My first reaction is not my best one when confronted with unforeseen circumstances – even at my own doing – but to my delight, my second reaction seems to be improving dramatically over time!
On a beautiful Saturday morning in August, my first reaction when I promptly locked myself out of my house was paranoia. I had no car keys to go anywhere and no house keys to get back in. I ran down the street to my best friend’s house to see if she was home. I knocked hard on her door several times. After all, this was an emergency (or so I thought at that moment)! No one home. I called and left text messages in hopes of finding her while at the same time, telling my husband, who had just driven 20 miles across town, in too many hurried words that this accident is partially his fault (I reasoned it out, don’t ask)!
End of First Reaction. Hurry and Read the rest of this post!
Tagged as:
decision,
gratitude,
meditation,
self-discovery,
stillness,
yoga
Person A: “I am so sorry I am late. I was stuck in traffic.”
Person B: “No kidding. Cause I chartered a plane to get over here!”
I am so tempted to respond this way to every Person A who has been notoriously late to a meeting or rendez-vous with me and arrives with this excuse. They may be my friends, my peers, my family, my colleagues, my acquaintances, my guests, or perfect strangers (well not perfect if I am meeting them but anyway), it matters little because being late is a serious habit to break. Am I the only one who feels this way about punctuality? Has our culture written off the habit of being on time as insignificant and inconsequential? Hurry and Read the rest of this post!
Tagged as:
culture,
habits,
punctuality,
respect,
self-discipline,
self-improvement,
zen habit
by Farnoosh on August 24, 2010
in In Print
Dear Monsieur Dumas,
It is the year 2010 today, nearly 166 years since you published The Count of Monte Cristo. Your contemporaries recognized it as the accomplishment it is, which is more than we can say for some other treasures which have come to us from your period. It makes me immensely happy when a society understands a genius masterpiece in all its brilliance during the lifetime of its creator. Still, you would probably like to know that The Count of Monte Cristo, your labor of love and sweat, is cherished and recognized as a magnificent novel in the world to this day. It is even part of the reading requirement in most school education programs, albeit they sadly choose the abridged version much to your (and my) dismay. Not knowing any better when I was much younger, I too read the abridged version, which even in its brevity, left an indelible mark on me and a desire for return for more someday. Hurry and Read the rest of this post!
Tagged as:
book review,
classic,
courage,
family,
fiction,
French literature,
gratitude,
life,
strength,
writing
