A Story for You

SHARE YOUR TIME..

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated,
to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it ?" replied the man.

"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?

"That's none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing ?" the man said angrily.

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour ?" pleaded the little boy.

"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The father was furious.
"If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make
is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed and think about why you're being so selfish.
I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning. How dare him ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son..
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn't ask for money very often..
The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep son ?" he asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming.
"Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again..
The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

"Why did you want more money if you already had some?"
the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have $20.00 now. CAN I BUY AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME ?

Share some time with those who love you.
They need our time more then we will ever know...

p/s: My thanks to Sabby Savariego (Seeds of Love) for sharing this story.

Love and Peace for 2010

My Dearest Friends,

I am declaring 2010 as the year of love and peace. This is my wish for you and for the whole world to experience these feelings. It has been often stated that world peace begins with inner peace, and I believe this is true. I am still involved in peace work and in sharing the message of loving values to create loving environments. I am excited to explore options to work in as many countries as possible with wonderful partners and organizations for social upliftment.

Our focus is to raise the level of humanity to a higher level of love, resulting in loving relationships with everyone and everything, including our planet Earth. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are in the midst of a changing world that is pushing us towards this direction in many forms. Some directly and others, indirectly. Let's embrace change with open loving arms and a peaceful heart.

My personal journey of the Unconditional Love continues in its unknown path, and am looking forward to many more wonderful surprises and magical experiences in 2010. I had an amazing year in 2009 and it was a year of great growth for me. I am thankful for the many travel opportunities and wonderful people that I met along the way. I am endorsing my friend Amaranatho's theme for 2010 as mine also, which is "Spiritual Friendship". And I am going to add on "Extraordinary Happiness with Lots of Love" for my personal life.

Bring on the Love and let's celebrate life!

p/s: One of my great loves is chocolate and you can see how happy that makes me, in this photo that I share with you. I got to enjoy this awesome chocolate dessert at a chocolate bar in Sydney, Australia. I also received lots of chocolates last year from around the world! Yummy.... This year I have been blessed with loving gifts in the form of books and cute little gifts with the word "Love" on it. So loving it! And lots love to you = )

Holiday Greetings and Love to You

The year is almost coming to an end and it is time for the holidays. It is has been an interesting year and a very busy one. I would like to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a great year ahead for 2010.

My quest to experience the journey of an Unconditional Love continues and I foresee an amazing year ahead. I have learnt so much this year, and having the audacity to bring Love into all areas of life has been an empowering journey for me. From presenting at one of the top Graduate Business Schools in Africa, to the Climate Change Conference in London.

One of the interviews from the London conference is posted below, and you may click on it. Yes, I brought Love, even into the Climate Change issue. You know my motto: "The Answer is Love."

Wishing you much love, peace and happiness.

Love always, Shareen.

*The Video Clip produced by BBC and Open University of London

www.open2.net/video_shareen_iqbal.html

If you have trouble viewing this link, go to open2.net Home Page. Then type in my name under the browse section, when you are directed to this website. Thank you.

Faith and Climate Change Conference

I recently attended the Faith and Climate Change Conference in London. It was an interesting and wonderful experiece. You can read more about it, in the link posted below. However, I would like to point out there is a misquote in the article about my work with Earth Day celebrations in Malaysia. I wasn't the first to launch Earth Day celebrations in my country. There are many dedicated organizations and committed people who have been involved in these causes for many years.

I am merely a private citizen who introduced the concept to a local school and head the Earth Day celebrations for that school. It is also accurate the Earth Charter was introduced to the school and there are plans to develop it, whilst involving other organizations. It is also accurate that the Earth Charter was used in my country's group discussion in regards to Climate Change issue. My thanks to the organizers and wonderful people who support me in this work. Much appreciated and am deeply honored.

www.soetendorpinstitute.org/faith-and-climate-change-conference-held-in-london.html

You may go to the "Jacob Soentendorp Institute for Human Values" webiste directly, if you are unable to click on the link above.

Thank you. With much love and appreciation to all.

Charter for Compassion

The Charter for Compassion will be launched globally on 12 November 2009. I am on the committee for the Malaysian launch and am honored to be part of this movement. I believe in Love and the original meaning of "belief" in 17th Century which was: to love, to prize, to hold dear. I believe, support and promote the movement of creating a loving and compassionate culture. Below, are the links related to this movement and launch. Let's create this compassionate culture together, you and me. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJMm4RAwVLo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCG4qryy1Dg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrtxUX65QA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrtxUX65QA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ouUGg89NQ (Malaysian video clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAzg3KB5JY (Malaysian video clip)

Story about the Wolves

One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority,lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Very true, isn't it?

Sustainable Love for Humanity

Pure love contains respect. Imagine if we were to practice respecting each other as honored guests? I believe your love might last a longer time. This is a calm, understanding, and faithful type of love as opposed to the passionate type which can be quite temporal. Pure love is deeper as you are more willing to sacrifice, to make the other person happy. This type of respectful love is the result of sharing difficulties and joys over a long period of time. Pure love is sustainable love.

Some of our relationships may begin with passion, but in learning to live with each other through the difficult times, your love deepens. You begin to understand the other person better and you are thankful to them as they stay with you through joyous moments and during times of hardship. It is this type of sustainable love that we really need for our families and communities.