EMPTINESS : With Purpose and for Fulfilment

Introduction:

    Life often presents a complex tapestry of emotions, psychological challenges, and spiritual journeys. These phases are sometimes beyond our control and can make us feel like marionettes, swaying in the breeze of helplessness, surrendering to passive states, and enduring temporary defeats. Emptiness, a profound sensation, can envelop us, both internally and in the world around us.

Embracing Emptiness for Growth:

    Emptiness, often seen as a negative state, can be a catalyst for personal growth and transformation. It can lead to self-discovery and the pursuit of new passions.  As someone who has grappled with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), I intimately understand the state of emptiness. In my early years, during adolescence, I deemed it a curse without rhyme or reason, often associating it with my existence as an only child and feeling profoundly alone.

    However, as time passed, I realized that emptiness often paves the way for something new. I consciously immersed myself in timeless wanderings, embracing the powerful and strongly felt vibes of the early morning sunrise and the calming dusk. My connection with Nature evolved into an obsession. In jungles, by riversides, in dense fog, and during midnight strolls, those irresistible vibrations drew me closer than ever before to the Creator.

Jullo Forest Safari, Lahore - Photo #SaalikSiddikki

Capturing the Divine:

    Connecting with nature can have a profound therapeutic effect on mental, emotional, and physical well-being. It does provide solace and healing during challenging times.  Almost fifteen years ago, I acquired my first-ever digital camera and fell in love with capturing Nature through a unique Divine lens.

    I discovered being blessed with an uncommon angle of vision that still leads me to see things, particularly Nature, and especially autumn in a very different frame perception. Wandering, mostly alone and preferably starting even before sunrise constantly gives me Goosebumps for hours and hours on and makes me feel completely relieved of all physical pains. It is so difficult to explain but that’s the only way I can describe it.

Power Healing Nature:

    During times of severe hypertension and suicidal depression, my timeless solitary wanderings and Nature photography became my lifelines, rescuing me from emotional, psychological, and physical collapses. While I couldn't fully escape BPD, I dare to claim that, by the mercy of the Creator, it couldn't obliterate me, even without psychological consultation or medication.

Discovering the Fillers:

    For anyone experiencing profound emptiness, it's essential to embark on an inward journey, seeking the hidden fillers that undoubtedly exist, waiting to be discovered. Pursuing personal passions, such as photography (like in my case), writing, travelling, hiking, painting or any other creative activity, can be a powerful way to find meaning and fulfilment, even in the midst of emptiness.  Sometimes I strongly feel and firmly believe that emptiness is as essential in life as a strong craving and hunger to satiate the real taste of our favorite foods and meals. Void is one of the strongest drives that compel us to consume the water in our half-filled glass soon to refill it again.

Conclusion:

    Emptiness, though daunting, can be a hidden blessing, guiding us toward transformative experiences and newfound purpose. Through nature's embrace and personal passions, we can emerge stronger and more resilient, finding beauty in the void. Embracing emptiness, connecting with nature, and pursuing passions are not just personal journeys but also valuable lessons for anyone navigating the complexities of life's challenges.

Saalik Siddikki 

STAND UP CRAWLING BABIES .... !

The bitterest truth is we use eyes only to see what we want to see and not the things that invite us to see them because that requires a specific angle of vision and sometimes it makes us a bit uncomfortable while we tend to remain in the comfort zone.

We see things that we like and ignore the ones that disturb us somewhere deep in our subconsciousness. Aaaaaahhh ..... those disturbing things are actually inviting us to explore them minutely to find out something surprising, amazing and stunning behind the first layer of existence. That's exactly what creative thinkers do.

We all are blessed with the power of imagination and perception but how many of us realize that?

Think about it seriously, for you may someday hit upon something to proudly share with the world.

Of course, I'm not a teacher and you are not my pupils but I'm giving you an assignment like the one given by a teacher and students take it as a boring task while in reality it is intended to polish their hidden skills and talents, to activate their senses of perception and imagination.

You don't have to got anywhere. Just look around wherever you are, indoor or luckily outdoor. There are countless things that invite your attention with a little curious thinking. See the lines and curves and angles that everything offers. See the colours and shades, faded colours, worn out patches, surfaces and textures, shadows and reflections in water like a young child whose excitement finds no bounds when he/she looks at something for the very first time.

Deliberately act like a crawling baby who has just learned to stand up and walk. Have you ever keenly observed such a baby? You just can't imagine his/her excitement. The act of simply standing up freely in itself is the greatest adventure of a crawling baby.

