Voices at World Social Forum

World Social Forum 2006 was held at Karachi from 24 - 29 March. It was a great learning experience and I got chance to interact with thinkers from various cultures and nations. The cultural committee there had a great idea of erecting a wall and people from all over the world who visited WSF wrote small inspirational messages on the tiles which were then pasted on the wall. H.O.P.E. also played its part by giving messages with the blog's url. I have selected some of these blocks from walls on the basis of their content and creativity. I hope you learn something from these pictures.

Think Before its too late!

Before you think of saying an unkind word
Think of someone who can't speak

Before you complain about the taste of your food
Think of someone who has nothing to eat

Before you complain about your husband or wife
Think of someone who's crying out to God for a companion

Today before you complain about life
Think of someone who went too early to heaven

Before you complain about your children
Think of someone who desires children but they're barren

Before you argue about your dirty house; someone didn't clean or sweep
Think of the people who are living in the streets

Before whining about the distance you drive
Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet

And when you are tired and complain about your job
Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another
Remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down
Put a smile on your face and thank God you're alive and still around.

Life is a gift of GOD so,
LIVE it, Enjoy it, Celebrate it and Fulfill it!

-Unknown

PS: It is season of light articles with heavy messages. Try to incorporate it in your life as soon as possible because there is still a long way to go and loadz advice will be coming up on this blog :)

Anger - the silent killer

Patience is the word we listen so much that now we have become its absolute opposite. Yes we have become impatient even to listen a simple word like patience. All we think, finally becomes our action so it won't be wrong to say that we have so much anger stuck in our mind that it only gets its way out through our actions and unfortunately there is no end of stock here.

We stubborn souls will not agree, still there is always room of improvement. Scientific studies have proved that Anger has a direct negative impact on our health, and can be a root cause for many diseases including the cardiac ones. To make you realize the harm that you are causing yourself by being angry is a very difficult task but lets see the body chemistry which might highlight such facts that can scare hell out of you. The tears out of happiness, sadness and anger all have different chemicals. When you cry out of anger, you can see the most harmful chemical formation in the fluid. Similarly, when you are angry you exhale poisonous breath. This doesn't mean you are only excreting the toxics, you are also developing them inside your body. These are the alarming signs which shows the injustice that you are doing to yourself.

If you are wise enough, then you should have already understood the hazards but now the next problem in question is how to refrain oneself from anger? And the magic spell to the freedom is '6 seconds'. It is as easy as it sounds because it only requires practice. The practice of shifting your concerntration for 6 seconds from object of hate to the object of love. Six seconds of silence is all we need. Next time whenever you feel angry shift your focus from that person or thought and think about something you love, think about God, think about nature or simply see the positive aspects of the person in question. You will see the results as after those initial six seconds, your anger automatically starts to drop its intensity. One step at a time and you will eradicate this bad habit of yours with blessings of God. Both life and relationships are precious, so try to treasure them.

-Raheel Lakhani

For More Info:
http://www.6seconds.org