Tag: dailyprompt

daily prompt

Instincts or Intuition

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Do you trust your instincts?

Who can’t or won’t trust their instincts? It’s a conscious, automatic reaction after certain stimuli; a warning, a threat, or a danger, and we have to respond. Otherwise, we will be in a big, big trouble. Imagine you find a lion in your garden. Would you open your arms wide for a hug or run for your life?

But the story is different with intuition. Totally different. This is because intuition is subconscious. You think, feel, and react without reason, without stimuli, without even understanding why.  Imagine you see someone for the first time in a group of people you are introduced to for the first time. It was at this first encounter when  you decide that they would never be your friend. Later, perhaps within a few months, you find out that you made the right decision because there was nothing mutual you could have shared with that person.

Can we trust our intuitions? I believe that would be different from one person to another, because we are different. Intuition is stimulated by our different life experiences, our intelligence, and talents. or it might be a blessing from God. That’s why some people ignore this gift while others not only keep it in mind but also in their actual decisions.

And I do trust my own intuition.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

All

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What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

I love January because it’s first month of the year. It always comes with a new, long year ahead.

I love February because it’s the shortest month of the year, always quick to go.

I love March because it stretches the day a bit longer to announce the coming of spring. 

I love April because it’s all springy with flower blooms and bees buzzing.

I love May because my first son was born in May with its warm and bright days.

I love June because it’s the beginning of the summer and it’s time to put those heavy winter coats away.

I love July because it was when I left home and started my adventure with my husband abroad many years ago.

I love August,the month of holidays and weddings. My wedding was in August. It’s funny how hot and humid it was that day.

I love September becuase that’s when I was born, when I first went to school, when my children first went to school, and when all children first go to school.

I love October becuase that’s when my middle son was born in this beautiful, colourful month.

I love November because it’s when autumn comes to its peak. It comes with double prizes, two close birthdays: my husband’s and my daughter’s.

And finally, December. I love it because it’s finally the end of a long year with all its ups and down, its memories and lessons.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Perhaps I am

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What’s the first impression you want to give people?

The first impression is how we perceive others, isn’t it?. But that’s a bit confusing, as things differ not only from one another but also through communication and interaction.

At first sight, with just one quick look, we might like or dislike others. After informal or formal encouter, we might estimate others’ status, postion, level of education, etc. But all of that might turn out to be wrong. First impression might be deceiving. We can’t judge a book mainly by its cover, right? But, first impressions might turn out to be genuine. The book with a beautiful cover might turn out to be a priceless gem.

Therefore, I think it is not the first impression that really matters. It’s what you want to be that matters, not what you want other people to perceive in you. In other words, if you ask me what do you want to be? ‘Kind’, I would say. Perhaps I am, perhaps I am not, but that I want to be whether others can perceive or not.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Books, daily prompt

Anne with E

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What book are you reading right now?

I guess you have read about the most popular children’s classic; Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. Have you read the series or watched its adaptation? Well, I highly recommend it if you haven’t done either.

I first discovered Anne of Green Gables during the lockdown in 2020 when nights seemed so long and quiet. My daughter couldn’t sleep well at night and to be honest I didn’t either. But then I thought it would be a good idea to watch something together until her body relaxed and sleep came. After a quick search, I found the full animated series of Ann of Green Gables online. In bed, snuggling together with her IPad, we watched one episode every single day. We giggled, we cried, we dreamed of Anne, and we learned a lot from her story. We really had a wonderful time.

Three years later, the whole book series of Anne Of Green Gables was my gift for my daughter’s twelfth birthday. She was excited to read them, at first, but couldn’t read more than a few chapters. ‘ I loved the animation more, mama,’ she told me though promised to try again. To this day, she hasn’t. You know that the one who ever says that TV kills your senses was so true.

It was just last month when I decided to borrow the book series from my daughter. She handed them all with a broad smile. I have already finished the first two books and I enjoyed every bit of it. The book took you back to a different generation, different people, different place, different fashion, and different food. It is full of sounds, colours, activities, tastes, and smells. Besides, everyone is very welcome to read it.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

Who doesn’t?

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Do you need time?

Time is what we are. More precisely, it is  what our life is.

When we are young, we don’t care about it, don’t think about it. Precious or not, we enjoy it. It streches long and green before us. But the older we become, the more we think about it and live every second of it. We no longer measure it as we live its all colours.

Can anyone say I don’t need time? Can anyone live without time? I doubt it.

Working, studying, writing, reading, making a family, raising children, cooking, cleaning, exercising, etc, all need time. Even our emotions need time.

Love needs time. Yes, one can fall in love at the first sight, in a split second. But,  it’s time that proves whether this love is an infatuation, a passing fancy, or genuine. Hate also needs time though one can hate at the first sight. Our attempts to get rid of this feeling or that need time. It’s time that can explain why and how we have the feeling and whether we will ever overcome it.

Of course, I need time.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Past, Present, and Future

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What will your life be like in three years?

Everyone has plans for today, tomorrow, next month or year. Are we going to achieve them or not, I believe only God knows. But, of course we can’t give up making plans and having dreams.

I heard some people say that when you keep talking about your plans and dreams, you’ll achieve them. It does happen. Sometimes. An old friend had made her mind to become a doctor and marry a doctor. She managed to achieve both though with a lot of problems and what I can describe as “extra support.” Sometimes the plans and dreams that consumed us, are not always the best. Your life might turn out just as you dreamed and planned but this doesn’t imply that it would turn out to be happy and peaceful.

That’s why I thought it would be better to think about last year/s plans instead. That’s what we already achieved. Then we can ask ourselves this question: Are we living the life we have been planing and dreaming to live today?  We might say yes, no, or somehow. But then we know what we did, why we did it, and whether we’ll keep on  with the same life or not?

At least we learn from the past, try to make changes in the present, and let the future surprise us.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Time doesn’t go back

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Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

No, it does but only, in our imagination.

Just close your eyes and go back in time. There are your big family gatherings, school trips, and your last year at high school with all its hardwork and true friendship. And here’s your wedding day, your first baby in your arms, your second playing around, and your third holding your hand. And could one ever forget that first day in a foreign land, the first friend abroad, and the new life. Can you ask time to stop at one of these moments, days, or years? I might have made that wish years ago, but not anymore.

There are pleasant moments, days, and years in one’s life, and there are also horrible ones. That’s life. It goes up and down. It’s hard to pick one day, or age or year without living the whole experience of it. That’s how we grow and how we change. Haven’t all these years and days and moments made us who we are today? Haven’t they given us all these wonderful memories to relish and re-live in in our imagination?

Does this make any sense? I hope it does.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Thanks so much

nhpureandsimple

You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for?

But I neither need your magic nor wishes.

I will lock the small door of the rusty lantern and hand it to one of the new robots. I’ll give my orders to take that lantern with its occupant on one of the spaceships and deliver it straight to hell.

We’ve had enough of the genies in the world turning it upside down.  Your wishes will be granted. The servant kept its word. Honest is that genie. Truly honest. That’s what old stories tell. Oh, poor children, poor us, to believe and imagine life will be rosy if only we have that lantern once!

But haven’t we ever thought why that genie was imprisoned in the lantern in the first place? No, we just need our wishes to come true.

Aren’t we capable of making our wishes come true? Yes, but why not take the shortcut.

What if one wishes for revenge, for destruction, for their own powerful survival? Of course, that’s also included in the genie’s package. Haven’t we let the genie out? That was his job, his one main job. Why else was he caught and sentenced to eternal prison in the lantern?

What about others who are wishing for peace, love, friendship, and happy life? Oh, sure the genei wouldn’t mind help with that somehow, but don’t blame him when others’ wishes blast those noble dreams into ashes.

Thank you very much, but I’ve grown out of the genie’s lies.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Sorry Moon

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How much would you pay to go to the moon?

Oh, the moon, such a miraculous creation!

It looks so beautiful, so romantic. Who wouldn’t like it? Who couldn’t be inspired by its luminous silver light on a dark night? Isn’t our calendar affected by the change of its amazing round shape throughout the month?

But of course, that’s how we see the moon from our Earth. In fact it’s so distant, so dark, so lifeless. Thanks to the sun, it has its beautiful light. Thanks to the spaceships, astronauts give it some life. They travel all the way to bounce on its surface as if they haven’t been bouncing enough on Earth for thousands of years.

But Adam lived on this Earth, and his offspring scattered all around it with different colours and tongues. That’s God’s plan.  God didn’t create us to live on the moon, but to watch it from far, far away. To understand how we are so weak and fragile that we can neither live without nor live on one of the simplest natural satellites, the moon.

Sorry, Moon, I won’t pay to go to you, but I’ll always be so, so happy to see you from far far away.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Let’s make it personal

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What major historical events do you remember?

But of course,  the major historical events are all related, like blood brothers, to inhuman man-made catastrophes, major catastrophes. So why not let the ‘big’ leaders of the world and their loyal devotees answer that? Their answers probably wouldn’t be different from what we learn at school.

So, let’s make it personal. Can there be a bit of alteration? Something like, ‘what is the best day you can describe as the major historical event in your life? That’s better, much better this way.

I was waiting at home, running from one window to another and looking out for my father. He used to bring my end of year exam results every year. I had never disappointed him, but this time was so different. I was shaking from head to toe. It was the result of my final exams in high school.  I studied hard that year with no private tutors, no extra help. I lost too much weight and looked miserable. All I wanted was to pass with honourable results. And I did. I glanced at my father walking down the street towards our house with a big smile on his face, and I knew I did it.  Not only did I get honourable marks, but my result was the second highrest at my school. Such an event had never happened in the history of my family.

That was the major historical event in my life. First, because my parents were so proud of me. Second, because my life had changed  significantly after that day.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla