Bad Posture, Good Posture!

Yes, you read the title correctly. I have been thinking about posture lately, probably because in the last month or so I have come to realize I have acquired bad posture. I'm not kidding. When I was a young woman I walked straight and tall, well except for the fact that I had this horrible habit of looking down as I walked, probably so I wouldn't trip over anything like my own feet or something. Anyway, to stay on subject let me get back to the topic which is posture. I, like almost anyone reading this blog grew up hearing the words "sit up straight", "stand up straight" or the infamous "stop slouching". I know now that all this was done to encourage good posture which is really important. I did not realize however that I had lost that good posture my parents worked so hard on all those many, many years ago when I was but a girl. I discovered this past month that I know longer walk or sit with a straight, strong back. When I sit or stand I see in the mirror that I look much more like a crescent moon. 


Just look: 
Good posture



Crescent moon posture:



Oops, that is a picture of an actual crescent moon. My bad, I meant to show you a picture of bad posture which reminds me of a crescent moon so let me try this again.


Bad posture:



Alright, now that we have that all straightened out I come to the point of my blog. After coming to the place where I realized I have bad posture which is not only bad for my appearance but is also bad for my health and is probably the cause of why I have a hard time sleeping due to my back and shoulders, even my hips bothering me frequently. I also find that when I look in the mirror I look heavier and rounder than I should and it is not due to being fat, it is due to the way I carry myself or as is the actual case, the way I slump when I walk, sit and stand. So, I have made a decision. Are you ready to hear my life changing decision? OK, you have to go to the next paragraph to read it.


I have decided to truly commit to correcting my posture. I do not want to hurt myself, nor do I want to look like a crippled up little old woman when it is not a necessity in my life. Alhamdulillah, I don't have arthritis or some kind of spinal disease, back injury or any other reason to have a back that looks like a crescent moon.


So starting on the first of this month which is Aug. 2011 I made a point to spend 10 minutes to 45 minutes at a time (longer periods as the day goes on) standing or sitting with perfect posture, back straight but not rigid, chest lifted out so it's not leaning down on my tummy, and stomach held tightly in. I practice this when I am doing my 5 daily prayers and extra prayers which vary in duration. I also make a point to try to sit with very good posture while I am eating a meal or sitting with my laptop. Insha Allah I will do this every time I eat or pray or play on my lappy for 1 month with great focus. My hope being that after a month I will again have begun the good habit of posture so therefore will maintain it.


Doesn't really sound like much does it? Well, I have to tell you. I have learned something already. When you slowly over many years lose your good posture you also lose the strength in those muscles that you are no longer using, tummy, abdomen, back, chest...all of them.  And as with any exercise program my muscles are screaming at me but now, on day 5 they are screaming a little less loudly than they did on days 3 & 4. Those days were really difficult but I stuck to my guns and got through them successfully. My hope is that now it will become a little easier and not hurt so much by the end of each day. 


I have also learned something else. After only 3 days of practicing good posture I do not hurt in my neck, back or hips in the night. That of course is bringing about better sleep and since this is Ramadan for us Muslims (which I will Insha Allah try to tell you about in another blog) and due to where we live, my nights are not too long right now so I really appreciate getting the sound sleep I am being blessed with already. Alhamdulillah!


Ok, that is the curved and the straight of my little story on posture. I will try to update at the end of the month and let you know if I am a success story or not in my undertaking. I am hoping and praying for the best Insha Allah Ameen.


Ok, I know it may take more than a month to have perfect posture again...or at least very good posture but at least I am working on it. Here's to good posture. WoooHooo!


Me in the not to distant future Insha Allah:   

A Letter to David

Dear David,

I have been pondering upon the comment you left for me on my blog entitled "A Rose By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose" and that brings me to why I am now writing to you. I am writing publicly to you to give my response to  your comment because I have no way to contact you privately since I don't know you. And please, this is not an invitation for you to give me your email address to debate or argue in private either. As you can see your comment on what I wrote still remains unpublished and yes, it will remain that way.

