Reflections , livre ebook

Partridge Publishing Singapore - Asma Jan Muhammad

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

53 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

What if, while sipping a cup of coffee on a weekend evening, you struggle to find answers to certain questions that pique your curiosity?
What should you do if you wish to pursue the optimal course of action but are faced with challenging options?
What if optimism appears distorted and pessimism appears optimistic?
What if you find yourself in a situation where challenging is your only option?
What if life had a Reverse button?
What if it seems impossible to forgive, but you must let go anyway?
Sometimes, regardless of your background, you will question the veracity of your long-held beliefs. Allowing our brain to pause during chaos, detangle and organize observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations, and generate meaning is the best course of action in such a circumstance.
Reflections is a collection of such musings that the author attempted to comprehend from scratch, thereby challenging her presumptions, and was persuaded to share with a wider audience. As water reflects the face, Asma reflects upon her own heart and reports what she discovers.

Sujets

Choices

Espiritual

Challenge

Spiritual

Self-help

Wisdom

Reflections

Challenge Hebdo

Motivation

Informations

Publié par	Partridge Publishing Singapore
Date de parution	13 octobre 2022
Nombre de lectures	8
EAN13	9781543771527
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Reflections

Asma Jan Muhammad

Copyright © 2022 by Asma Jan Muhammad.

ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-5437-7186-2

Softcover
978-1-5437-7151-0

eBook
978-1-5437-7152-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore
Reflections
Asma Jan Muhammad is a finance specialist by day and a writer by night. She received her dual accountancy charter from Pakistan and England and Wales. Her extensive exposure to the financial management of leading organisations and strategic partnerships with business leaders from a variety of industries has honed her analytic abilities. In addition to earning two gold medals in CA exams, she was awarded CA Woman of the Year 2019 by the president of Pakistan for her ICAP community service in UAE, and the Most Professional Woman in Accounting 2019 and 2022 by Berkeley ME. Her experiences in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have motivated her to use her writing skills to inspire others. Her co-authored book She Dares by MENA Speakers is a collection of thirty-six inspiring women’s stories from around the world. She enjoys poetry, music, and playing the violin. You can contact her online at www.asmajanmuhammad.com .

I would like to dedicate this book to the people who have influenced my life the most:

My mother, Khairunnisa, and my sisters Tahira, Neelofer, and Dr. Saira, who protected me all my life and encouraged me to be self-reliant and stay strong in my good, hard, and new times.

