How to Improve Your Life

Today I received an email and would like to share it with all of you: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE 

Personality:

1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

3. Don't over do; keep your limits.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does.

5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

6. Dream more while you are awake.

7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

13. Smile and laugh more.

14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community: 

15. Call your family often.

16. Each day give something good to others.

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

19. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

20. What other people think of you is none of your business.

21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life: 

22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.

23. GOD heals everything.

24. Do the right things.

25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

27. The best is yet to come.

28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

The Book Depository

How many readers are aware of The Book Depository? It's an online bookstore that offers FREE DELIVERY of book(s) you buy from them. They deliver books to the following countries:

ANDORRA ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA ARUBA ASCENSION ISLAND AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BARBADOS BELGIUM BELIZE BENIN BERMUDA BRAZIL BRUNEI BULGARIA CANADA CAYMAN ISLANDS CHILE COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS COMOROS CROATIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ESTONIA FALKLAND ISLANDS FAROE ISLANDS FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY GIBRALTAR GREECE GREENLAND GRENADA GUADALOUPE HONG KONG HUNGARY ICELAND INDONESIA IRELAND ISLE OF MAN ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN LATVIA LIECHTENSTEIN LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MADAGASCAR MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALTA MARTINIQUE MAURITIUS MEXICO MONACO NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NEW CALEDONIA NEW ZEALAND NORWAY OMAN PHILIPPINES POLAND PORTUGAL PUERTO RICO REUNION ROMANIA SAINT HELENA SAINT LUCIA SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES SAMOA SAN MARINO SAUDI ARABIA SEYCHELLES SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON ISLANDS SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SURINAME SWEDEN SWITZERLAND TAIWAN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES US MISC. PACIFIC ISLANDS US VIRGIN ISLANDS VATICAN CITY

If you want to purchase "The Gift" from The Book Depository, click HERE.

Islamic Fiction Books

With reference to Sis Niza's enquiry about Islamic books for children, I would like to share some books written for children by Muslim writers. You may visit IWA (Islamic Writers Alliance) or MWP (Muslim Writers Publishing) for more titles. Also check out Islamic books for teenagers and adults.

The Runaway Scarf by Corey Habbas The Emir and the Verse of Throne by Fawzia Gillani-Williams Stories by Linda D. Delgado A Khimar for Nadia by Fawzia Gillani-Williams Adventures of Musab by Fawzia Gillani-Williams The Troublesome Eid Jinn by Fawzia Gillani-Williams Jameela's Great Idea by Surriah Ingram The Visitors by Linda D. Delgado There are many Islamic Fiction books written and published out there. Unfortunately, some Muslim fiction writers are unaware of the classification of Islamic fiction books written by Muslims. Please visit Islamic Writers Alliance for further information on this issue. As a Muslim writer who DID NOT grow up reading Islamic Fiction books, it has been my wish and dream that every Muslim home provides a list of Islamic Fiction books for the young Muslims. I believe in cultivating the young minds begins from home. What we feed the minds of our children will be translated into their thinking which later reflected in their speeches and manners. Children are the amanah entrusted to us from Allah s.w.t, but are we cultivating their minds in the ways that are pleasing Allah s.w.t? Or do we let them feed their minds on just anything they like without guidance? From my observation of being a teacher to young Muslims, this aspect of child rearing is mostly ignored by majority of Muslim parents! Definitely a point worth to ponder...

I am back!

Allah s.w.t has reminded us the significance of time management in surah al-Asr. Indeed, our worldly life tasks and pleasures can consume so much of our time. We might forget the true purpose of living life as amanah from Allah s.w.t. To live it according to His laws as He has instructed us to do! Only then, we would feel His presence in our daily routines, be it a menial task of clearing the garbage can at home to being in charge of a staggering million dollar project at work. When we are cautious and wise in managing our time, even worldy tasks cannot keep us from remembering Him. They become part of ibadah for we do them in the way that would earn His pleasure. We are, after all, accountable for everything we do during our lifetime! My apology to the readers of Polaris Blog for not posting for a very long while. Ramadhan has left and Shawwal is leaving soon. I hope it's not too late to wish 'Eid Mubarak' and 'Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin' to all. Soon we will welcome another Hijri month...Dhulqaedah. I see here and there my brothers and sisters in Islam are busy making final preparations to be the guests of Allah in the coming Hajj season. May Allah bless every step of their journey and return with Hajj al-mabrur. To Sis Niza....I do have the intention of writing English Islamic story books for kids, inshaAllah. To Sis Fatimahazzahra....perhaps you should visit Kafez blog. Ms. Susan Abraham did an online interview with me last year....I shared with her bits and pieces of my life as a writer. My third novel manuscript is reaching the third and last part of the story. In shaa Allah, I will post a few excerpts before the end of the year. For those who have read 'The Gift', my deepest thanks to all of you. Do send me your comments and reviews of it. I would love to read them. I hope to post more soon, in sha Allah. My du'as that Allah the Most Gracious is taking good care of all of you. Till my next entry....

New Year & The Resolutions

A week of 2010 and three weeks of 1431H have passed. Some of us have started the long journey towards achieving the new year's resolutions. Some are still struggling to decide what their new year's resolutions are. Some are resuming the journey to fulfill their unaccomplished resolutions of previous year(s). Only you know how much effort you put forth last year and how much do you plan to work hard in achieving this year's resolutions. Be whichever group you belong to, I wish you all the best. The journey has begun and I hope everyone will successfully accomplish the resolutions made. As Muslim the above du'a is a precious accompaniment through out the long journey. May Allah Ta'ala shower His blessings upon us all this year.