DREAMS

When dreams don't come true it does not mean dreams were false or unattainable, it means that there was something we missed out while going for them. Perhaps the time was not right, perhaps we underestimated the obstacles or perhaps we did too little or too much. Whatever the reasons the first step must be to resolve that our inability to achieve what we wanted does not lead either to defeatist mentality or ignoring the reality. As Colin Powell  rightly said; “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” We must stand up to the challenge and must know that Rome was not built in a day and that a hard-fought battle defeat that test us ferociously is much better than a victory achieved easily. It may lead to complacency. Remember the words of Jesse Owens: We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.

 ALWAYS CONTINUE TO BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS, HAVE THE COURAGE TO ACCEPT REALITIES AND SURMOUNT DIFFICULTIES, HAVE THE CONVICTION THAT THEY ARE ATTAINABLE, AND HAVE THE COMMITMENT TO REALIZE THEM.

IT IS EARTH DAY

Today is Earth Day! Over one billion people in 192 countries are participating from London to Sao Paolo, Seoul to Babylon City, New Delhi to New York, Rome to Cairo; people everywhere are taking action in their communities and helping depict The Face of Climate Change.
How can you get involved? Attend an Earth Day event in your community, start doing something to lower your carbon footprint, and take a photo of yourself being part of the solution and upload it to The Face of Climate Change Wall.
Wondering what’s happening around the world? Here are just a few of the events taking place:
In Copenhagen, Denmark—as well as in six other cities on five continents—the Danish Cultural Institute is organizing its annual CO 2 Green Drive Project in honor of Earth Day. Runners, walkers, bikers, and skaters are using their cities as canvasses to spell “CO 2“ with GPS devices.
In Argentina, volunteers from the Surfrider Foundation are cleaning up the local beaches and planting evergreens and Tamarisk shrubs to help prevent wind and water erosion.
5,000 miles to the northeast, in Ghana, The Rural Education and Development Programme (REDEP) is hosting a three-part event that includes a community clean-up, a “Face of Climate Change” theatre production, and an environmentally-themed essay contest.
A local organization in Jalandhar, India—in coordination with Earth Day Network India—is distributing free saplings to students and hosting a discussion about the effects of climate change and ways to mitigate it.
In Milan, Italy, thousands of people are gathering for the Earth Day Italia Festival to learn about environmental issues and spur action on local green initiatives.
Meanwhile in Seoul, South Korea, Ecomom Korea is organizing an “Eco-style” Earth Day Flash Mob, a variation of the popular song “Gangnam Style,” as well as hosting an Earth Day Walkathon and an Earth Day exhibition, which will showcase The Face of Climate Change photo display.
In Santa Barbara, California, thousands of people attended the local Earth Day Festival, which included live music, speakers, a Green Car Show, and special awards given to Van Jones and Bill Nye.
In Veracruz, Mexico, Tortugas Fundacion Yepez is mobilizing volunteers to protect the habitat of sea turtles by cleaning up the local beaches and organizing a reforestation campaign.
The Bent Al-Rafedain Organization in Babylon, Iraq—in cooperation with the Department of the Environment—is honoring Earth Day by documenting the sources of pollution in their community and organizing a media campaign to educate residents and encourage government officials to reduce pollution.
In Columbus, Ohio, Green Columbus is mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to pull invasive plants, clean up neighborhoods, and plan trees at over 100 volunteer sites across the state.
Far away in Chuuk, Micronesia, Xavier High School is hosting an Earth Day Conference with the theme “The Face of Climate Change” that will feature a neighborhood clean-up, speakers, educational workshops, and an environmentally-themed school song competition.

Mind And Heart

The age old controversy fails to die down, which is superior Mind or Heart? Although both are important part of the human body there is a tendency to treat them as rivals and find the winner. The functions of mind and heart from biological point of view are clear, but there seems to be some overlapping that has added a new dimension to the debate. There is a general belief that thinking is a function of human mind and logic and rationality are the fundamental principles that act as a guide, but when it comes to feelings and emotions heart comes in to play. It is said that heart is based on inner voice or soul. It is worthwhile to explore different aspects of the debate to at least clarify some basic facts.