Thank Lord Creator, I still love to experience the moments between crawling and standing up.

Saalik Siddikki
09:34 .... 04-04-2014

It just occurred, and directly typed on my Facebook timeline extempore, after an inbox message to my Facebook friend Atta Ur Rahman .... (Thank you dear, you stirred my lazy thoughts.)

Materialize The Passing Moment

by Saalik Siddikki

I have been trying to induce, persuade and motivate some of my younger friends, for the last fifteen years, to explore their inner grounds, find the seeds of writing passion and tap their potential of writing in English. Writing anything, short stories, novels, articles/essays for newspapers, magazine and lately writing on internet.

To my chagrin, none demonstrated the courage to accept the challenge. Today, I do admit that, in actual fact, it is me who utterly failed to break the shackles of self imposed compulsions and unleash a great writer, contained somewhere deep inside. I pursued others to help them discovering their talents and abilities while my own passions and obsessions suffered heavily.

Admitting my failure has also shown me a thin beam of hope that I may one day discover the writer that I myself buried under heavy debris of my shattered dreams.

The genetic default of having a flair for writing, creativity and expressing my true emotions is an undeniable truth. Then why I ignored or deceived myself by mis-perceiving that writing is not for me? It is an unpardonable sin for which I am sternly admonishing myself. And I have my own way of doing this.

In addition to various other abandoned blogs, I also created some with purpose that need to be updated regularly and the task is like squeezing the lemon to eke out even the last smallest remaining drop of its sour and acidic juice. That's the price I have to pay for all the complacence, lethargy, procrastination and self-deception.

My dear younger friends, please try to avoid the circumstances that I have been through and don't waste your valuable time in futile activities.

Take full advantage of the passing moment, for it is the only opportunity that you have to avail. Past is gone, future is unknown. Only the passing moment is what you have to manipulate and utilize to your own advantage.

To fulfill your dreams and to achieve your goals, materialize this passing moment using every unit of your intellectual, spiritual and physical energies. Wishing you all the best in the process of moving towards your destiny.

Think big, act intrepidly!

August 10, 2010

Attack Before Getting a Checkmate

by Saalik Siddikki

“Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway. -- Steven Coallier”

Have you ever paused for a moment and pondered, in the hustle bustle of everyday hectic activities that life is going to kill you anyway. There is no doubt about it.  What only matters is span of time.  Stop in the middle of your tracks right away and check your performance.  Ask yourself bluntly:

• What were your goals?

• When and where did you start pursuing your goals?

• What tracks did you choose towards your destiny?

• What luggage did you take with you and how much is left now?

• Did you have any companions or your left alone to conquer the world?

• What milestones came your way and where did you move from there?

• Have you achieved any single goal or more?

• Are you satisfied with your journey towards your destiny?

OR

Have you been just wandering around, only doing window shopping, killing time, joining and quitting jobs merely to make both ends meet and wasting your energies purposelessly in futile exercises?

It is only you, indeed, who could answer these questions to determine your current status.

Suppose, if you say that you have achieved all or most of your goals, then what?  Will you be spending the rest of your life huddled up in the comfort zone of your fulfilled dreams and desires?  I don’t think you would think on these lines.  No successful person does.

On the contrary, if you are one of those who could not achieve anything in life and have fallen victim to complacence and self-pity, then you certainly need to take a revolutionary step to get out of this state of mind that is eroding your remaining ambition, enthusiasm and fervor.

Remember, you are never out of the battleground of life till your last breath.  In that case you cannot take risk of ignoring the surroundings where everybody is fighting for his/her own survival and there is a definite probability that someone attacks you before you could raise your defending shield.  What to do then?  Should you take out your sword of revenge and start killing others?  No, I didn’t mean that.

The only point that I intend to convey to you is that you should not become the scapegoat of circumstances.  Don’t kill anyone to make your way forward towards survival, but then, also never get assaulted in ignorance.

What is life?  Composition of opportunities - sometimes recurring and sometimes new – giving you a chance to avail, exerting every drop of your energy and doing as best as you can.

If no opportunity comes your way, create one for yourself.  Do your best on every frontier as if this is the last battle of your life and see how victories pile up behind you raising you to the zenith of achievements and gratification.

That is exactly what it means to attack life.   

                                                                        

  

Stop Being a Punching Bag!

by Saalik Siddikki

Does everybody feel tempted to use you as a punching bag, any time and anywhere without expecting a counter-blow?  If so, you are trapped in a terrific situation.  What should you do – drop down to disintegrate or build resistance to be felt rock-hard and cause an agonizing reaction to the punchers? The choice is exclusively your own. 

