My Letter to Santa..............................

Dear Santa:

I hope you are well. I know this a really busy time for you and this is a little last minute but, I am writing to let you know that I have really tried to be my best this past year and had a few things on my wish list. 





 







The list is not really just for me, but for the all the people in the world:

• To eliminate all illness (natural and manmade).
• To eradicate poverty and hunger. We can go to the moon, and we can create multi-nationals which claim billions, even trillions in profit, but we cannot (or will not) eradicate hunger and poverty.
• To be rid of personal and corporate greed, and especially of those companies that thrive on war.
•  To rid the world of organizations that prey on the ignorance of man.
• To hypnotise all terrorists into believing they are actually monks.
• To ban the manufacturing and use of arms, along with weapons of mass destruction and the need to bear arms so that innocent men, women and children do not become victims to the evil in men.
•  To remove all geographic borders and have all people become citizens of the world.
• To unite all faiths and religions and put a stop to all religious bickering, disagreements and resulting wars; after all, their teachings really are all the same.
• To be rid of hate or the need for revenge, and spread only love and brotherhood.
• To achieve racial, sexual and social equality in every corner of the world.
• To remove the illusion that `the Holidays` are a time for unnecessary gift giving and excessive materialism.
• To educate ignorant humans that love and only love is greatest gift of all and that we always need to keep our nearest and dearest close to us.
• To instil the values of being kind, helpful and respectful to others and to have good positive thoughts for oneself and others, regardless of religion, race, creed, sex or sexual orientation.
• To understand that we need to waste less, spend less and learn to be happy with what we have - to learn the elusive art of contentment and to rid us of all selfish illusions of materialistic grandeur, fame and fortune.
• To foster good, kind thoughts for all, even those who have harmed us - it is not what others do to us that matters, it is what we do to and for them.
• To realize that it is not our place to judge people for what they do and for who or what they are.  Instead, we can live by what a very wise man once said – “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. We need to ‘remove the planks in our own eyes before removing splinters from the eyes of others’.



I realize that this is may be a difficult list but these are the shackles that stop us from being human.  Please help us break free of them.

I have written to God but he seems to have left it all to humans, who have made all the wrong choices. Despite their apparent intelligence, most have forgotten who they really are.  They have become insensitive, selfish, vengeful, glory seeking, materialistic, vain, jealous, complacent, ungrateful, wasteful and most of all unkind and unloving.

This is probably what the Mayans meant as ‘the end of the world’. It was the end of `humanity`.

 Since Christmas is a time for Santa’s little miracles, I thought maybe you could help remind people of charity, selflessness, sympathy humility, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, contentment, gratefulness, and love; for these are basically decent people living in an indecent time. They just need a little reminder.

Then and only then will we experience the true spirit of Christmas – Peace and Love for All.

Sincerely,

Alnoor

So Many Unanswered Questions.......................

It seems that  life really is full of unanswered questions.
 
As life progresses, some of these get answered while others remain unanswered, and some more are added to the list.

Here is what I am questioning now:

Why is it that in our efforts in going green, some places have stopped using harsh chemicals for their lawns but have completely ignored the effects of pesticides? Aren't these seeping into the ground also?

Why are we constantly raising money for illness research by walks, lotteries or fundraising when the pharmaceutical industry gets huge tax breaks for research and development? (R and D - Rip  and Deceive)?

Why is it that governments cannot (or will not) put an end to all the preservatives and taste enhancers used by the food industry when in the long run, the effects of these very poisons cause so many illnesses and complications?


Why have governments , neither questioned nor  stopped the poisonous additives like high fructose corn syrup, MSG or all the preservatives that are currently being used?    Why has nobody questioned the effects of the artificial sweeteners, chemicals and additives to our bodies? These have made the world sicker and fatter. Oh but they are low calorie,  reduce spoilage and increase shelf life!!!!!!!

Why do 'natural' and 'no chemical added' foods cost more? They are natural!   I guess adding poisons to make these foods lethal makes them cheaper.

Why is it that we need to eat ten cobs of corn to get the same nutritional value of one cob of corn consumed 50 or a 100 years ago?


Why are the FDA and HPB (Health Protective Branch) approving  food and drugs which increase dependence and obesity, for ailments like diabetes. cholesterol and other illnesses in the population?    Do they really have our interests in mind? Can we really trust anything they say?

Why does the produce have to shine so much (like the apples in the grocery stores)? These waxes are known to cause a lot of complications in the body.
Are they more for preserving the apple than for maintaining human health?

Why is there more chlorine in my tap water than in my swimming pool?

