Mind Platter

by Najwa Zebian

  Work Hard

  Thirty years from now, what do you want to look back and tell yourself? If you keep in mind the purpose you have in your life, every hard day becomes worth it. So, if you're working hard, work harder. Don't give up. Don't ever stop. Building yourself, though it is exhausting, is more rewarding than the regret of not doing so, especially when you realize that you're not as strong as you once were, or as capable as you once were.

  How Dare You

  If you have a purpose in life, you will have enemies. If you care about the well-being of the people around you, even if you don't know them, you will have enemies. The world will try to convince you that the best life that you can live is one in which you care about yourself only. Lose your heart. Don't be compassionate unless you have time. As long as you earn enough money, shut your mouth. Who cares about everyone else? Never question authority because doing that is wrong. Who are you to know more than those who are in positions of power? How dare you? We seriously have forgotten what being human means. We've become machines. We've become experts at justifying our flaws, but we're not even close to acknowledging that those flaws exist because of the lack of basic human interaction. How can a mother sacrifice years of her life, put her career aside, make her dreams wait, without waiting for a paycheck at the end of the month? Would a paycheck bring her the same kind of happiness anyway? Not. Even. Close. We don't make ourselves compassionate; we are born compassionate. We selectively allow ourselves to be heartless because we are convinced that selfish people who put themselves first are the happiest. Yes, put yourself first but not in a selfish way. Put yourself first by working on bettering yourself. Listen to your heart when it tells you to help. Listen to it when it aches. Use your mind. Listen to it when it wakes up your dignity. Listen to it when it tells you to say no to what is wrong.

  Your Inner Beauty

  In an upside-down world like ours, it doesn't matter who you are. Who you make yourself seem like does, though. The higher your expectations, the harder people will work to reach them. And with your prestige, they value you more. It's true. But why do you look at materialistic people? Why do you look at those who make you feel like you have to be different to impress them? Stop and rewind. Go back to the caterpillar that you were before you got your beautiful wings. Who loved you then? Who respected you then? Who saw the beauty within you then? Those people right there are the ones who deserve to be impressed by you. Not the ones who make you feel small even though you're way bigger. Not the ones who make you feel worthless even though you deserve to be sitting on a throne in a kingdom of your own.

  Heal

  Don't point out people's mistakes unless you're willing to tell them how to fix them. Criticism can break the strongest of souls, and advice can build the weakest of spirits. Your words can be healing, or they can be sickening. Let them heal. Let them inspire. Let them be the crying shoulder that your shoulder cannot be.

  Lost

  You may not be where you want to be, but you are somewhere. When chasing after big dreams, you must measure your progress by how far you've come, not by how far you still must go. So, if your dreams are too far out of sight, be happy because that means they are big. You are not stronger than fate, but don't be too quick to judge where fate leads you. Keep moving. You may not end up where you set your sails for, but your hard work will get you to a destination that's no less great. Put your best effort forward and own it. Don't fight fate. Befriend it.

  A Castle of My Own

  I crafted the doors to my castle with a chisel I sharpened with every arrow aimed at my heart. I closed these doors and hid the keys in the highest tower I built. On every step, I engraved respect. I shattered every glass window and replaced them with bars of steel. I broke down every wall tainted by the hands of those whose trustworthiness I believed in and was disappointed by. I ripped apart every paper I wrote to those who heard my words with their ears, not with their brains or hearts. I shielded my heart with a golden cage. I left the key in a dark place, and I sought the light. My soul sought peace. It sought purity from the dusty world surrounding it. It ached for the innocence within it to shine. It sought the lost key but soon realized that it did not need it, for I am already the owner of my heart.

  Make a Difference

  Making a difference in the world begins with making a difference in yourself. Life may pass you by, and one day you will realize that you spent years on others and always wondered when you would have time for yourself. The truth is that it is so much easier to care for others than it is to care for yourself. Honesty hurts you, but being honest with others about themselves is a lot easier. So you invest in others. You forget that the best kind of investment is in making yourself a better person. Don't stop caring for others, but promise me this: start caring for yourself today. Let go of whatever is holding you back. No excuses. Just start.

  Trust Me

  It's not about who you trust. It's about what you're willing to trust people with. Even the most trustworthy of people will let out your secrets, even unintentionally. You know why? It's because no one is perfect. We are all flawed. And sometimes we underestimate our innocence and overestimate other people's innocence, so we trust with the best of intentions yet manage to come off as naive. Yes, naive, or too unrealistic. Too hopeful. Too positive. As if there could ever be too much goodness. Trust people, but don't burden them with your problems or worries. Don't trust them with things that could cage you in the past. Keep your heart on the harbor of safety. Keep your brain away from regret. Trust them with your thoughts on life, your reflections, aspirations, and values. Trust them with your manners. Trust them with your kindness. And if they betray those things, at least you've lost nothing. Instead, you will prove to yourself how strong your values are against the tides of ignorance around you.

