I don't care no more so don't you worry

My sister was recently reading "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". She pointed out an interesting piece of insight from the book. One of the analogies was that, in relationships, men are like rubber bands: the longer they remain attached to the lady the more they feel like they are being stretched. In order for them to not snap (pun intended), they need some sort of time-out (whatever the nature) to get back in touch with themselves. It could be anything - fishing, reading, writing, night with the boys, sports - you name it! Once that's done, then let the cycle of stretching and contracting continue - with a giant cup of love of course!

This song, by my favourite band, is music for thought for all women to decipher (especially ex-es simply because of the attitude) and is dedicated to all men who feel like they have reached that stage where they need to shift back into neutral. Cheers!

Knowledge

There is no greater gift from God than knowledge. In every facet of our lives it is those who have the knowledge, the know-how, the thing, the 'whatever you want to call it' whom we look up to. From a mundane material perspective it is what will help us build up the bank account. On a more spiritual octane, it is a certain ray of light that strokes the cheek of its student and emanates an aura of hope and liberty over its very being.

What's this guy smoking you're wondering? The occasional Dunhill but that's not the point. Why would students sit there in front of books for hours on end like lifeless fish if reading did not serve some higher purpose? If it did not satisfy a need from within? The brain is the most powerful processor on the face of this earth and should be cherished and protected throughout one's whole life - the same way a mother should cherish her own new-born baby. It is through knowledge that humans are able to become super-human - to fly across continents, to run at record-breaking speeds, to save lives in hopeless situations and to create masterpieces of film, literature and art and hence touch the souls of countless others without ever meeting them.

I am a firm believer that every person is born equal and in addition has a unique portfolio of hidden gifts and talents. The greatest tragedy is when a person wastes these gifts. Nobody would ever know or even care because those inner jewels never bore fruit to the public eye. The greatest victory is when one taps into this talent and through his or her own instinctive sense of will and clarity charts the journey of its development until it blossoms and envelopes the very being of one's existence. Talent is the invisible force we are uniquely born with. It is our duty to discover and apply it rather than simply allow it to blow in the wind.

The amazing thing is that everything mankind has ever needed for survival has always been provided for on the domains of this earth throughout all the ages. The same raw materials that were used by cave men to hunt and gather were used by NASA technicians to send a human being thousands of miles outside the very planet in which those raw materials existed! What was the link? Knowledge. And it bothers me to hear shallow sayings like 'knowledge is power' because if history has taught us anything absolute power corrupts absolutely. And knowledge in its purest form should not and cannot corrupt absolutely because it is closely related to its divine cousin - truth. Hence, with regard to knowledge, power should not be the end. The power to liberate the minds of others and further conduct the flow of knowledge should be the end - as paradoxical as that may sound.

It is said in Islam that the first time the angel Gabriel approached Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), to deliver God's words, they were: "Read. Read in the name of your Lord who has created. Created mankind from a clot of blood. Read. And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught by the pen. Has taught man that which he knew not."