Dear Students,
Frustrated and angry, my colleague entered my office and started hollering: “Till when!? Till when will I trust people and get them close to my heart only to discover they are nothing but petty beings!! When will I start seeing people for who they truly are form the beginning.”

I shook my head calmly and asked her to sit down and relax: “The day you stop being beautiful is the day you will see the ugliness in others. May that day, never come.”

Holding her face down with both hands, she raised her eyes and looked straight into mine: “but I am tired, tired of the disappointments, tired of opening my life to people only to throw them out of it…I am tired of being part of this ugly life.” looking down in despair.

Gently pulling her chin up, I smiled “you will never be part of their ugly life and they shall not be part of your beautiful world. Petty people will always remain petty, and beautiful people shall only grow stronger with time. Never feel sorry for those who leave your life, they probably didn’t deserve to be in it to begin with”

Pulling her head even higher “take the pain you feel today and use it as your fuel. Let it make you stronger, more focused and determine. Show the world and yourself, what and who you are, and always know when you are in the right, you walk taller while those who have wronged you only become smaller with every passing day.”

Looking at me in disbelieving eyes she softly whispered “This is what we say to make ourselves feel better”

Looking straight into her eyes “This is what we say because this is what we believe, and what we believe in is what makes us who we are. Change not your beliefs, regardless of what your eyes have seen or ears have heard.”

“How can you stay strong? Do you not falter?” She asked

“I am only human..I falter everyday..and I err often..but my beliefs always bring me back, to the world I dreamed of, ever since I first opened my eyes. Plato’s ideal republic has always been, and will always be..my home”

Till next issue,

Zeina Mokaddam
zeina@ph7-kw.com