My family, especially my sons Muhammad Akbar and Muhammad Ali, who have always helped me to reflect on my life’s journey.
CONTENTS
Reflections
Preface to Reflections
1 Never Settle for the Less!
2 Greed Is Good, But …
3 Moving beyond Bias
4 Change Is the Only Constant, But …
5 Choosing to Challenge
6 Empathy
7 Let Go!
8 Are Errors of Enthusiasm Better Than Indifference of Wisdom?
9 Selflessness: From Virtue to Value
10 Perfectly Imperfect
11 To Be or Not to Be Ambitious?
12 Is Keeping Expectations Wrong?
13 New Year’s Resolutions
14 Does Forgiveness Restore Shattered Trust?
15 Is Suffering Optional?
16 Self-Care
17 The Optimism Bias
18 Escapism—Is It Sugar or Salt?
19 DKE—Not So Blissful!
20 Face, Reverse, or Adapt?
21 LBDN—Looking Busy Doing …?
22 In the End, We Shall Remember
23 D-Clutter (Digital Clutter)
24 Tired of Fitting In? Stand Apart!
25 Positive Pessimism
26 The Choice Paradox
27 Spiritual Transformation
28 High Risks, High Rewards?
29 Is It Okay to Be Indifferent?
30 Self-Reflection—How to Keep It Blissful?
31 The Power of Giving
32 What if Life Had an Undo Option!
33 Mental Health Is a Greater Priority
34 Lessons Not Learned Yet!
Acknowledgements
Preface to Reflections
Life functions in an unprecedented manner. As soon as we acquire our senses, we learn to respond to and interpret certain behaviours, which eventually become the foundation of our thoughts. We continue to float above these thoughts until we encounter the opposite varieties of experiences, occurrences, and people. At times we are compelled to reflect upon our presumptions, confront our fears, and unlearn what we have learned thus far. Each experience is designed to teach us new ways to progress.
I joined this healing journey of reflecting and sharing through my writings amid silence, fear, bitterness, despondence, and apathy. Expression guided me and pointed the way. Words were my toys and hobbies, and I played in their shadow. They consoled, encouraged, and encircled my abode. In the expanse of enlightenment, days and nights passed, and the mind dwelt in the interpretation until it yielded some pearls of thought and helped wounds transform into wisdom. The journey was captivating, illuminating, and opened the door to new ideas and perspectives.
My extensive exposure to the financial management of leading organisations and strategic partnerships with business leaders from a variety of industries and having lived in the cultures of Pakistan and UAE allowed me to understand the behavioural aspects, reflect on preconceived notions, and challenge them. Reflections is a compilation of such musings that I attempted to comprehend from scratch, challenging my presumptions, and was then persuaded to share with wider audience in the form of periodic articles.
The idea of compiling these thoughts and publishing them as a book would not have been possible if it weren’t for the handful of long-standing inspirations. Their invaluable encouragement, support, and appreciation inspired and motivated me.
As water reflects the face, so does an individual’s life reflect their heart. I hope you find these reflections to be relatable and meaningful. The light that comes from within is the most luminous and lasting.
1
Never Settle for the Less!
In our lives, we encounter two types of individuals. One who recognises our worth and motivates us to exceed our limits and expectations. Others who recognise our value but are afraid and insecure try to diminish us because we are too brilliant for them.
Knowing one’s value protects a person from both types of individuals. However, if we lack self-awareness or self-confidence, or if we put others ahead of ourselves in our priorities, there comes a time in life when we realise that we must never settle for less than what we deserve.
Occasionally, the difficulties that life presents us force us to negotiate our position and accept less than we deserve. Life always provides indicators when things are going awry. It indicates. We are responsible for reading and interpreting these signals and taking prompt corrective action. When we tend to belittle ourselves excessively, we feel alienated. People fail to comprehend us, and consequently, our everyday problems escalate into a crisis. At that point, it becomes necessary to converse with oneself, also known as soul-searching. At that moment, we must empower ourselves to discover our inner strength and perseverance, which will enable us to recognise our worth and true potential.
Selfless individuals are tempted to settle for too little. However, if we do not comprehend our own value, we cannot accurately assess the value of others! Once we settle for less, we will always do so. Life is about giving and receiving. We are here to give and receive something in exchange. Therefore, it is essential to distinguish between what we are receiving and what we truly deserve.
Consider the things we should have done but did not! Find our passions instead of attempting to balance the assigned loads of burden! Respect ourselves sufficiently to declare, ‘I deserve more.’ Seek out opportunities to evaluate and review the trajectory of our lives, to seek more, and to recognise that there are greater things available to us than becoming minimalists alone.
2
Greed Is Good, But …
The origin of the phrase ‘greed is good’ can be traced back to the 1987 film Wall Street , in which actor Michael Douglas, portraying Gordon Gekko, gave an insightful speech in which he stated,
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, Greed works. Greed terrifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of an evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind.
Then, is greed truly a virtue? This question resonated with me as I read the preceding statement multiple times and tried to relate it to an innate belief we all hold about greed: a negative desire, a craving for anything, which typically leads to a state of mind in which one is not mindful of what is right and what is wrong in fulfilling one’s desires!
Therefore, greed is bad! Tracing the 2008 financial crisis back to the greed of Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, and Carl Icahn, we find compelling evidence that greed is a terrible trait. The film was inspired by these Wall Street traders. The inevitable irrational exuberance that creates asset bubbles and blinds investors to the warning signs of a collapse is caused by greed. In 2005, they disregarded the inverted yield curve, which indicated an impending recession.
If we look up the literal definition of greed, it is defined as insatiability or unquenchable thirst. However, I was unable to determine whether this thirst is for oneself or for others. Then, could a person’s desire to create value for others and humanity also be bad?
A psychological theory suggests that greed is encoded in our genes because, throughout evolution, it has tended to promote survival and procreation. Without some degree of greed, indivi