Mindful Moments- Somewhere between storm and reaching sky
By Sadia Wali
“Each moment means a new
possibility. Mindfulness is not resisting things to happen but allowing life to
unfold its wings.”
― Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in
the Moment - Living in the Breath
Life
has been strange for me. When I look back to the years, turbulence and dilemmas
had shrunk my hopes. Fear and feelings of despair made my mind slipped into negativity. I would keep blaming myself for continuous failure. My life has been a roller coaster ride due to
unpredictable circumstances.
The
biggest change in life was when I opted to pursue the field of writing. Writing
was my passion since childhood. I began
freelance writing for Dawn newspaper, Karachi since 2001.My first article
published in 2001 was a big achievement for me. Since then I still began to
contribute for Dawn newspaper, The News and various blogs. I have contributed
several articles for feature page of Sunday Images.
I endeavor to choose a place with intellects
and educationalists that would help me to enhance my writing skills and
potential. ERDC was the first platform
that opened up my mind and I began to think positively. I joined ERDC in 2013
as research fellow. My tasks were to write chapters and teachers guide for
social studies text books (Grade 6 to 8). I was part of the organizing
committee of ERDC Project, Professional Teacher’s Certificate Course, I
conducted workshop of writing skills.
I
have great memories associated with the ERDC where I worked for two years. Salman
Asif Siddiqui and other colleagues helped me to develop my communication skills
and research skills. One of my colleagues was so cooperative he made my blog
and helped me to manage it. I miss that memorable time with my colleagues.
In
the year 2015, I worked with Abbas Husain. He is a renowned teacher trainer.
Iam still inspired by his wisdom and knowledge, working with him was a
tremendous experience for me. I worked as rapporteur for his teacher training
sessions. The catastrophes I went through really broken me, it was his inspirational sessions that helped me to
focus on my personality traits, my
weaknesses and my awesome dreams and goals which I never thought important. Once he asked me a simple question:
Do you feel happy? He stayed calm and
waited for my reply: I wondered what to say, I never pondered about my inner
feelings. His next question was: When
the last time I sat near a beautiful lake and spell bounded by the inspiring
beauty of nature. Which book or movie left an everlasting impact on my mind? To
all these questions I really felt stunned and blank and to some extent puzzled
what to say.
I
realized that my intellectuality was nil and I missed the best moments of life
to enhance my physical and intellectual growth. I being less resilience always
lived a stressful life which kept me emotionally and sentimentally disturbed.
Thus, I never thought that the most essential aspect of one’s personality is to
‘Be Happy’ which really counts a lot in building up the personality.
My
life, career and personality got a great boost in 2016 when I met the co-
trainers of Abbas Husain. The organization named as REACH where I worked as
Research Coordinator. I managed the
promotional activities of Asian University for Women, Bangladesh followed by
the recruitment procedure, networking and communication with school heads and
principals of educational institutions in Karachi. I developed training manuals
and power point presentations. I also translated the Training Manual of Adult
Literacy from Urdu to English.
I
worked with three trainers, they transformed my personality. One of the
trainers suggested me to think about post graduate studies, she asked me to
contact friends on LinkedIn about PhD.
Here
I would like to mention and especially thankful to my dear friend, a PhD
scholar in China who kept me motivated to take initiatives to boost my career.
He also encouraged me towards thinking of post graduate studies. A new era opened for me. I began to think and
plan for my PhD.
My
new job venture at Innovative Solutions has turned a new leaf for me. I feel
good and think good. Working with young colleagues,
I feel more positive and enthusiastic. Enjoying
and gossiping with young friends at office and in van has refreshed my heart. I
feel great in learning new technologies and skills from my team lead, senior
proofreaders and young fellows. Exposure to various inspirational and
informative books has enhanced my knowledge; the best thing I learnt through
these books is to develop the ability to change, adapt myself to different
situations and respond and react respectively.
One of the books I would like to mention is ‘How to survive change that you didn’t ask for’ truly changed the
perspective of my life. The Seven Truths about Change highly appealed me. I
read that book several times, I felt as if this book was written for me. A few
lines I would like to quote:
“You may have come across lots of instances in
your life where you might had felt that you are not resilient enough to face
such a crisis but somehow, you have made it. You have swum against the
strongest of currents of life and still survived. So how do you cultivate
resilience?”
Over
these years, I feel myself fortunate that I got opportunities to work with some
great mentors and especially at my present working place, I have learned how to
embrace change in life.
Every day, I woke up with new aspirations and dreams.
. I am on
a mission to improve every aspect of my life.
My motive involves learning, reflecting and thinking. To get involved
with people who respect my opinions and help me to achieve my goals. I learnt two important lessons. Firstly
to celebrate every opportunity as we
learn and grow by time. Understanding
develops from observation and experience. Secondly, I developed my faith in Allah. It is my experience
who has firm faith in Allah finds miracles in his life.
Finally, I believe it is better to forget the
things that hurt us and live each day with the hope that there will come a balm
for sorrow, a life full of strength and happiness. The smiling lips will always
blossom like a rose; the patience of these silent lips will pave the way
towards a great reward just like a life in heaven. Let us keep the faith and trust in Allah for
He is with us on every step of our life.
Happiness
lies inside us, we need to discover how we can enjoy every moment of life. Keep
enjoying every moment as the gift of life is life itself!
The writer is an
Assistant Editor at Innovative Solutions, Karachi. She can be contacted at
sadiawali@hotmail.com
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