There would have been a number of reasons for your state of being a punching bag and these reasons must have roots deep into your early childhood.  Now recall your memories when you were perhaps six or eight year old. 

·        Did everybody at home make a mockery of you?

·        Were you the only one, for everyone at home and in the neighbourhood, to be taken as a natural scapegoat for everything wrong done by others?

·        Did you always or mostly feel nervous in the company of boys of your age group or a bit elder and preferred to avoid their presence around?

·        Was it usually your mom whose lap was always the best solace for you?

·        Were you ignored by your parents, brothers and sisters for no apparent reasons?

·        Were you underweight and skinny and felt misfit in the atmosphere?

·        Did you have any other weakness in your personality that prevented you from expressing your true self before others?

·        Did your teachers treat you as the twelfth man of their team?

·        Did you take shelter in escaping from challenging situations that required leadership initiatives?

Well, nobody in the world could help you determine the reasons that transformed you, slowly, silently and irritatingly, into a punching bag.  You could never have been satisfied with yourself in accepting such a humiliating existence.  There would be moments when you might have had an irresistible urge to rebel against your helplessness, to explode like a volcano.  The question is why didn’t you?  What stopped you from breaking the shackles of torture and agonizing pain? 

Think about it seriously.  It was always you who chose to nestle in the comfort zone of complacence and retreat instead of stubbornly reacting to every blow that you received.  Perhaps no one ever extended a helping hand towards you to get you out of this quagmire that continued to swallow you like an insatiable vampire.

How old are you now? 14, 18, 25, 30 or above, and are you still the same punching bag that people love to pound?  Come on man, stop punching your ego and burst out of the shell of self pity.  Yes, self pity is the most lethal poison that is taking its toll.

How long will you be deceiving yourself?  Make up your mind now, right at this moment and get rid of the cloak of helplessness – burn it down to ashes.  It is just like burning your boats to not leave a chance to back away from the battleground of realities.

The realities are hard to face but you have to.  Do a little self talk, take a bold decision and stick to it.  Remember, God does not like you to remain like this for a single moment.  You have enough courage to defy God’s will.  Why can’t you defy people’s will?  You certainly can and you should.

You have two options now.  One, move out of the reach of people’s punching range and it is not that easy.  You cannot create your own special world minus bullies – they are in abundance everywhere.  Two, turn yourself into a bag of rock-hard cement so that when, from now on, anybody punches you, he would break his own knuckles and forget about repeating it.

You may face a little embarrassment occasionally but, ultimately you would succeed in keeping the bullies at an arm’s length. 

Do it now or you would never be in a position to do so.  If possible, look around to find a mentoring friend to help you in taking a courageous decision. 

It is only you who is to take action now.  It is only you who is to transform into a new being.  It is only you who is not to act like a punching bag any more.

Power of Greed vs Ambition

by Saalik Siddikki


Synonyms of Ambition carry an air of positivity :

Goal

Aim

Aspiration

Objective

Dream

Hope

Desire

Purpose

Synonyms of Greed are shrouded in negativity : 

Gluttony

Voracity

Ravenousness

Greediness

Hunger

Insatiability

Self indulgence

Now the question is what passion a positive thinker should fuel to achieve success - ambition or greed?

We normally see ambition tagged with a desire to attain positive goals while greed labelled as a negative emotion to gain advantages or benefits by hook or by crook.

My point is what if we replace ambition with greed to achieve positive goals?  Whether it makes sense or not is not an issue here.  It has just occurred to me that the massive force of negative energy should be used to attain targets.  The intensity of negative energy is beyond question.

Think about a nuclear bomb and watch your reactive thoughts.  Do you visualize nuclear energy providing electricity and fuel to run the industry or act as a steering power to move huge ships in the seas?  Not at all.  Your mind, in a fraction of a second, goes back to world war II when America used nuclear bombs to cause devastating damage in two Japanese cities.

But now the nuclear energy is used in other fields for the benefit of scientific and medical research and producing energy for positive usage.

Similarly, we can use the power of greed to achieve our set targets merely because of its intensity.

Keep your thoughts focused on your targets but think like a greedy villain with an insatiable lust for success and achievement who does not give a damn about anything in the world while pursuing his objectives fiercely and ferociously.  

It does not mean, in any sense, that you should take steps to cause damage or loss to others.  

Thinking like a villain and using the fuel of greed simply means to build a fortress against lethargy, procrastination, complacence, lassitude and indolence which are internal hurdles in your way to march towards your destiny.

