Inspirational Quotes

Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different." -- Author Unknown

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." ~ Brian Tracy

"In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life." Mary Manin Morrissey

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." ~ Helen Keller

"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity." J. Sidlow Baxter

"Goals are like the stars: They are always there. Adversity is like the clouds: they are temporary and will move on. Keep your eyes on the stars." Byrd Baggett

"Happiness is not by chance, but by choice." by Jim Rohn

Lovely Beginnings for 2010

The year 2010 began with a day out at the beach in Central Coast, Australia with family and friends. The first day back home in Malaysia, I was blessed to have a wonderful lunch with my extended family to celebrate the New Year.

And for the first day back at work, the first appointment in my office was with my spiritual friend from England, Amaranatho. We met at the Faith and Climate Change conference in London last year, as he presented the Buddhist perspective there. We have since become good friends. I am learning a lot from him and love our exchange of thoughts. Our common factor? Love for Earth and for humanity. Thank you, Amaranatho for your friendship and for sharing your knowledge with me. Much appreciated.

I believe Love can change the world. You and I can make that difference. Love to you!

Acceptance

When you look in the mirror, the face you are looking at is not asking for judgment; it is asking for admiration. It is asking for acceptance — acceptance of this life, acceptance of this breath, acceptance of the simple thirst of this heart.

The joy that you look for, that you search for every day, is searching for you—to embrace you, to accept you, and to fulfill you. I’m here to tell you that the peace you are looking for is inside of you.

— Maharaji, Prem Rawat

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.