I do not write my blog to argue or debate with anyone. I do not write it to force anyone to read it or to force change in anyones thinking.  In this particular blog my only agenda was to very nicely share with others something I had been pondering on for quite some time now. I did not write it to convince anyone about the place of God or Jesus (or any other being of any kind) in their lives. I did not write my blog to debate the meanings of the names of God. I did not write my blog to argue about where Jesus fits into the whole picture. As I stated, I was simply sharing what I have learned to be true. There were no hidden meanings nor arguments for or against anyones beliefs.

I welcome criticisms to my writing abilities as a whole and will gladly publish most any comment that speaks of my ability or inability to write my thoughts. Actually I would probably publish most any comment as long as it pertains to what I have written in some way. However, I will not now or ever welcome or publish comments that are meant as argument or debate unless of course I mention that I am writing something specifically to debate on some issue. That however is highly unlikely since as the name of my blog space calls attention to, it is meant just to share thoughts, stories in my life or other things I happen to ponder upon. My blogs are written for anyone to read who happens to enjoy them. However, since it seems you do not agree with my writing and wish to argue or debate your "cause" I ask you, I encourage you actually to choose not to read my blog again.

Now, this letter has been written with firmness but yet with a friendly peacefulness. I ask that you take it in the way it is intended.

Thank you,
Noor

A Rose By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose

A rose by any other name is still a rose. We all know this so with this little saying in mind I present the following.

Is God still God if HE is called another name?

I have had a number of people tell me I do not worship God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is within them because I call God “Allah” and according to them Allah is not God. Last night I asked my husband “how do you say God in French?” and I was quite surprised to learn that in French HE is called “Dieu”. Being from the west I always thought God was called God around the world (except of course in Hebrew and Greek which refter to HIM with yet other names) until I came to Islam and learned HE is called “Allah” in the Arabic language (which is the language the Quran was given in and the language Muslims refer to for their obligatory prayers and to give thanks or praise to God).  When referring to Allah I am referring to the same God I worshipped as a Christian. The God who created the heavens and the earth and all that is within them. Now, with the reasoning I have been given it would mean that people around the world do not worship “God” because they do not refer to HIM as “God”. Does that mean that only those people who speak English or call HIM by the English word for God  are the real worshippers of God? I do not even need to ponder on this for a moment to answer. The answer of course is a resounding “NO”.  I know Christians also believe I do not follow God because I have rejected Jesus as God but I did not reject God  and I love Jesus very much albeit in a different way than before (however, that is another story for another time). For now, I just want to clarify that God is called God by many different names…all of which are referring to the Almighty, The Just, The Forgiving and Merciful Creator of the Universe…God.


All the above said I now present to you the following. This is how people refer to God in many of the various languages around the world. 


AEolian.....................Ilos
Arabic.......................Allah
Armorian..................Teuti
Assyrian................... Eleah
Celtic........................Diu
Chaldaic...........…....Eilah
Cretan......................Thios
Chinese....................Prussa
Coromandel.............Brama
Danish.....................Gut
Dutch.......................Godt
Egyptian (old)..........Teut
Egyptian (modern)...Teun
English.....................God
Finch........................Jumala
Flemish....................Goed
French......................Dieu
German....................Gott
German (old)...........Diet
Greek.......................Theos
Gallic.......................Diu
Hebrew........……...Elohim, Eloha
Hindoostanee...........Rain
Japanese..................Goezur
Irish.........................Dia
Italian......................Dio
Madagascar...…......Zannar
Malay......................Alla
Norwegian...............Gud
Latin........................Deus
Low Latin................Diex
Low Breton..............Done
Lapp ........................Jubinal
Olalu Tongue............Deu
Old Saxon................God
Peruvian........……..Puchecammae
Persian....................Sire
Pannonian...............Istu
Polish.....................Bog
Pollacca.................Bung
Portuguese.............Debs
Provencal...............Diou
Runic... ..................As
Russian...................Bojh
Spanish...................Dios
Swedish..................Gut
Slav........................Buch
Swiss......................Gott
Syriac....................Allah
Tartar....................Magatal
Turkish..................Allah
Zemblain................Fetizo


These references are taken from the book “Bepler’s Handy Manual of Knowledge And Useful Information” by David Bepler.

Love, Romance and Life

I did not write the following essay nor do I know who the author is. If I knew I would give him/her all the credit they deserve because this is a wonderful piece. I hope you will take the time to read it and ponder upon the wisdom found within.