Eliminating each of the above hurdles is imperative to achieve success and you cannot take risk of ignoring these nuisance.

So, try to change your thinking pattern and take full advantage of the fierceness of negative emotions.  I am sanguine it would lessen your chances of failure and enhance the prospects of success positively. 

How to deal with bullies?

Four Practical tips to deal with difficult colleagues.

Do you have to deal with the special species of colleagues around you who are bent upon spoiling working ambiance even without any provocation? 

They are everywhere like parasites, particularly in small organizations and every organization cannot afford to get rid of them for one reason or the other.  It could be their quality of work, relationship with any of the high-ups or the benefits the employers enjoy through them.

The price of their nasty bullying is always paid by their colleagues.  Are you stuck up in such an undesired cul-de-sac of situation with no immediate way out?  Here are four practical tips to save your neck from any mishap that could cost you the job or land you in hot waters:

1. Make your worth felt 

You may already be doing your level best to achieve the set goals and doing utmost justice to your job.  Yet, the top most action that you can take to save your face, your job and your self-esteem is to do more than your current performance. 

Demonstrate to your colleagues, your seniors and your employers that you are no less in worth, to the organization, than anybody else. 

2. Never lose your self-esteem 

Whatever reaction you get from the bullies, always hold your head high with self-esteem that is the strongest power you possess in dealing with negative forces under any circumstances.

Everybody is valued in the scale of his/her self-esteem.  Even those who are jealous of you, for any reason, hold you in high regards for your self-esteem whether they let you realize it or not.

3. Be cooperative, not subservient 

The best strategy to survive and to achieve set goals is to do your best in creating a congenial ambiance in your working place.  Thus, your proffer of cooperation should be apparent so that your colleagues could feel up to asking for it without any obligation.

Make the difficult colleagues realize that you are willing to cooperate and help them in achieving their targets sorting out whatsoever problems they have, but simply as a colleague, not as a subservient and weak person.

4. Respect them as human beings 

Since every human being deserves to be respected, you had better express your feelings, even to these difficult colleagues, through your communication, body gestures and actions.

Initially, they may take it as their victory to fuel their arrogance but, with the passage of time, they would certainly understand your character and positive attitude.

Confrontation, in these situations or any other similar like these, is never a solution.  Rather you had better understand their inner compulsions, psychological factors and human nature.

I personally had to deal with such bullies during my job/stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1984-1987.  Thank Lord, I succeeded, through the above tactics, in transforming those difficult colleagues into friends who were crying like children when I left the Kingdom.  Why can you not do it?

Performance vs. Achievement

by Saalik Siddikki

      

            Whatever you do is your performance to achieve some target and whatever you achieve is the result of your performance.  If so, then what is more important in value and worth – performance or achievement?

            To me, the various stages of performance are true source of lasting gratification and delight comparing with joy of achievement that is usually short-timed.

            Each performance comprises actions if done with an intention and reason to reach a certain milestone, to achieve certain goals and to gain some benefits.  But, every action is not a performance like habitual activities.  They are done without a purpose in mind.

            Performance is the result of a plan to accomplish some task.  It is a process of taking steps for doing things in a certain sequence to reach a specific point of satisfaction.  

We can say that performance is a combination of:

• A plan
• Actions in a sequence
• Satisfactory accomplishment
  
  

  

  Image credit: Yogendra Singh - pexels dot com

            So, what if, regardless of all the passionate actions and concentrated efforts, you fail to pull it off?  The definite outcome is disappointment, regret, displeasure and frustration or, in exceptional cases, could be worse.

            Can you, in such a disheartening situation, do something to avoid the blitz of negative thoughts and emotions?  Most people fail to do so and fall victim to tension, depression, self-rejection and remorse.  It is merely because they are not prepared to accept a setback. And thus, they do not equip themselves with the appropriate tools to deal with a failure.

            It is simply a matter of mindset.  If you are a positive thinker, you enjoy every action of yours towards achieving your goals and in case of failure; you do not lose your heart.  You take your failure as a setback like all successful people do.  They know that setbacks are temporary phases to learn from and forget.  They do not let their feet stuck up in the muddy grounds for the rest of their life.  They move ahead to find other ways to reach their next milestone.

            Since the ultimate destiny of performance is the satisfactory accomplishment of the intended job, it is of colossal importance that you keep your thoughts totally focused on enjoying every action, for you definitely get at least two benefits from each step that you take:

• You do not remain stagnant and move ahead depending on the size of your step
• You learn something that you did not know before

            I always suggest and this is the basic theme of Think SUCCEEDED that your ultimate accomplished goal should never skip your mind.  Nonetheless, concentrating on the current moments will certainly enhance not only the quality of your performance but also your chances of success.

