Tag: thoughts

daily prompt

People and places

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What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

People say we love places because of their people and we also hate places for their people. In other words, heaven is heaven because of their deserving inhabitants and hell is hell because of their deserving inhabitants. However, people have different perceptions of heaven and hell, especially on this worldly life.

In most cases, it depends on you,  the whole you, your beliefs, your morals, and your way of thinking to decide whether to visit a certain place or to never do. You might say that a place of worship is the place you will never wish to visit, and I might say that a nightclub is the place that I would never want to set foot in. Each of us has our own background, reasons, and fears. Yet, we can still walk along the same street and exchange greetings when our faces meet.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Look ahead

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Describe one positive change you have made in your life.

Throughout our life, change is both a must and a need. We have to change and we feel the change. A child has to grow into an adult though some can still have the innocence and transparency of a child’s spirit. We also need to embrace the change, whatever that change may be, e.g, our way of thinking, our clothing style, our daily routine, etc. C’est la vie.

Unfortunately, the changes we go through can be both positive and negative. Let’s put aside the negative changes for today and focus on the positive ones.

While walking with my children, when they were young, I used to tell them not to turn back. ‘You are supposed to watch for things before you because you are going ahead, and sometimes turning back result in harm and unneeded distraction.’ Over the years, I have been trying my best to adopt this strategy not only while walking but along my life journey . Never look back, never regret things that I couldn’t have or achieve. That’s one of the positive changes I have made in my life.

Look ahead and let bygones be bygones.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Out of two

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If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?

I am quite a reader, and it is not that I read everything, but I believe that books find their readers. Perhaps, as a reader, you are in need of  something;  be it company, a morale, an encouragement, a guidance, an advice, some fun, or anything else. I believe that the title, the front cover, the blurb, and the first page are what attract a reader to a book. And, that’s why I continue reading a book even though I find it boring later on and have to skip some parts and pages. But, I always find something new to learn.

Now, although I’ve come across too many fictional characters, there are mainly two I like and remember the most. Jane Eyre and Judy Abbot. If I have to choose one, it would be Jane Eyre. Why? Because, she learned to live, she was a good student and a good teacher, and she stood by her principles. She had neither bowed to humiliation nor yielded to temptation.

Isn’t it hard to feel like the odd one out, mainly because you care while others surrounding you do not, and they don’t understand why you care, either. But, these unique characters teach the readers that it’s the odd ones who are the  most remembered.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Just writing

That nightmare!

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How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?

The pandemic! That was such a hard time. Those long days were like a nightmare that you didn’t wish to live, but couldn’t escape either.

Do you remember the lock down, the vaccines, the masks, and the sanitizers? Didn’t you attempt to strengthen your immune system through food and exercise? Didn’t you keep up to date with the latest news of the pandemic? Wasn’t that what the majority were mainly concerned and worried about?

But then, we made it and lived it with its good and bad days because after every hardship comes ease, and, in most cases, there will be a light, an opening, at the end of the long dark tunnel. That’s how I believe.

I wept. I worried. I tried everything. I looked after my family, and they looked after me. And, with every passing day, I learned to pray more and to hand my worries and fears to my Creator. That’s how I adopted throughout those long days. That’s how my family and I   regained our high spirits, our fun indoors and outdoors, and our close ties together.

Just writing

Early to bed

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What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?

“Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Such a beautiful saying that encourages us to make full use of each day in our life.

Rising up with the sun, or better yet, a little before, makes the day so long that even the laziest person on earth will find himself with something to do.

People in olden times used to bake, cook, clean, and do all other housework, as well as outdoor chores before sunset. They would get up before sunrise and go to bed straight aftersunset. With no electricity, no takeaway meals, and no cleaners, they still lived and accomplished more than we do nowadays. And, they socialised every now and then, read books, and maintained close family ties.

It’s a good idea to make and follow your own routine. Since we are different, we will have different priorities and schedules. It would be wonderful if we all manage to keep this ‘early to bed, early to rise’ rule.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

A double-edged sword

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How has technology changed your job?

Truly, technology has made our life much easier, simpler and it’s saved much of our time. At work,  home,  shopping, communicating, travelling, reading,  writing,  the list of its benefits is indeed extensive. And, that’s the positive edge of the sword; the one that can heal and help.