  Dream Your Journey Away

  We learn a lot more from the journey than the destination. Don't focus on the result because the fear of failure will make you blind to the possibility of success. Focus on the process instead because it'll motivate you to take every step carefully. At least we can dream during our journey, but our destination may be scarred by reality. So enjoy your journey and push yourself to prove to yourself how capable you are of making the right decisions, of putting the right efforts forward, and of staying true to yourself.

  Age and Wisdom

  Respect your elders but don't ever accept power used wrongly. Just because they're older, it doesn't mean they're wiser. Just because they're in power, it doesn't mean they're just. Just because they're accountable for their actions, it doesn't mean that they realize the importance of honesty. If you don't stand your ground, they will walk all over you and even make lies up about you if they have to keep their statuses safe. Walk with your head up high and don't look down except to remind yourself of where we all came from and where we all will end up.

  Choose Beauty

  People will not remember the details of what your face looks like, yet you worry the most about that. They do remember your smile. The look in your eyes while they were talking to you. The way you made them feel. How gentle you were. The comfort your words gave them and the understanding you were willing to offer. How you went out of your way to make them happy. Your kindness, your compassion, and your respectfulness. The most beautiful of faces may have the ugliest of hearts, and if that's what you're looking for, that's what you will get. But if you have a beautiful heart, your beauty will shine on people's hearts. Whether they see it or not depends on what they're looking for.

  A Taste of Your Own Medicine

  Don't give them a taste of their own medicine. They already know what it tastes like. Give them a taste of your own medicine. If they lied, let your medicine be honesty. If they played with your emotions, let your medicine be maturity. If they broke you, let your medicine heal. If they made you cry, let your medicine make them smile. These remedies of yours may take years to work, but they work. And they last. So be patient. Stay true to yourself. And remember this
: it is better for people to value you for who you are, not for who you pretend to be. Who you are lasts a lifetime. Who you pretend to be changes like the change of seasons. Don't be afraid to be yourself, even if it means removing yourself from lives that you want to be in. You are, no doubt, worthy of being valued for who you are. So be who you are.

  Listen

  Stop listening to the voices around you. Focus on the voices within you. Your heart's language is the most comprehensive. Your mind's logic is the most worthy of your time. Fix yourself before you worry about fixing others. At the end of the day, no one will walk your journey for you. You have to do that. At the end of the day, no one will dream for you. You have to do that. At the end of the day, no one will lose a moment of sleep because of the sleep you lose. Learn to trust your instincts. Don't ask for advice on personal matters unless it's from family. No one has an intrinsic motive to stand up for you. If you don't want people to assume facts about you, don't assume facts about them. Teach yourself to be independent of others' opinions but respectful of them. Love solitude. Love the person that you are. Don't ever believe that you are the same as anyone else. Don't ever dare to think that being different is a crime, no matter how many people shut you out. They earned the right to be let go of. You are different, and that's a fact. You are unique, and that's a fact. Your existence is in your hands, so let it shine. Let it inspire. Let it be free.

  Understand Me

  Would you ask the sun why it shines brighter on some days than others? Would you ask the moon why it breaks the darkness on some nights and not others? Such is the course of life. Some days, we give our best, but other days, we just exist. Some days, we are kings and queens of our minds and souls, and some days, we are slaves to our hearts. So much within us is easy to misjudge if it is not understood. And people are more likely to misjudge us than to try to understand us.

  The Best in Me

  You should never be afraid to say: “If you're not living my life, don't think you know how I should live it.” Unfortunately, many people out there don't understand that your life is different than theirs. That your priorities are different than theirs. That your definition of right and wrong may be different than theirs, and they don't understand that that's completely normal. So, as long as you believe in yourself, zone them out. It is so easy to judge a person's decisions if we don't try to understand the reasons that led to those decisions. So, if they don't try to understand you and assume the best, they will assume the worst and, therefore, do not belong in your life. Gravitate towards those who assume the best in you, even at your worst.

  Doors Unlocked

  Not every door that comes your way is worthy of being unlocked. The handles on some doors will break before you even turn your key. And sometimes, you try so hard to use the keys that you have to unlock the wrong doors that they break or get stuck… and the doors that you were meant to open stay closed for you to regret and wonder about the happiness that could have been hidden behind them.

  Change

  I believe in goodness. I believe in good intentions. I believe in a power stronger than any kind of willpower we may think we have. We are destined to make mistakes. We are destined to be flawed. Each and every one of us. No one is perfect. We all lie sometimes. We all allow our hearts to dip into temptation sometimes. Sometimes we judge, and sometimes we make promises we can't keep. Sometimes we walk down paths knowing they are dead ends before we even take the first step, and sometimes we turn away from the roads that promise us happiness out of fear. We all make mistakes, and the fact that we make them differently does not lessen the importance of reflecting upon them and making them better. If you believe that the world can change, you must believe that you must change. So go ahead. Start.

