Sullen heart
Tainted soul
Exhausted spirit
Far from home
A journey long
A stranger lone
Broken promises
Forgotten bones
Cryptic poetry from a cryptic soul
For each to take
What echoes with their own…
Photo credit : Adobe Stock
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A note from the author for my novel, An Incomplete Love Story
This story was inspired by true events.
Some, my own but many based on incidents that I witnessed in the colourful domains of my life.
It is a story of an often-overlooked community.
Caught at the intersection of cultural pride while fighting for relevance in a rapidly evolving world, the South African Muslim Indian community is replete with prejudices from religious, political, and cultural influences.
Good intentions rarely paved the pathway to heaven. But, understanding those intentions in the face of the carnage that the resulting actions impose on the innocents is what breathes life into a decaying soul.
It is this that motivated me to write this novel.
That is, my hope to draw attention towards the contamination of the good by the misguided prejudices of a sincere but deeply flawed community.
~ Zaid.
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When we pursue the impossible, we achieve the unbelievable.
But, we’re often so distracted by how impossible our goal might appear, that we lose sight of everything that its pursuit offers us.
Fortune cookie wisdom tells us that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.
Yet, we lose sight of the growth that the journey offers, and give up the pursuit of a seemingly impossible destination.
Today is a good day to take that step towards that impossible dream that you’ve been courting with for so long.
No time like the present, right?
#hope #expectation #dreams #goals #motivation #optimism #lifegoals #lifecoaching #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #zaidismail #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #embracingME #pursuitofhappiness
I’ve always believed that if we were to live a long and painful life, and in the end, in our last few moments, we experienced the absolute serenity and completeness of everything we sought to experience or achieve in our lifetime, the entirety of the pain and struggles of our lives would be easily forgotten. It would still feel like a complete and beautiful life, because the intensity of the struggles before that point would directly inform the intensity of gratitude and peace we would feel when experiencing it. But only if we live in the present moment. Otherwise we’ll lose that beautiful moment cursing at its late arrival while still yearning for the past to have been different.
Zaid Ismail
Persuade me or prove to me that I am mistaken in thought or deed, and I will gladly change— for it is the truth I seek, and the truth never harmed anyone. Harm comes from persisting in error and clinging to ignorance.
Marcus Aurelius
Anger is a result of failed expectations. When you find yourself losing your temper, consider which expectation you’re allowing to define your self worth.
Zaid Ismail
There are a few quotes that often ring in my mind as I go through various experiences in life, but more often than not, I can never recall where I read or heard them. Some of my favourites include:
“If you knew me the way I know myself, you’d throw sand in my face” ~ some or other Muslim scholar, but I can’t recall who it was.
“There is no limit to what a man can do if he doesn’t care who gets the credit for it” ~ I don’t have a clue where this one comes from.
“Why acquire more knowledge if you’re not practising on the knowledge you already have” ~ I think this was said by Al-Ghazali, but I could be mistaken.
“Repeating the same behaviour and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity” ~ I suspect that this is just a really bad paraphrase of what Einstein may have said.
“If you compare a sane man to an insane society, he will appear insane” ~ I think this was some guy with a French name, but I’m too lazy to Google it right now.
“Pervasive ignorance must not be mistaken for collective wisdom” ~ Yours Truly.
“If you don’t take control of your own life, someone else will” ~ I just made that one up.
And obviously when I sit down to share some of these quotes my mind will go blank…
I’ve always believed that if we were to live a long and painful life, and in the end, in our last few moments, we experienced the absolute serenity and completeness of everything we sought to experience or achieve in our lifetime, the entirety of the pain and struggles of our lives would be easily forgotten. It would still feel like a complete and beautiful life, because the intensity of the struggles before that point would directly inform the intensity of gratitude and peace we would feel when experiencing it. But only if we live in the present moment. Otherwise we’ll lose that beautiful moment cursing at its late arrival while still yearning for the past to have been different.