On the other hand, technology has caused serious psychological and sociological issues; separation, lack of privacy, wasted time, immobility, lethargy, forgetfulness, triviality, conflicts, and more. The list of its disadvantages can go for ever. And, that’s the negative edge of the sword, the one that can be a poision and a killer.

Whatever your job is, and even if you are a student, this double-edged sword will always be your companion from now on. Yet, it is one of your possesssions. You park your car in the driveway, yet you have also two legs to walk. You have an assignment due within a couple of weeks and, with one click, AI could finish the job. But, you have also your brain, your own style, your own thoughts and feelings that can produce a genuinely unique piece of work.

We have been created to make use of things, not to be used by them. 

With all the best wishes,

Nahla 

daily prompt

Influential

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Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

You know that the most important aspect about the word ” influential” is the nature of the influence not the term itself. In other words, your most influential teacher is not necessarily the one who makes a good impression on students, nor should s/he be a good person.

I was in year seven when a new teacher introduced herself to my class as our English teacher. She was beautiful, chic, and clever. Since then, I loved my English lessons  and did my best to be one of the best in my class. However, there was a significant issue which, despite my young age, I couldn’t overlook. She was unfair and she was one of those compliments seekers.

One day, when she was collecting our English  homework, I told her I couldn’t do mine because I had joined the school trip with some students in my class the day before.  She told me I had to be punished. I told her that it was my first time not to hand in my homework on time. She insisted on the punishment. I was punished. I wept from all of my heart when my friend, sitting next to me, was forgiven. My friend joined the same trip and couldn’t do her homework either. But, my friend was a good compliment giver. Unfair, I said in my head and hated my teacher.

But you know what? Years later I earned a degree in English language from one of the first and most prestigious universities in Egypt. And a year later, I married and moved to live in the UK. And, later on,  I started my journey for postgraduate studies.

My teacher may have not been a good example, but I am certain that she was one of the hidden forces that pushed me to study English more and better. Did  I know that I would need English that much later on in my life? Absolutely not. That was God’s plan and my teacher played a significant role in it. 

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

No, not that!

nhpureandsimple

What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.

Honestly,  it is not how old are you? Because 23 + is the simplest and more convient answer unless you’re been asked for specific reasons  Besides that won’t be a lie!

But there are questions that are so annoying, so inquisitive. These are mostly with HOW Much?

How much do you earn? How much do you pay for this or that?

Although I don’t hate these sort of questions as questions been simply asked as inquiries because that would not been considered rude. What I hate is when the person knows already the answer and asks to test your reliability. Or, when the person is asking to make you regret paying that sum whether it is  little or big. Or, when the person is such a telltale or a gossip whose job is spreading the news of others lives.

Is that not hateful?

With the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Believe me…

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How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

Things that go opposite to our expectations, dreams, and  hard work should not be seen as a failure. It’s a redirection.

We will weep, scream, hate , curse …  . Why me? That’s unfair!  But,  one day we will understand  how we’ve been saved and guided. One day when we look back over past years, we’ll understand how that all was a redirection and we’ve succeded in a different way, making different things.

What we really need to do is that after our every explosive reaction to that hateful news of failure is to not give up,  to not freeze at that spot. One gate is closed, but others will be opened.

And, one more thing, be honest to yourself for, perhaps, you are the main cause of the failure.

That’s how I’ve learned to see things and keep going after every redirection in my life.

By the way, is success merely admitted by gaining a certificate, a position, fortune, fame…. I don’t think so.

God knows the best,

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

People

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What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

What’s better than meeting with different people!

Living in a different country, meeting with people of different culutres, people with different tongues, is such wonderful, though hard, experience that I believed I’ve been blessed to live.  This experience has been teaching me valuable lessons everyday.

I’m still the same me, however in a much wiser, much knowedgable, much careful version. And there’s one more important thing; when you’re living in a froiegn country, you’re granted a silver opportunity for choosing who you want to be. Either to cut your roots, discard them, borrow different seeds, and plant a complete different crop. Or, keep your old roots, plant then in the new soil, feed and water them every now and then. Believe me, you’ll be suprised how your old roots make a unique plant of you.

With all best wishes,

Nahla