            The phase of satisfaction, pleasure and joy of achievement does not last long while you recall the high moments of your struggle and endeavour for a long time.  You love to mention repeatedly, to your family and friends, how you overcame the hurdles and took the challenges.  You feel euphoric in describing your struggle to overcome difficulties and obstacles.

            Do your best to make your performance excellent and exemplary for others to follow and reap the bliss of being appreciated and acclaimed.

Noisy Coins vs Cool Currency Notes

            Have you ever noticed that if you have a few coins in your pocket they make noise even without your touching them.  Try to walk a little fast or jog and they start rattling in your pocket disrupting your thoughts and making you realise their presence. 

Image credit: Pixabay

            Attitude.  Yes, they want you to take them counted.  The attitude of narrow minds, unpolished characters and under-grown personalities.   People with these qualities are hell-raisers who talk loudly, shout casually and argue obdurately over trivial matters merely to make their value realised, for they certainly possess a value like every single coin does.

            On the other hand, a bulky pack of ten grand does not create any noise whether you walk fast, jog or jump.  Sometimes you do not even feel its presence but deep somewhere in your subconscious mind you are silently and repeatedly reassured of its value.

Image credit: Pratikxox

            Does it imply then that the more value you possess the more self-contained, self-maintained and self-esteemed you become?  Yes, that is true.  You cannot increase your value through shouts, outbursts and stubbornness.  Never.

            Now find a life-size mirror.  Go straight to it.  Stand firmly with full confidence.  Look at yourself, eyes into eyes.  Ask yourself bluntly "Where do you like to be placed?"  At the bottom of a nicely erected heap of coins or somewhere in between the high denomination currency notes, roughly stacked?

            If you feel that you are still being placed, by the world, under the heap of coins, take the boldest step of your life and refine your qualities, define your characteristics.  First, create your worth and then prove it to the world with a pinch of pure self-esteem which is the essence of your value to others.

            Remember, if you do not realise your own value then how can you expect others to understand your worth? Making noise is a healthy activity but not at the cost of your devaluation. Wake up, dozing soul, wake up! Put the best side of you in the window.  If people do not feel up to paying for you, they would certainly appreciate you as we all do while window-shopping.

            When we see something of value and are unable to get it, we take pride in telling about it to our friends.  At least be something that valuable.  Make them realise your merits by keeping cool and self-contained like currency notes not by shouting or creating noisy scenes like coins.

            The above crap is the afterthought of an SMS message that my Facebook friend Azhar Abbas Azee sent me yesterday ------ "Coins" always make sound but the currency notes are always silent. So, when your value increases, keep yourself "calm and silent".

Never Give Up Quotes

3 Awesome Quotes to Ignite Your Passion to Succeed

Never give up quotes contain powerful words and emotions which can inspire change. These are quotes that have stood the test of time and that have affected the human race profoundly.

If you feel like you're on the verge of defeat or if you feel like there's no hope left, these words will help you get through.

Below are a few never give up quotes that will make even the most cynical person in the world budge.

Never Give Up Quote # 1: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius

Life is not always easy. However, this doesn't mean that we should just roll over and play dead. According to the famous Chinese philosopher and strategist Confucius, success is not measured by the number of accolades we have hanging on our walls, but by the number of times we forced ourselves to get up and try again.

Granted, you'd much rather win than lose, but losing gives you the opportunity to learn something new. It also shows strength in character. And in the long run, having that strength to keep on going is more important.

Never Give Up Quote # 2: "You just can't beat the person who won't give up." - Babe Ruth

Legendary baseball player Babe Ruth sure knows what he's talking about. There are many different kinds of victories in this world. One of them doesn't involve a title and an award. Instead, it involves strength of character and perseverance.

Think of the countries that fought valiantly for their independence. These former colonies didn't win the war from day one. They must have lost more than a few battles and good men before they won back their freedom. Such a situation shows that as long as you keep on trying, you'll never be defeated.

Never Give Up Quote # 3: "When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place." - Anonymous

This quote is one of the most profound ones I've ever stumbled upon. It tackles one of the most important points of defeat.

Sometimes, we feel like giving up. We feel like enough is enough. This quote doesn't just tell us to get back up on the dance floor, but it reminds us to draw strength from our purpose.

These never give up quotes are all useful guidelines for getting past obstacles. I hope they serve you well.

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