  A Sunset You Dread

  The sun doesn't always rise at the same time or set at the same time, but we are always certain that it will happen at the perfect time. Have faith that everything will work out the way it should at the right time. Don’t just think of yourself but think of the grand scheme of things. Think of those who waited for the sunrise for you even if, by doing so, it means that you are expecting a sunset. Be thankful for patience, for persistence, and for good intentions.

  It's Not You

  When you don't get what you want, you quickly assume that it's because you don't deserve it or because you are not worthy enough to get it. But have you ever thought that it could be because it doesn't deserve you or because it is not worthy of you? The truth is that we always give ourselves less credit than we deserve. And sometimes, many times, we live in denial of what we really deserve, so we settle for what is less. There is a power much higher than us, much wiser than us, that is willing to crush our feelings sometimes so it can open our eyes to the strength that we have inside and to the reality of what we truly deserve.

  Clarity

  You may wait for a sunrise that may never come. You may ignore the thought of an inevitable sunset. You may anticipate an opportunity in front of a closed door. You may wait for a chance that will never be given to you. You may wait. You may see what does not exist, and you may be completely blind to what does. Your vision may be shut down by your hopes, and it may be blurred by what you think you deserve. You may wish. You may hope. You may pray. You may wonder why your understanding and perception of reality could be so wrong at times. At the end of the day, your thoughts keep you wondering. Your realizations keep you reflecting and learning. Your mistakes keep you growing. After all, your own perception of reality is nothing but a reflection of what you want your reality to be. You don’t always smile when you’re happy, and sometimes, when every piece of you is urging you to relieve it with an expression of anger, you choose to be calm. At your weakest moments, the strength you display can be more convincing than strength itself. It's a matter of choice. It's a matter of believing in a power much higher than you that can lead you in the right direction even if you can't see where you are stepping. It's a matter of consciously doing what is right rather than only refraining from what is wrong. Goodness is a choice. It is not the default. It is not easy. Life will put you on pathways to test your resilience. Will you settle for believing that being sincere is a weakness? Will you settle for believing that being honest is wrong? Will you leave a piece of your soul with every person and every place that disappointed you? Or, will you collect those pieces and put them back together with the spirit of faith and make your soul a beautiful mosaic of pieces that dared to fall and get back up even stronger? Pieces that dared to be left than to leave, to be hurt by others than to hurt others, to wait than to make others wait, to be disappointed than to disappoint? If you do not believe in people, how will you empower them? How will you learn? How will you become strong? How will you heal if you do not break? If you do not believe that the cure is coming, and that only time can bring it, how will you heal? Would the thirsty bits of the earth ever reject rain after its absence? You see, we really are a distortion ourselves, yet we expect reality to be so clear.

  Let Go

  They say that, at some point, you just learn to let go. I must disagree. If it just takes one moment to let go, then you never really held on tightly enough. To a dream. To a goal. To a place. To a person. To anything. I believe that you let go little by little. You let go a little, then hold back on, but with a little less force until you fully release yourself. And the tighter you hold on, the more force you let go with. The deeper you dive, the higher you'll fly. The closer you get, the further you'll pull away. The weaker you feel, the stronger you'll become. So do not be ashamed of your weaknesses. We all have them. You must learn to be kind to yourself. You must learn to understand yourself. You must believe in yourself. Never think that you are a bad person. Differentiate between your self-worth and your actions. To say that you are bad is different than saying that you made a mistake. You can't fix yourself, but you can fix a mistake. And remember, not one person on this earth is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all fall. We all have flaws. We just need to look wit
hin ourselves and treat ourselves as humans who are worthy of respect and hope. Do not give up on yourself. Get back up. Be brave. Be happy.

  Choose

  Today, I choose to be happy. I choose to let go. I choose to be myself. To love myself. To cherish myself. Today, I choose to let go of the people whose company is toxic to my peace of mind. Today, I choose to be free. I choose to liberate my soul from the aches it's been through. Today, I choose to stay away from closed doors. I choose not to craft a wall around my heart. I choose to decorate it with the lessons I've learned. I choose to paint it with respect and confidence. Today, I choose to forgive myself. For being too much of myself. For allowing myself to hurt myself. Today, I choose to embrace my flaws. I choose to accept my mistakes. Today, I choose to change. I choose to be better. I choose to move forward. I choose to guard my soul. Today, I choose to be brave. I choose to say no when saying yes hurts. Today, I choose to be wise. I choose to walk away from places I don't belong. I choose to embrace my time. For all that is timeless is precious. All that is precious is unique. All that is unique is different. And all that is different is beautiful. Today, I choose to be beautiful.