by Noor Jafri

 

I am very grateful to live the life that I am free to live. 

I am grateful that I am supported. 

I am grateful that I am not alone. 

I have people who love and care for me. 

I am blessed. 

The only thing I want more of, is to bring awareness to the fact that we are all in this together. 

I have always wanted to be a “peacemaker”; Someone who can bring perspective from both sides; Someone who understands where each person is coming from. There are a lot of misunderstandings caused by ignorance; by fear; by judgement. I do not know how many people take the time to think about their habits and behaviour. And if they do, I do not know how many people realize that what they are doing is wrong. 

I have been guilty of bad behaviour and my justification was always that maybe they deserved it, or that my feelings were hurt or maybe I was just angry. I came up with any number of excuses and realize that I was sad, angry, and bitter.  In my opinion, life had given me “lemon rinds” and I did not know what to do with them. At the time, it seemed like something I should throw away or compost. 

My perspective of lemon rinds was how I viewed my life at the time. What I considered meaningless and something that I was given did not mean that I had to settle for that and that if I truly wanted to, I had the capacity to make it something better. 

When you are feeling sorry for yourself or you are too busy to take notice of the things around you, you tend to miss the privileges that you take for granted. 

Here is what I have learned and would like to share with you:

Life is happening FOR you not TO you! Do not make yourself a victim of the circumstances you find yourself in. Understand that if you have the courage to step out of the darkness, light awaits you. It is important to keep faith alive and do things which bring you into your life. YOU are not a victim. YOU are a survivor. You know what it is like to feel isolated and yet you still get up every single day and continue to search for your place in this world. Being here in this moment is a gift. As more people become aware of what is going on in the world and gain insight into the injustices that occur sometimes at the expense of innocent people, WE will RISE and take a stand to change the world. Together, we can change the narrative. We can rise above it. We can spread love and make our part of the world better.