Love, Romance and Life

My husband is an Engineer by profession, I love him for his steady nature, and I love the warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders. Three years of courtship and now, two years into marriage, I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it. The reasons of me loving him before, has now transformed into the cause of all my restlessness. . I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my feelings, I yearn for the romantic moments, like a little girl yearning for candy. My husband, is my complete opposite, his lack of sensitivity, and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our marriage has disheartened me about love. One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision, that I wanted a divorce.

"Why?" he asked, shocked. "I am tired, there are no reasons for everything in the world!" I answered. He kept silent the whole night, seems to be in deep thought with a lighted cigarette at all times. 

My feeling of disappointment only increased, here was a man who can't even express his predicament, what else can I hope from him? And finally he asked me:" What can I do to change your mind?" Somebody said it right, it's hard to change a person's personality, and I guess, I have started losing faith in him. 

Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered : "Here is the question, if you can answer and convince my heart, I will change my mind, Let's say, I want a flower located on the face of a mountain cliff, and we both are sure that picking the flower will cause your death, will you do it for me?" He said :" I will give you your answer tomorrow.... " My hopes just sank by listening to his response. 

I woke up the next morning to find him gone, and saw a piece of paper with his scratchy handwriting, underneath a milk glass, on the dining table near the front door, that goes.... 

My dear, "I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to explain the reasons further.." This first line was already breaking my heart. I continued reading. "When you use the computer you always mess up the Software programs, and you cry in front of the screen, I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the programs. 

You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to save my legs to rush home to open the door for you. You love traveling but always lose your way in a new city, I have to save my eyes to show you the way. 

You always have the cramps whenever your "good friend" approaches every month, I have to save my palms so that I can calm the cramps in your tummy. You like to stay indoors, and I worry that you will be infected by infantile autism. I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories to cure your boredom. 

You always stare at the computer, and that will do nothing good for your eyes, I have to save my eyes so that when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails,and help to remove those annoying white hairs. So I can also hold your hand while strolling down the beach, as you enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sand... and tell you the colour of flowers, just like the color of the glow on your young face... 

Thus, my dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do... I could not pick that flower yet, and die.. " My tears fell on the letter, and blurred the ink of his handwriting. ... and as I continue on reading... 

"Now, that you have finished reading my answer, if you are satisfied, please open the front door for I am standing outside bringing your favorite bread and fresh milk... 

I rush to pull open the door, and saw his anxious face, clutching tightly with his hands, the milk bottle and loaf of bread..... Now I am very sure that no one will ever love me as much as he does, and I have decided to leave the flower alone... 

That's life, and love. When one is surrounded by love, the feeling of excitement fades away, and one tends to ignore the true love that lies in between the peace and dullness. 

Love shows up in all forms, even very small and cheeky forms, it has never been a model, it could be the most dull and boring form.. . Flowers, and romantic moments are only used and appear on the surface of the relationship. Under all this, the pillar of true love stands... and that's our life... Love, not words win arguments...

A Journey to Islam

I would like to tell you a little story. This is a true story. It is the story of one persons journey. It is the story of my journey.

For you to understand my journey more fully I will start by telling you a little of my history. I became a born-again christian in 1979 at the age of 20. My christian walk was very sloppy at best for the first 6 years but at the age of 26 my commitment to christianity became very firm, steady, deep and strong. I walked this walk very devoutly for over 20 years. By 2006 I had raised my children to be good christians, taught many children about christianity and helped many to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, their mediator between them and God. I was part of the worship team at my church and a deacon on the church board. I had not questioned my beliefs and studied and prayed diligently. I walked firmly on the narrow path of christianity. I tell you this bit of history so you will see and understand that I am not a person who is blown about by the wind, who easily grasps different concepts, who is always looking for new ways of living or believing. I tell you this so you will know I am a person who does not change her beliefs easily by any means.

Now...to my journey. Early in December of 2006 as I was sitting at my computer a person I had never before met popped up on my screen via Yahoo messenger. He had seen my 360 page (a now defunct yahoo social network) and wanted to talk. He was probably one of the most polite, humble, honest and sincere men I had ever met in my life. He has remained so to this day without wavering. We talked and he shared with me that he was a Muslim and I shared with him that I was a christian. Never did he put me down for my beliefs but he did ask me questions about them. I did the same way with him. We quickly became very good and honest friends. We felt free to ask questions and share differences with no worry of condemnation.

