Be A Fool...

      A few days ago, I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Andy Bird, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. I heard him speak, and while my boss said he's not the great speaker he thought he would be, I was still inspired. I admit, he was no Steve Ballmer, but I feel compelled to share his words with you. To no one's surprise, he was talking about failure. In his opinion, we should not avoid failure, instead we should LEARN how to fail. "If you master failure, you will know how to expand." As a matter of fact, "if you don't fail at first, you're probably not trying hard enough." So dear readers, ask yourselves, have you failed while you were trying to be great? If you have, then I congratulate you, because then you know you are trying hard to be great. Do not let this failure hold you back, just remember that you are one step closer to greatness.

     Now that I have shared with you some inspiring words, I would like to share with you some inspiring moments. Interestingly enough, most of my inspiring moments are actually... pretty embarrassing. After Mr. Bird finished his speech, I wanted to take a picture with him, but of course, he was nowhere to be found. I pierced my friends' ears with one phrase, "I wanna take a picture with Disney's CEO". I looked all over for him, and when I was about to give up, he passed by us while we were walking down the hall. My friend told me to follow him so that I can take a picture with him, but I couldn't move. Maybe I was too shy, maybe I knew I was gonna make a complete fool out of myself, I just said "never mind, let's just leave". That was one of the times when I was grateful for having crazy friends. She pulled me by the arm and ran after him. We were two seconds too late, because he entered the partners lounge where we are not allowed. I stopped and told my friend that we're not allowed in there so we should go back. So she looked at me and said "he will never see you again, he will never remember that you made a fool out of yourself on this day, so just go in, take the picture and then we'll leave". Again she grabbed  my hand, pushed the door open, and walked towards Mr. Bird to take that picture. Now the moral behind my story is not whether we took the picture or not, but that it's OK to make a fool out of yourself sometimes, especially when no one is there to judge you. Also, no matter how good you're doing on your own, you still need others to push you towards opportunities. SO go out, find someone to be a fool with, and see how great it feels. I'm sure you're going to want to do it again.


P.S, I did take the picture, that's my arm next to Mr. Bird :) special thanx to my friend Anan, and my camera girl, my bestie Salam :)

Welcome Failure...

     How many times have we failed? Probably more times than we have succeeded. Have you ever wondered why all the famous people in life have an unfortunate past? A past full of failure and defeat. Thomas Edison was told by his teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination. Albert Einstein couldn't speak until he was 4 years old. Michael Jordan was cut from the high school basketball team. If those people had given up every time they failed or were rejected, we would have suffered from long dark nights. We wouldn't have our beloved Mickey Mouse (to be honest I don't mind not having Mickey, but if Donald Duck wasn't in my life, I would be devastated). Relativity would not have been theorized (which I know most students wouldn't object to), and finally, basketball would not be as popular as it is today. Believe it or not, those people succeeded because they have failed once. They have tasted the bitterness of defeat and wondered what success would feel like. If you look around you, you would realize those who have never failed, are the ones who will never be great. They are all that they can be. But you are not! You can be far greater than you are right now. Don't give up, get up. Try new things. Try everything. Keep trying. Until one day, a humble blogger like myself would write about you and say "without him/her, life would not be as we know it today".

Vision...

Khaled O

(The Boy in the story)

     A teacher once told her student's mother that her 3 year old son is very artistic. The mother was surprised since she has never noticed that about him. She went home and asked her son to draw something for her. So he drew what looked like a boy, a ball and what seemed to be scattered lines all over the page, each with a unique color. What's so artistic about that? It is just something that a kid drew, she thought. Then she asked him about his drawing. He said "this is a boy playing with his ball". "What about these lines?" she wondered. "They're colored balloons in the sky". Of course the mother was amazed by what her son did. This story may seem cheesy and pointless, but it's really not. Think about how many times you've been laughed at because people didn't understand what you were doing. Or how many times have people underestimated you because they thought you're idea's were strange and unusual. Whenever that happens, remember that just because people don't see what you see, doesn't mean you're delusional. Remember that all the great people had a vision one day, and did not give in when others thought they were crazy.

Hobby...

Mother Tree

By Rawan H

     It is amazing how sometimes we think we know someone, and after a simple yet meaningful conversation, you realize that they're completely different than what you had in mind. I have known this person for more than a year, now. She's funny, sarcastic and pretty cool. She's the kind of person who never stops smiling. Today, I asked her a simple question that revealed a whole new side of her. The question was: "what are your hobbies?". It's a pretty simple question that doesn't usually reveal anything at all. But this time was different. One of her hobbies was photography. (I don't know about you guys, but I really like photography). She showed me some of the pictures she had taken. They were quite astonishing. Mostly, they are a mixture of architecture and nature. Some may find that boring, but to me that shows sophistication and refinement. (I'm not saying those who don't like art and museums are not sophisticated). Seeing that sentimental side made me think that many people have a wonderful side waiting to be uncovered. Even those who we think we know best. Believe me, discovering that side feels incredible. So let us all try to find the delightful side of others.

     The photo above; "Mother Tree", is one of the sensational photos she had taken. It is also my favorite! Click on RH Photostream to check out the rest of the photos. Which photos did you like best?

Noble...

Mark Twain once said "it is noble to teach oneself, but it is nobler to teach others".
Today, I tried to do the "nobler" thing and help another colleague. We were not friends, in fact, it was the first time for me to meet her. Yet, for some reason, I agreed to tutor her for two and a half hours. By doing that, I wasted two and a half hours that I could have spent studying for my midterm tomorrow. However, when I was helping her, I noticed something about her. When she all of a sudden realized that what I was explaining actually made sense,  a wide smile would appear on her face and her eyes would sparkle. Somehow, that made me so proud of what I was doing. It made me feel like I am finally making a difference in the world, no matter how insignificant it seemed. It made me feel ... Noble!

First Inspiration...

Sometimes we lose ourselves and our way...
We might even lose our passion.
In those times, we need someone to stand by our side and help us get back on our feet...
We need someone to Inspire Us!

In this blog, I intend to post videos, quotes, articles and pretty much everything that I found moving. Your contribution is most welcome and appreciated. Share with us whatever changed your life or affected you in one way or the other...

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