Zaid Ismail's Blog, page 31

Peace is possible

The belief that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger is a lie. Yes, it may prepare us for greater trials and opportunities, but we also grow impatient or intolerant if we repeatedly faced with the same or similar challenge. Life begins to feel stagnant and suffocating of we find ourselves faced with the same […]

Why judge yourself?

“By those who consider the whole of me, I may be judged fairly. But by those who remain invested in only a single moment of time from a distant memory, they will only be able to judge an abstract moment of what I’ve lived.” (Excerpt from my essay A Long Drive With Me) On the […]

You give what you have

What we believe is true about ourselves is what we are capable of offering to others. Nothing more. Nothing less. You cannot give what you don’t have. The day you realise this is the day you’ll see the fears and weaknesses that drives others to behave badly towards you. It was never about you. It’s […]

Suicide is avoidable

This is a reminder for those who think that everyone who wears their heart on their sleeves, or are just looking for attention. It may not be healthy, but it’s their way of drawing attention to their struggle that they need help with. How we respond either enables the unhealthy expression, diminishes their efforts to […]

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What are you waiting for?

When we find ourselves waiting for just the right moment, or that right feeling, or the perfect setting, or the ideal opportunity to present itself before we do something, we’re afraid of failure. If we know, with understanding and rational thought, why we are not ready for something, that’s different. When we have no real […]

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Rise

People that respect your victim-hood do so because it makes them feel better about themselves. It doesn’t mean that they are malicious or have bad intentions. But they most likely don’t even realise it themselves. In fact, you may be supporting others in ways that comfort you more than it helps them. When we find […]

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How to abandon your dreams

Failure only threatens is if we feel defined by the outcome of our efforts in trying to achieve our goals. Sometimes those goals are small things that influence the daily quality of our lives, and sometimes it’s big things that shape our future. The source of fearing failure is in our need to be respected […]

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Embrace the whole of you

We often discard good advice because we don’t like the source. Sometimes it’s because we don’t want to appear weak in front of them, and other times it’s because we are trying to save face after having treated them badly. Emotional maturity is achieved when we are willing to learn from our enemies and loved […]

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To be near death

Yesterday, I watched a man die. I didn’t know him. I don’t know if he was a good person. Nor do I know if he was loved. But his body and his face had all the signs of one who lived in emotional duress. He was a married man, and therefore most likely loved. He […]

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A victim of your own mind

There’s a difference between being a victim in the moment, versus holding onto the victim mindset long after the moment has passed. We hold on to the victim mindset when we need others to recognise our struggle, or to acknowledge what we’re having to overcome or deal with. The only reason this becomes necessary is […]

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