pretty simple those days and very much enjoyable although we didn't have a lot of facilities that we have in the States. I vividly remember my sweet grandmother teaching me house chores and my parents helping me with my studies in the evenings.  I also remember the war times, running from place to place to hide, schools closing, the panic look on my parents' faces, the desperation in their voices and their reassurance that we will be fine. I remember how they used to hug us in an effort to shield us from pieces of bombs and rockets that just blew...