A Heart That Listens

By: Sarah Haris

Often we are driven by the objective to win a conversational battle, to prove ourselves more intellectually profound than others, to prove others wrong, to find faults in others. In pursuit of this objective we totally forget that:

 

"Sometimes it is better to be kind than to be right.

We do not need an intelligent mind that speaks, but a patient heart that listens."

 

 

 

Perspective - Are Marriages Really Made in Heaven?

By: Shazia Yousuf

“Rishtay asmano pe bantay hein” (Marriages are made in heaven).

Most of the elderly aunties are heard chanting this. A lot of us actually believe in this too. In fact, marriages don’t just happen! At the back of the mind, everyone is a believer of the fact that all marriages that take place and those that eventually work out well have something to do with the cupid up there in the heaven. Anyone just doesn’t get married to anyone. There is believed to be some Divine energy associated with marriages.

Getting married was easier in the past. Maybe cupid was more efficient back then. In eastern society marriages were mostly arranged. Parents would take the decision first, ask for the children’s wish and consent later and close the deal. The children mostly had to agree since they usually had no other option available but to say yes. Love marriages also happened. But love relationships were also limited to just seeing, liking and concluding that yes this is Love! Decision making was easier. Marriages worked out, people lived happily ever after too, or at least they tried to. Mostly, people married first and love blossomed eventually. Even if it didn’t, marriages still survived, maybe due to closely knit family structures and family pressures. Match making was simple, yet many a times, the matches were a total mismatch! The marriages still had to work.
 

Soul's Reflections - Mirrors

By: Zahoor-ul-Islam

Today was a usual day. I woke up at the usual time. I prepared for the office in the same way as I did every day, did some analysis of my appearance, realized I needed a haircut, some dieting and exercise to get rid of those extra fats! I realized my appearance had changed and I no longer looked like what I used to be ten years back. This realization urged me to think about joining a gym.

After spending some fifteen twenty minutes on self grooming, I was all set to leave for work, my hair neatly done with some gel and dressed properly in a nice white shirt with grey jacket. It was quite a contrast to the state I woke up in! Thanks to the mirror. Mirror gives quick feedback about us, how we look like and how we can improve.

Suddenly one of the neurons in my brain somehow passes an electrical signal through one of its synapses to another neuron and establishes a very absurd but valid inference out of this situation.  “Do we have such a mirror in our lives to judge our personality?” We do have mirrors that tell us of our appearance, but what if we had such a mirror, that could actually tell us how we look when we frown upon other people.

Perspective - Behind Every Successful Man, There Is A Woman

By: Shazia Yousuf
Published at: http://www.aaj.tv/author/shazia.yousuf/

This may be a little hard to digest initially but I feel it is to some extent true. Success of a man is in the hands of the woman associated with his life mainly in the form of a wife. In case of single men, mothers could also have a vital role in this regard. However, my focus here is mainly on house wives.

This in no way means I am giving credit to women right away for the success of a man. What I am trying to emphasize is the fact that women play a vital role in making it easier for them to walk up the rungs of the success ladder.

By successful men, I do not mean CEOs of multimillion organizations, or those gentlemen who are minting money, or sitting at high posts. By a successful man I mean any average gentleman who is working hard, earning his living, providing well for his family, doing justice to his work, and most importantly who is content with what he is doing. A person who‘s heart and mind are at peace both at work and at home.