We all know that heart supplies blood to the body and failure to discharge this function means end of human life. If however mind ceases to function a person loses thinking process as well as that of memory making a person unable to know even himself or live the life of a normal human being. Thus if seen from this angle heart appears to be more important than mind, but a man without a properly functioning mind also cannot be compared in any way to what a normal human being is.

BAGH-E-JINNAH (JINNAH GARDEN) ; NATURE AT ITS BEST

 Bagh-e- Jinnah is one of the most famous and oldest Public Park of Pakistan. It is situated in the city of Lahore, which is also Pakistan’s cultural capital. Some people call it heaven on earth while others describe it as a haven of nature with all its beauty, serenity and pollution free environment. It isa place to refresh your soul, enrich and energize your mind and body and enjoy the life as it should be. Be it the secluded and nostalgic environment of the hill or the green and expanding lawns, one feels submerged in nature and wishes to remain part of this wonderful place and continue to purify one's soul.

 According to the well-known  Punjabi saying, "One who has not visited Lahore is not even  born yet", it looks proper to add that one who has not visited Bag-e-Jinnah has not seen Lahore.

Hope And Expectation

Future events in general and person specific specially have always been a matter of concern to people. Hopes, fears, expectations and disappointments all relate to or are the outcome of future events on which people  have little control. But, being part of human psychology they greatly affect people’s well- being. Hopes and expectations describe human anticipation about future events mostly personal that might have bearing on their life. The two words are generally used as synonymous, but they differ in many ways while having some similarities as well.

HOPE

Hope is defined as: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. To desire with expectation of obtainment. To cherish a desire with anticipation.

Going through the different definition following points come out:

Hope is an internal human process giving rise to anticipation about some future event that is positive for the one who is anticipating and is likely to cause some good to him.

EXPECTATION

Expectation is defined as A strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. A belief that someone will or should achieve something.

If we analyze the definition we again find that it too is an internal human process relating to an anticipation about some future event that is positive for the one who is anticipating and likely to cause some good to him. But, here we can see the presence of two important words, i.e. “belief” and “achieve”.  While belief signifies an element of certainty, achieve indicates some action that has been taken, which helped in producing the expectation.

Hope is seen from two different angles, positive as well as negative. On the positive side it is taken as a great strength that helps humans in facing difficult challenges. It keeps them away from negatives of hopelessness and provides confidence that there is always a chance of divine intervention in their favor. According to G. K. CHESTERTON “Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.”

On the negative side hope is seen as something based on non-genuine feelings created to provide negative satisfaction as the person hoping is exclusively depending on divine indulgence without any tangible effort on his part. According to EDGAR WATSON HOWE: “There is nothing so well known as that we should not expect something for nothing, but we all do, and call it hope.”

Expectation is mostly seen as a positive phenomenon as it is based on tangible efforts and is taken as a great tool of growth and development. According to Charles Kettering: “High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” Horace goes to the extent of saying that life is largely a matter of expectation.

However, there is also a view that too much depending on expectations is dangerous as it may create a situation where if expectations are not fulfilled fully or partly it may cause disappointment and frustration of a very high level. The advice of William Howard Stein “Keep high aspirations, moderate expectations, and small needs” points towards this important aspect of expectation. But, William Shakespeare’s view about expectation looks to be very extreme when he declares: “Expectation is the root of all heartache.”

COMPARISON BETWEEN HOPE AND EXPECTATION

In hope the anticipated event is not based on any act of the person concerned, but is more based on divinity and with uncertainty about the event taking or not taking place. The famous phrase “Hope for the best and  prepared for the worst” depicts this situation.

 In expectation on the other hand as the expectation is based on something done to get the anticipated result the chances of happening are taken to be more than it’s not happening.

