Ana Naddoush

I am at a seminar this week about being “At a Crossroads” and today we had a session about appreciation. I have always loved these types of workshops – because they force you to take a long hard look at your life; get a hold of your priorities, appreciate what you have, and try to make the best of the hand of cards you are dealt.

One little exercise we had was to answer the following two questions:

1. Can you think of 3 things that you appreciate in your every day life?
2. What can you do today, nomatter how small, to increase your joy?

Two very simple questions - but never the less questions that we ask ourselves too rarely – if ever!

What would your answers be?

I was also introduced to an amazing little short movie that I just have to share with as many as possible. It really gets you thinking about the power of appreciation and the power of a smile! Enjoy!

Is the wonderful and celebrated Arabic spring turning cold as winter? I am definitely feeling a chill.

Ever since Mubarak was chased off his throne in February the military has ruled Egypt and it seems as if the status quo powers have taken over from the revolutionary youth.

The young people organizing and screaming at the Tahrir square earlier this year have been run over by stronger and more conservative powers in the country, and they are now feeling the negative consequences of having a broad revolutionary coalition without a clear vision for the future.

Everybody agreed that the old regime and Mubarak had to go – but people didn’t agree on what to put instead. And not having a clear plan is dangerous in a place where plenty of people are always standing in line to gain power. There is no room for hesitation.

But the young revolutionaries hesitated – and now things seem to have gotten very much out of hand.

The parliamentary election is set for September and The Muslim Brotherhood and the religious wing are strong and ready for the election whereas the secular wing is not. The secular wing are only starting to establish their political parties and they want more time to do that and to spread their ideas in the public before any election.

There is also a big ideological debate going on at the same time concerning the constitution. Should the change of the constitution come before or after the parliamentary election? The religious wing says after and the secular wing says before.

And in all of this – where is the voice of the youth?

They are frustrated with the lack of action and with all the fuzz which is shifting the focus away from the real problems they see: the millions of Egyptians living below the poverty line and the millions of youth struggling with unemployment. But what to do?

The young revolutionaries are now rallying people for another big demonstration on July 8 in order to save their revolution from the political babble – they are threatening with a million strong occupation of the Tahrir square.

But what will it do? Will it help?

If they want their own forces to succeed and for the democratic powers in Egypt to have a fair chance they need to give them time and support a postponement of the election – but that also might result in more political babble and neglect of the key issues that causes the revolution in the first place. If they instead support the election in September they will see changes soon because a civil government will take over from the military and the process towards democracy can begin – but in that case the Muslim Brotherhood will most likely be ruling the country and will that bring about the democracy they dream of?

I was asked this question today. What would I do if I was ever severely injured?

Like – if I lost an arm or a foot, got second degree burns all over my face and body or if I stepped on a mine and both my legs had to be removed. What would I do then?

Ehhh. How the h*** do you answer a question like that? I do not have a f***ing clue! Will that do for an answer? I guess not.

But seriously – how can you predict how you will react after a life changing event? How can people expect you to know that? No one does. We can guess – and we can assume based on our current knowledge of ourselves. But a life changing situation places on in unfamiliar territory, so we can never know for sure.

Even if we are usually positive people who looks for the silver lining, then a terrible catastrophy can change who we are and how we react. That’s why they call them life-changing So we might go in to a deep dark hole and never come out. Or we might accept our new fate and try to make the best of the situation.

The answer to the big question might be “I would go in to a dark dark depression” or it might be “I would find me a cool wheel chair in bright pink” – but to think that we know for sure which one it will be – that is a big fat lie. No doubt.