Why is it that on Earth Day, we are asked to switch off the lights for an hour while the corporate buildings have most of their lights on every night?  IS IT ALL JUST LIP SERVICE?

So many unanswered questions..........................................................................................

Do you hate your life?

I was feeling really down the other day and googled "Why do I hate my life so much?"

I guess we all go through those days when we hate our lives and I was surprised to see that there were a lot of posts from teenagers, youth and adults, who at some point hated their lives.

We are not alone, even in despair.

One such post sounded like me  - 30 years ago (has it been that long?) and I decided that I needed to respond.

This was my response:

I ask myself the same question several times a week?

 

In fact, I have been asking this question ever since I was a teenager and I am now 48.

Like you, I thought I was numb, waiting for someone to take me to a place - any place that was different from where I was.

Pink Floyd has a song in which one of the lines says ``I am comfortably numb``. I too felt numb.

The truth is that I did not hate my life. I hated moments of it. Moments when I was unhappy because things did not go as I had planned and moments where there was no harmony.

There will always be times of difficulty and moments of clarity. Life is full of opposing factors. There has to be darkness for us to appreciate the light, we have to go down in order to go up and even though these idioms and cliches are a dime a dozen, there may be some truth in them.

 The truth actually lies within you.

It is not our difficulties or trials which define us. It is how we come out of them and triumph, despite them.

When I was most depressed, I decided that I needed to divert my attention from my own problems to those of others. I joined the local  telephone distress center to anonymously help people  by listening to them and enabling them to make right choices to make their lives better.

This in turn helped me feel better.

By helping others in need, I kind of put my own issues on the back burner and almost forgot about then. My whole focus and outlook to life changed. I became content with who I was, what I had .  I became more tolerant, more patient and more accepting of my life. There will always be people who, seemingly, have it all and there will also always be people who are worse off than you are.

I also started keeping a journal. It felt like my anger was no longer bottled inside of me, I had an outlet, I also decided that if I was not able to change my  then present situation, I would do something about it by making a 10 year plan. I asked myself the five questions I wanted to change in my life - what, where how and why. I already knew the when - 10 years.

 Once I did that, I broke it down to 5 years, then 12 months, 1 month, 4 weeks, weekly and finally, daily. Every day I did something to ultimately help me achieve my 10 year plan

At 48, I  may not have achieved everything I set out to but, a wise man once said, 'struggle is the meaning of life', and nothing was going to stop me from trying.

I still get mad at life, I cry, I shout and I still feel numbed by life. I still write in my journal and I still have an ever growing 10 year plan. When I achieve something, however small, I just check it off like you would a 'to do' list. I modify the rest, re-invent myself if I have to, and keep on going.

I have also added a new section to my journal - things I am happy and grateful for, like the people who love me or something as insignificant as waking up in the morning.
This helps me  change my focus to the positive things in my life. I meditate and I have regular conversations (and fights) with God - whoever that is.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was 42 and my goals had to change. There were times I sank even deeper in despair, anger and hatred

Now at 48, I still want to be a teacher, a flight attendant, a landscape designer, a pianist and so many other things. The struggle continues.........................................................

Yes, I still have moments of anger and despair, more so because of my illness and the challenges it brings. But, I also have successes, however small, and life just continues one day at a time, one objective at a time, one step at a time.

If I accept that I am exactly where I am meant to be and experiencing exactly what I am meant to experience, I find I am not fighting any more.

I recognize my strengths as well as my limitations. I am not in competition with anybody, not even with myself! I have my goals and, my  small achievements keep me going.

Look for the good in the bad.

To quote and turn your own words, you do not eat because you are hungry, you eat because your body needs nourishment to give you the energy and strength to seize each  moment of every day.
Those gray skies around you bring rain, which help water our gardens so the beautiful flowers may bloom.

We cannot choose what happens to us just how we deal with it
Create your hunger for life by helping those in need, by defining and redefining your goals, by being non-judgemental, and by learning acceptance and contentment.

It really does help and your outlook to life will change.
Try it!

Good Luck!

Never say never

As I disembarked the Norwegian Gem in Sydney Nova Scotia, in the Fall of 2011, I was filled with a meditative sense of peace and calm and instantly knew in my heart, that Nova Scotia would, someday be my home. I recalled feeling like this way once before. It was when I first landed in Canada in 1989. I knew then like I knew now, that I was home.

When would this happen?  That was just another one of a billion unanswered questions, in my life.

I was on a New England cruise with my parents and my caregiver. It was a surprise from my parents. We had travelled from Toronto, by Greyhound coach to New York and taken the cruise to New England, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. What was funny was that the trip to and from New York and the cruise, cost less than flying directly from Toronto to Nova Scotia. The airline companies seem to have gone a little mad with their prices! Not to mention we also received accommodation and food!