Within a month or so of him popping into my life 2 other men also popped into my life in the same way. One of these men asked immediately if I would be an elder sister to him. At first I was very skeptical and untrusting but he was so kind, nice and polite in the way he spoke that over time I came to know he was sincere. The third man that came into my life came like a rush of wind and fire and yet he also possessed this same gentleness, humbleness and sincerity I had found in the others.

These men did not know each other. As a matter of fact they lived on 2 different continents. What they did have in common was their very wonderful and gentle way of behaving and their religious convictions. All of these men were Muslims. I find it amazing even now that after a life time of never meeting or knowing a single Muslim that in the space of 1-2 months had 3 of them enter my life, and all in the same way...by popping up on my computer screen. Looking back I see that Allah orchestrated everything so wonderfully.

I began to learn about what their beliefs were through a series of conversations. I read a small book that one of them sent to me so that I would see what he believed from his perspective. I decided to order a Quran to read it so I could tell these men how wrong they were in their beliefs and how badly they needed to become christians. Before I ever started to read I was praying and asking God to help me so I could tell them the truth. But, as I began to read...something happened. I found I was really intriuged by what I read. It seemed to reach down into somewhere deep inside me. I began praying diligently that God would make sure I was not mislead and that I would stand firmly on the truth no matter what. In this time, I continued sharing about christianity with these people but I also began asking more and more questions. Never once...not one time, did they push their beliefs on me, make me feel foolish for my questions or put me down for my beliefs. They answered my questions to the best of their ability and when they couldn't, my new brother would take the questions to his Imam (a man well versed in the Quran and Islam) and his Imam would hunt in his Quran and find the answers for me.

I went through so many thoughts and emotions in this time I cannot even begin to describe them...the one that stands out the most though is the feelings of fear as I began to doubt what I had believed for most of my life...Terrible fear as I realized that my entire life, my entire belief system may have been based on an untruth. But still I continued reading although now it was a quest to learn the truth instead of trying to convert these Muslim men into christians. As I studied, prayed, and thought on all I was reading I found my mind changing, my way of seeing things changing, my heart changing. All this time I continued praying for God to lead me to the truth no matter what it was. I sought Him as never before in this need to know what the truth was.

I would say it was probably mid February 2007 I knew I had come to a place where I could no longer pray to God in the name of Jesus...that I no longer believed I had to do that in order to talk with God...that I did not have to have this mediator to have a relationship with God...It was also in this time that I began to know I could call him Allah and it was not a bad thing but actually a good thing. I continued to pray, study, ask questions, think and talk with these 3 friends who had become so dear in this short span of time and over a little more time I knew that it was not them who was wrong or mislead but it was I who was. My heart and mind had changed in such ways that it amazed me.

By the second week of March of the same year I knew I was ready to make a commitment to become a Muslim...to embrace Islam. I knew this all the way through me. So I called a masjid (mosque) and made an appointment to meet with the Imam. On March 15th, 2007 I went to a masjid for the first time in my life. I met in person the first Muslim I had ever met besides on the internet. We talked for a few moments and then he led me through what is called the Shahadah.

This is what I said and meant with all my heart and mind: La ilaha illa Llah, Muhammad rasulu'Llah. This is the arabic transliteration which when translated to english means this: There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of God. I also made the confession that Jesus was not Lord and Savior but was a beloved and wonderful prophet of God.

This is an outline of my trip from Christianity to Islam. It took place over a period of about not quite 4 months. I now believe many things that happened before I began learning about Islam happened to bring me to the place I needed to be so I could hear and recieve this wonderful truth. I have learned that Allah did many amazing things so as to guide me to the truth and I am and will be forever thankful to Him for this.

This little story of my journey is only the beginning really. Now I am a revert to Islam with a lifetime of living and learning to do for Allah. HE is Most Gracious, Most Merciful. HE is All Knowing. He is Trustworthy. I will serve HIM with every fiber of my being and be forever thankful to HIM for guiding me to Islam and will always pray for HIM to continue guiding me on the right path.

Insha Allah, may it be so. Aameen

"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided." (Surat An-Nahl 16:125)