Working Late Hours

Moral of the story: In these days of cost cutting, leave the office EARLY!


Thanks Youssef :-)

Yasmina's Locks of Love

Last Saturday, four year old Yasmina (my cousin's daughter), had a big event! She had her very first haircut... and for a good cause too :-) She donated 11 inches of her hair to Locks of Love. Basically her mom and dad were talking about it for a while, how it is nice to donate locks of your hair to little kids who are sick and lost their hair due to sickness...

Yaya... very proud of you little princess :-)


Check this video out!



Kids have pure hearts!

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?

However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important.

David J. Pollay explains his story in this way….

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab.

Here's what happened……………

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy - and I mean…he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

"Many people are like Garbage Trucks.

They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.

And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did.



"I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets.

Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't.



Believe that everything happens for a reason. Never let the Garbage Truck run over you…

Shit!

As received by email ;-)
Cheers!


A stranger was seated next to a little girl on the airplane when the stranger turned to her and said, 'Let's talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.'

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger, 'What would you like to talk about?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said the stranger. 'How about nuclear power?' and he smiles.

'OK,' she said. 'That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass - . Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?'

The stranger, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, 'Hmmm, I have no idea.'

To which the little girl replies, 'Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?

Randy Pausch

This is a very moving video! It reminded me of Tarek, my cousin who passed away earlier this year and suffered from pancreatic cancer! May his soul rests in peace.

The video below is called "The Last Lecture" given by Pausch!


I cried so much while watching this video! This man is such an inspiration! He is so brave and full of life. I admire him. He is also about few weeks younger than Tarek.

You can read more about him/The Last Lecture by clicking here.

Or check out Randy's Site.

Life!

Tarek passed away on February 9th... My cousin delivered a baby boy on February 17th!
Life is funny!

Last week we were mourning, and today we are thrilled to welcome a new bundle of joy in the family!

A member of the family is gone, and a new member is added! This is somehow an irreplaceable replacement!

C'est la vie!

Random

I come to work in the morning and I see those merc##en##ari##es at each door/gate (entrances). Basically, there have been some couple of fights here, with the police and ambulances getting involved, along with security guards (I would rather not mention the reason behind those fights because its STUPID)! Its is very uncomfortable!!!

I pass by them without making eye contact! They are scary! They look savage I swear, as if they are waiting for something to happen. I can see their reflection on the glass doors and they stare at each and everyone of us (us being the people who come in and out of the building). Those men and their looks are really making me feel uneasy and uncomfortable! I hope one day I come to work in peaceful environment.

EEEEK!

Great story on Gandhism

I received this by email earlier this week, and thought of sharing it with you all :-)
Ansam
________________________________


Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non violence, in his June 9 lecture at the
University of Puerto Rico, shared the following story:

I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends or go to the movies.

One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father asked me to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced.

When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, "I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together."

After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time. It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and got the car and hurried to where my father was waitingfor me, it was almost 6:00.

He anxiously asked me, "Why were you late?"

I was so ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, "The car wasn't ready, so I had to wait," not realizing that he had already called the garage. When he caught me in the lie, he said: "There's something wrong in the way I brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the truth. In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 miles and think about it."

So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads.

I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again.

I often think about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But this single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened yesterday. That is the power of non-violence.

Karma Rocks

"My Name is Earl"

Do you watch that show? I like it a lot.. it makes me laugh, I think its hilarious, plus I think Karma rocks! I love Karma, don't you? I found out that not so many people I know like this show... or at least not as much as I do! Interesting!!

Well... Karma is an action or deed understood as denoting the "cause & effect" cycle described in many philosophies such as in Hinduism and Buddhism. The effects of all those deeds are cumulative. It actively create past, present, and future experiences that consequently makes us responsible for our own life and the pain and/or joy it brings.

It is believed that the fruit of your actions are called Larma-phala, and that all living creatures are responsible for their actions and effects of those actions.

According to Earl, the main character in the show I love, Karma is about learning, changing, and understanding... becoming a better person and trying to make up for your past mistakes. Earl started it when he got a hold of the idea of Karma. To him, Karma is like a teacher that gives us painful lessons to help us grow better... Basically it is showing us that what comes around goes around.

So the show starts with Earl winning this lottery ticket for $100,000 and short after he lose it when he is hit by a car. While watching TV in the hospital he hears about Karma on the show "Last Call with Carson Daly". Now who could be dense enough to think that Karma is the brainchild of "Last Call with Carson Daly?" LOL. I love Earl! OK so then he make this list of of all the bad deeds hes done, and after few good deeds his $100,00 lottery ticket comes back to him! He then decides to use that money to cross out some of the bad deeds in that list.

Over all the show is super duper hilarious! Not really portraying Karma, but its a good laugh!

What doesnt Kill you makes you stronger! Right?

So.. is that statement true?
There are two arguments to this statement..

1. Agreeing on that it will make you stronger...
So more experiences throughout life may hurt you more and more... and when in the process of getting hurt, you are somehow less vulnerable every time it hits... It makes you more aware of life, and you can learn from your mistake and avoid'em next time around, but that doesnt mean that you will get hurt less... but it does make you stronger and ready to fight it faster. Been there, done this, done that! So really... lots of bad experiences in life does make you stronger.... IF it doesn't kill you first :-P

2. Disagreeing on that it will make you stronger...
Say that some people get into a car accident and then are left disabled for life! Not just car accidents, but also some diseases too... Take dementia for example. A person's mental state will deteriorate... translation = it is affecting the mental state but doesn't really kill you.. and even when trying to fight it... you are not getting any stronger!!

For the most part.. I think I agree... maybe when going down the hill you dont like the process, and you feel rather weaker than stronger... then when you beat it.. you become stronger... now think for a moment, what does it make you stronger for? For the next time it hits?

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may - Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting;
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best, which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Time still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

Image 1: Oil painting on canvas created in 1908 by British Pre-Raphaelite artists John William Waterhouse

Image 2: Oil painting on canvas created in 1909 by British Pre-Raphaelite artists John William Waterhouse