On returning to Toronto, I could not stop thinking about moving to Nova Scotia.  My research took me from looking for homes, to exploring the various climatic zones, the availability of medical practitioners and naturopaths and of course  having some proximity to an Ismaili Muslim mosque and community center.

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006 and have been treating the illness without any prescription drugs but with natural therapies, diet, nutrition and the whole mind, body and spirit approach. My illness was not the focus in my life but even then, it seemed that everything else in my life revolved around my illness. I had to plan my days and my activities around my energy level and the ability to cope with the mental and physical strain of each task.
A big part of my life has been the community center where I am a story teller, a religious teacher and an ESL to adults. My doctor is only a thirty minute drive from home. The pharmacy is another forty five minutes away. These conveniences have become a big part of my life and any change would disrupt my otherwise well planned perfect routines.

The day I set foot on Nova Scotia soil, I was fully prepared to give up my conveniences. I was in love with the openness of the land, with the kindness and warmth of the people, and with the peace and tranquility of the life there. The difference was like night and day. I was to break free from being at the mercy of neon signs invading my space, forcing my gaze to the ugly advertising and the billboards; I was never again to be a victim nor give in to road rage - I could drive the speed limit and would not be chastised or insulted and the best part of it all was that I would not have to put up with people who were in a constant hurry, who were in competition with the world around them as well as with themselves. Just this stress in Ontario was enough to give me an MS attack!

In the Winter of 2011, I drove to Nova Scotia with my caregiver and my mother, from Ontario, a mere 21 hour journey, to search for a home. Today, four months after I first set foot in Nova Scotia, I have put my house up for sale and have purchased a home that closes in a couple of months.

The Annapolis Valley is to be my new home. Green pastures, fertile lands, the north and south mountains, the snaking Annapolis river, and clean air offer the right scenic environment and the climatic and environmental condition (not to mention tranquility) are perfect for healthy, stress-free living, especially for me, living with multiple sclerosis.

 The Annapolis Valley offers the best climatic condition for living with MS It has shorter milder winters and longer milder summers. Its peaceful setting make it an ideal environment for starting a new life in a new province I am soon to call home.
I can now call myself a Maritimer.

Now begins the arduous task of packing..
I was sure my previous home was to be my last home. Well, here I am, once again, preparing to move to another home, in another province.

I guess, the idiom “Never say never’ really is true!

What Liberty stands for.........................

Liberty is a concept in political philosophy that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions.

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of light and freedom to all who see it and dream of a new life in America. Built in France and shipped to New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty officially opened for visitors in 1886. Since then, it has been a beacon for immigrants the world over and a destination for tourists from all over the U.S

There are different conceptions of liberty, which articulate the relationship of individuals to society in different ways, including some which relate to life under a "social contract" or to existence in a "state of nature", and some which see the active exercise of freedom and rights as essential to liberty.

I have just come back from a trip to New York and had the opportunity to actually see the Statue of Liberty for the first time in my life.

It evoked a feeling a awe, wonder and regret. It's mere stature in the entry way of the Port of New York, the symbolism in everything from Lady Liberty's crown to her sandals and her forward walking motion were the source of awe and wonder.

Unfortunately, there was also regret brought about by the demise of societal values where human beings are only viewed as dollar signs by the corporations, where the medical and pharmaceutical industries only view illnesses only by how much revenue they generate, where human lives are valueless while their illnesses make these pharmaceutical industries trillions in profits, and where the true meaning of liberty of taking responsibility for actions is completely ignored by those in power, be they doctors, politicians, gas companies or (one more time) the greedy pharmaceutical corporations.

As Lady Liberty continues to stand in the gateway to New York city, she may one day inspire the true characteristics of Liberty in human beings.

Will that day really ever come?.

I Am Back!

I am a back after a long break.
Time seems to fly. and it seems I just blinked and six months have gone by!

What have I been doing?
Well let me see, I have been writing (obviously not the blog), spent time with my parents (they were visiting me) and in fact, they surprised me with a New England cruise which was fabulous!
I took a TEFL course and am now a certified teacher (yay), and I have continued with my tutoring and story telling and absolutely love it.
I was selected to be a medal bearer for the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary cross country relay, which was a fantastic honour and I had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people who make a difference in the lives of others

. The last thing I did in 2011 was that I participated on stage in an African dance. I was the chief and it felt so good to be back on stage again. I stopped performing after I was diagnosed and had a thrill of a lifetime!

That was all I did and before I knew it it was January 2012.
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