I don't have a topic today

Today I don't have anything to write about. I feel my mind is blank. I attempted unsuccessfully to write about two topics but didn't feel like wanting to continue. Therefore, I just wanted to share this feeling with you. This might be called 'self disclosure'. So, here we go, I have a topic now! It's 'self disclosure'. Self disclosure is when you disclose yourself to someone else whom you trust by telling him or her about a problem that annoys you. This makes you feel better from the inside. Keeping a negative thought inside of you can ruin your life. The best way to get rid of it is to share it with someone or write about it. Sometimes you just want someone to listen to you attentively - someone who makes you feel important because he or she cares about your problems. 

Each Person is a Mystery

Not long ago, I read this line: 'each person is and remains an ultimate mystery'. This expression has a deep meaning in it. It shows that we cannot take people's actions and behaviors for granted and categorize them into certain fixed descriptions. In every person there lies complexities and ambiguities that are difficult to explain. I cannot say for certain that 'this guy is generous' or 'that guy is mean'. Being generous and mean are dependent on an endless number of factors that cannot really be quantified. Some people might act generously in one context but act as mean in other contexts. In other words, people's actions and behaviors are bound to context and time. Therefore, we cannot generalize a one person's actions and behaviors to other contexts. For example, if a person who belongs to a certain Asian county acts in a generous way, we cannot say for certain the all of the people who belong to that particular Asian country are generous. The opposite of this is also true - that's, if one person is mean, it does not mean that his or her peer group are mean as well.

The descriptions we arrive at when we describe people are, therefore, tentative and can be mistaken. There are much, much more complexities and ambiguities in each person that are almost impossible to understand fully. Hence, we should always be careful the next time we attempt to describe people in fixed, normative and generalizable terms.

What do you think?  

Stop Worrying and Start Living

Dale Carnegie wrote a valuable book called 'How to Stop Worrying and Start Living'. I read this book from cover to cover. Although it is a relatively old book, I think it still has resonance in our present day. The book has many stories of people who managed to concur worry and brought happiness to their lives. I admit that this book had an impact on me. I really recommend reading this book.

Here is a short video which contains some of the ideas advocated by the book.

May Allah free your lives from any worries!

Success means helping others to succeed

 
A few days ago I read the above line which translates as 'A candle loses nothing if lights another candle... The goal is not to achieve success for ourselves alone but to help others achieve it as well.' How many of us think in this way? Can we really get to this stage where we selflessly help others achieve what we have achieved? We really need to candidly reflect on these questions and delve deep into our inner selves to see if the values that we claim to have are in line with our behaviors.

Goal Setting

Living in this world without clear goals can make life miserable. Goals are what make you wake up in the morning early and what keep you stay up late working on achieving your goals. One mistake we make is that we do not write down our goals. All goals should be written and rewritten everyday so that they are driven into our sub-conscious minds as commands. The second step after writing the goals down is to have a plan. You need to do something everyday that moves you towards achieving your goals. Finally, set deadlines for achieving the goals. Don't just say that 'some day I will be an engineer' but say 'I am an engineer in September, 14, 2014'. And when September 14, 2014 comes and you do not yet become an engineer, set another deadline. Never give up! Between you and your goals, you are going to fail many, many times. Keep pushing until you succeed!

Please post your comments!

The Concept of Learning

Hi!

Today I would like to talk about the concept of learning. Many of us might think that learning takes place at school or in the classroom. However, learning is more complex than this. Indeed, it is believed that much of what we learn is informal. In other words, much of what learn occurs outside the boundaries of the classroom. Hence, as teachers, trainers, public speakers, parents, etc. we should not really be worried if the efforts that we make to teach our students, children, employees, etc. do not appear to impact upon their learning. We just need to do our part and we leave the rest to other factors that influence learning such as family and community.

Given that learning is complex, we should never assume that our teaching is ineffective. We never know the impact of our work. We only know one story about learning, which might not be the true story. In the classroom, for example, we might have 30 students, each of whom has his or her own story about learning. Therefore, we should give up the idea that the teacher is someone who knows it all. The teacher is a learner before he or she is a teacher. Teaching involves learning and it should always be viewed it in this way until we drop dead! Learning never ends.

Please post your comments. I look forward to reading them.

Digital Technology

There is no doubt that digital technology has made the world a small village. Borders between countries have become meaningless as people now can instantly communicate with each other using digital technology. The emergence of digital technology has brought with it new identities and discourses. People have discovered new ways of knowing and therefore old assumptions are now being questioned. Knowledge in many areas of our life is doubling within short periods of time. Hence, in order to stay even, one needs to adapt to these changes. This does not mean, however, that every change brought up by digital technology is useful. This just means that one needs to have a critical and reflexive approach to what they know and do.

What do you think? Please post your comments.