Don’t linger, move on…

To a great friend whose heart is as pure as white daisies and her optimism is simply infinite…

No matter what, always remember that you are BEAUTIFUL inside-out.

Years go by, life goes on and there is no turning back. Good and bad, memories fill your heart and thoughts. You wish to relive all those unforgettable fairy tale moments and irreversibly forget those horrible sleepless nights. But in vain!

Don’t linger, move on…

The time to live fully is NOW. There will always be something lacking: preparation, self-esteem, readiness, etc… but what needs to be overcome is the fear ‘to start now’.

It takes a lot of courage to let go and to loosen the brakes, but what are friends for after all?

I know sadness is filling your beautiful heart.

I know deception is eating up your optimism.

I know loneliness is scaring you.

But never forget who you really are. Always remember the fun, sensual and life loving person who used to be present and used to live passionately. That person is still there and it is up to you to awaken it again!

Be with the people you love.

“Surround yourself with the dreamers and doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you even when you don’t see it yourself.”

Don’t linger, move on… Life is too short to lose time waiting.

Law 174… yeah right!

Though I wouldn’t want to start 2013 on a bad note and with pessimistic thoughts, but the outrage of living in this country and paying taxes (for absolutely nothing) is just too much to take!

                          

If we cannot start by respecting the simplest, most useful of laws that hints to what ‘civilized’ means, then so long civilization!

By definition, a law is a rule enforced by the imposition of penalties. This is only the definition, and, we Lebanese (the smartest of all), will always find a work around any law.

That is not the main issue, as I got to a point where I convinced myself that this is only human nature (wanting the forbidden) and maybe, in our case, human nature is slightly ‘magnified’.

The issue is rooted into the system itself:

 On September 3rd 2012, smoking was officially prohibited in all enclosed bars, restaurant and cafes in Lebanon in accordance with Law 174, which passed exactly a year ago.

It was finally a sign of a new modern government…. A promising beginning, a naive (very naive indeed) hope, glimpse of light in a corrupted country. YES somebody cares…

Though the law was not fully respected and strongly criticized/objected by restaurant and hotel’s owners… we could finally go into a mall’s elevator without suffocating in a cigar’s smoke (which by the way is more of a trend!)

Until it was time to party… until it was New Year’s Eve, and the Lebanese aka ‘party animals’, where out in pubs/bars/restaurants to celebrate the beginning of 2013.

Surprise: Everybody was smoking everywhere AND surprise, surprise: No one was breaking the GREAT 174, as apparently, the law was suspended for the festive season (Or maybe due to lack of resources whereas only a handful of controls are assigned the enforcement tasks in the 10452 Km2).

When the ‘system’ is finding work around for laws, how can we expect any improvement? 

How can a population change when the whole 'system' doesn't allow it?

Honestly...speechless....

Ending with a quote for the Great Gibran Khalil Gibran from the Prophet (Wondering whether his genius works would have been recognized worldwide if he had stated in Lebanon!) ...

“Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation”