Tough Decisions!

There are times in our lives when we have to make some tough decisions. At least they seem tough at the time. Maybe because it is the first time we are encountering that situation. Maybe because we are asked to give up something precious to us, be it our time, money, job, location, doing something we enjoy, someone's company, etc. We wish we never had to be in a position to have to make such choices. We may go through all sorts of emotions, changing our minds back and forth about what we will end up doing. After it is all done and gone, in retrospective we may realize it was not really hard to decide. At the end, when it is only between our own selves, it seems like we almost always knew the answer: just do what is right. It is that simple. Do what is right to you, not what others want you to believe is right, or at least what you believe is right given all you know. If you think you do not have enough information to decipher right from wrong, start gathering information. Research. Then, do what you believe is right. Be willing to pay the price for doing the right thing. You know you won't be at peace with yourself if you do otherwise. You know you do not want to linger this state of suspense to the rest of your life, regretting what you did in the past, wondering what if you had done otherwise. Do what is right. It is that simple.

A Smiley Heart , Behind A Smiley Face!

It was a busy day, full of meetings. I hardly could sit and concentrate on doing work. We also had our annual community day, with different activities and festivities. The weather was a record breaking 100 degrees. I probably could not walk much even if I wanted. I saw a boot with a long line. People were waiting to get the autograph of an astronaut. I saw our secretary in line. "I have only 5 minutes till my next meeting", I said sadly to her. "I can get you an autograph if you like", she says. "Sure, thank you!", and I left happily.

Our secretary is in her early twenties. She takes care of all our administrative needs. She books our flights and hotels, takes care of their reimbursements, and fills out all sorts of forms for different things. Next week she is getting married. Some colleagues were planning to collect money to get her a gift.

I went and made my contribution and signed the card after my meeting. "Do you know what you are going to get her?", I asked the lady who was collecting the money. "I think we are just going to give her the cash", she replied. Then, she went on explaining how our secretary had told her she wanted to stay in a nice hotel on her wedding night but it was too expensive for her. It was heartbreaking. I felt so bad having given her the receipts for my most recent trip before she takes off for her wedding. I felt bad because she always does her best to make us happy, without any sad or negative feelings. You would have never guessed her situation from her positive attitude and always-smiley face. There I was staying at the nicest hotel for four nights for work and she could not afford to do so at her own wedding night. I could not resist increasing my contribution after hearing her sad story, wishing her her dream wedding night.

I was in these thoughts that my phone rang. "Hi, I got you that autograph you wanted, it is in your mailbox!". I go and pick it up. She even made him spell my unusual name. It tells me "Reach for your star!".

يك پروژه دشوار!

يك ماه از باز شدن استخر خونم گذشته و من هنوز نتونستم برم شنا. اول كارت عبورم نيومده بود. بعد از تماس با شركت مجتمع و رفع مشكل ادارى اومد. بعد من سفر بودم. آخر هفته قبل هم سرگرم فاميل و مسافر ها بودم. ديروز عزمم رو جزم كرده بودم كه حتما بعد از كار ميرم استخر. حتى لباس و حولم رو هم اماده گذاشته بودم كه وقتى از كار ميام معطل نشم. شانس ما ديروز بارون زد، چه بارونى. گفتم عيب نداره، فردا ميرم، كه امروز بوده باشه. از خونه خوشحال زدم بيرون و به سمت استخر قدم ميزدم كه يكى از همسايه ها رو ديدم و پرسيد: "دارى ميرى استخر؟." گفتم آره. گفت بستنش كه تميزش كنن، يك بچه مثل اينكه توش خرابكارى كرده. باورم نميشد. به قول يكى از دوستام اين قانون مرفيز هميشه پاچه مارو ميگيره. حالا تا فردا خدا بزرگه!

Border

It is an imaginary line,
Dividing a surface to two areas: A and B.
You may be considered a friend in one area and a foe in another.
Getting from A to B might be very different from getting from B to A.
As soon as you cross this imaginary line,
The main language may change,
The traditions, and many other things.

Humans made these imaginary lines.
They are called borders.
At least those are well defined, usually.
There are rules about them.
As long as you inquire about them,
And follow them,
You will be fine.

Humans are good at making these imaginary lines.
Most of them are invisible though.
You do not know the rules that applies to them.
There are many invisible borders for every single person.
As soon as you cross those lines,
Sometimes without knowing,
You will be deported from that person's mind, heart, or life.

So, people try to be considerate of those they care about,
Not to cross any prohibited borders,
Not to be deported.

But do we really want to live such a terrified life?
Do not we wish to be in the same territory with them,
Or know what the expectations are?
Maybe we can first make those lines visible,
Before attempting to broaden our safe zone,
Before trying to eliminate borders.

Maybe, maybe one day,
The other side lifts some bans too.
Maybe they let us in,
After we took permissions and showed our credentials.
We may be proven trustworthy enough.
Who knows, they may make an exception just for us.

Then little by little,
We push our boundaries,
Expand our horizons,
Live more freely.

Bloody difference

He yells, he yells back.
He curses, he curses back.
He punches, he punches back.
He kills, he kills back.
They both say they are very different from each other.
So different that it is worth dying for.

Humans are smart

Humans are smart.
They break all sorts of distance and space limitations.
They can see surfaces as far as mars.
They will reach Pluto, even if it takes nine years of traveling in space.
They can hardly break the distance among themselves though.
Even if they are sitting next to each other.

Humans are smart.
They design algorithms for extracting fonts from crowded pictures,
To extract facial expressions, gestures, guess behaviors and actions.
They do not know what to do with this information though,
When they acquire it with their own eyes, ears, and hearts.
In fact, they perform worse than their own algorithms.
They pass each other by all the time.

Yes, humans are smart.

What is a person to do? Speak up, keep quiet, or disappear?

A close family member or friend is making a wrong decision, doing the wrong thing, walking on the roof of a very high building and you see s/he is going to fall down shortly unless you stop them. So, you tell them, you warn them, you try to open their eyes. It is clear like day light to you they are going to fall, it is not a matter of opinion or perspective. The response you get is "you are supposed to support me, say keep going, how can I help you walk faster to reach your destination?". But you cannot provide that support. It is wrong, immoral, against your beliefs and principles. You cannot keep quiet either for it would be tacit approval of what they are doing and later you may blame yourself for the consequences. What should one do in this situation? Keep a distance so that you never see that person walking to the edge and falling, or keep talking and have continuous tension and stress and arguments with that person? What is a person to do?