Let go & dare to live wholeheartedly..

1. Let go of what people think. 

2. Let go of perfectionism.

3. Let go of scarcity and fear of the dark.

4. Let go of the need for certainty.

5. Let go of comparison.

6. Let go of any pain in the past

7. Let go of the need to impress

8. Let go of attachments to people, things, event

9. Let go of stressing over things we can't change

10. Let go of people who make you nothing but worse

There are many on this list that I need to work on. 

Ever since childhood, I have defined myself by getting good grades, being very involved and achievement-oriented. Being the best in what I do best. While there are positives to this list, it also brings great pressure, fear of failure, and loss of some precious moments and everyday pleasures that make life sweet. 

What if all that mattered is that we dare to live authentically, to do what feels right for ourselves, sharing our strengths and acknowledging our weaknesses?

We are all works in progress. How do you dare live wholeheartedly?

Happy National Day OhhMaan

I hope y'all had an amazing National Day! 

I've been receiving tens of photos and footages from my family and friends keeping me up to date with the celebrations back home. Which made me REALLY want to be right there!

'Back in the days' I used to make sure I really live the whole "national day" experience & atmosphere. This habit, if I may call it one, actually started back when I was a kid along with my siblings where we used to wake up in the early morning, put on our colorful Omani dresses and tuck up the Suri head peaces over our tiny heads, and march for the national anthem that used to be aired when Oman TV's daily program starts. The national day family activities usually involved a cruise around town in my dad's old land cruiser to see the streets shining bright with the decorative lights (and the fireworks if we were lucky!). Add Omani patriotic songs in the background and that how it EXACTLY used to be! :)

(Photo credits: Times of Oman)

So here's my 'YouTube find of the day': A video of the Omani students who were studying abroad in 1985 singing their hearts off, accompanied by the Royal British Philharmonia Orchestra (I know, WOW!). Lyrics are (or were?) written by the fabulous deceased Omani poet Abdullah Sakher Al Amri. Very interesting & funny to watch. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :D




P.S I was looking for an appropriate Omani flag photo and here's what I found. Funnies funnies..

ولأنّك ربي..

ولأنّك ربي يا الله ، ما عدتُ أشعر بوحْشة هذا الليل "

"وأنت تنزل في آخره كما يليق بك وبعظيم وجْهك لتستر ما حاك في صدْري وتغْفره

 * يا الله

..

.

Those were the days..

Sweet ladies, a photo by Salima Al Masrouri on Flickr.

Sigh. So much memories in this photo.

I can't believe how fast time flies. It somehow feels like it runs 200x faster when you watch a kid around you grow up. I mean, a couple of years ago they were maids of honor in my older sister's wedding and today they are two crazy and jolly teenagers..

I was browing through my ever-neglected Flickr account and was truly surprised by the HUGE changes that happened in there. Apparently Flicker went through an extreme makeover that probably started with hiring former Google executive two months back, and followed by acquiring LookFlow, the startup that rocked image recognition and image browsing on the web a week ago.

And whoho I was able to publish this blog entry right from Flickr.com. Awesome, eh? :)

Via Flickr:
"1 soul in 2 bodies"