In hope not happening of the event has greater chances of acceptance without any misgiving as no tangible act of the one who is anticipating preceded the hope. But in expectation, however, if the event does not happen there are greater chances of frustration for the one who took tangible steps for it and was sure of its happening.

 In hope everything is left to God, therefore, acceptance is more forthcoming while in expectation as it is based on the act of some other person misgiving or disappointment is bound to take place along with a feeling of injustice.

If the event does take place as hoped for it leads to relief, joy and thanks. If the expectation is met there is a feeling of achievement, fulfillment and rejoice.

Hope is a tool of contentment. Expectation forms the basis of achievement and growth.

Tasneem Hameed

WHERE IS THE LOVE-HUMANITY!

WITH THANKS TO

Tazeinmirzasaad

 

 

The harsh, cruel face of the world,
Unable to escape a treacherous, solemn metaphor,
People dying at the hands of Humanity itself,
No one left unscathed, even children molested,
Violent, criminal acts, bizarre and disturbing,
Why is there so much bitterness, such negativity burgeoning,
Everywhere you see faces disdained, dejected, hopeless and dazed,
A great deal of resentment, avarice,awaiting a cruel and intricate fate,
Where is your heart? Are you already dead inside?
Not to shed a tear, unable to escape.
Scared to take the first step, to reach out to the unfortunates,
Are you still staring blindly at the World?
Fear and bewilderment written on your face,
You are frozen in time, unable to act.
Raise your Voice Now, make yourself be heard,
Before it is too late and you get fatally hurt.
                                                                       TAZEIN
                                                                       5.1.2013

 Transcending borders

The Basics of Achieving Peace and Prosperity

Gaining peace and prosperity is not impossible. It can be achieved through gaining insights on how we can use our freedoms to realize world peace and prosperity. Everything starts with a genuine pursuit of happiness and equality. The rest will just fall into place. The important thing in getting peace and prosperity is to know what are the things that we need to have in order to make this world a better place.

Respect

Respect is important and the basic of the tenets of achieving peace and prosperity. We cannot have peace without respect. It is the foundation of what we hope for and what this world would become to be. Without respect, our hopes of having a great and unified society will never get off the ground. Even if we are able to make the wheels running; the absence of respect will become a monkey wrench that will put things to a halt. Respect is everything and without it everything will fall into shambles.  Needless to say, that all of us must show respect to one another regardless of race, religion, nationality and gender. One little act of disrespect is already enough to spark the flame of chaos which could eventually lead to conflict and war. Thus, we must show respect to everyone, at all times. 

Efficiency And Effectiveness

Efficiency may be defined as “The ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort”. It is a management tool measuring the competence of any organization, being the ratio of output to input, generally expressed as percentage. The input consists of all that goes into producing a product or service, i.e. labor, capital and/or materials, land, energy, capital goods (assets-machinery, tools, facilities, equipment), etc. Following is the equation depicting efficiency:

Efficiency = Actual Outputs (U) / Actual Inputs (I)

 

The main goal of efficiency is the optimal utilization of all the resources and to reduce wasted material, time, energy, and money.  It stipulates the formation of a workflow that reduces unnecessary steps. Efficiency may relate to individuals or organization, but the objective remains the same.  Being efficient means “Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort”.
The origin of efficiency can be traced to Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management Movement.  Implementation of time and motion studies laid the foundations of improving productivity in manufacturing operations showing the way to the introduction of concept of efficiency.
Higher efficiency levels were thought to be the hallmark of successful organizations. Efficient organizations were automatically considered profitable and thus successful. But, that all changed when well- known and highly efficient organizations were found to be deficient in producing higher rates of profits and even started generating loses.
Effectiveness may be defined as:


Having an intended or expected effect. Producing a strong impression or response; Producing a decided,  decisive or desired effect. The degree to which objectives are achieved and the extent to which targeted problems are solved