Lack of knowledge leads to Racism

Lack of knowledge leads to many negative things in life, but my main concern for this post is racism. Religion racism to be exact.

I am a Christian that was born and raised in Qatar, a Muslim country. The amount of racism I got growing up was crazy. I remember ever since the age of 9 little girls my age and a bit older would come and ask when I will convert to Islam. I use to always tell them I would never change my religion and their response would always be “but then you will go to hell because only Muslims go to heaven”. As a child, you could imagine how terrifying that was, but eventually, I got used to it and learned to ignore it.

Some kids would not talk to me when they found out I was of a different faith which was so hurtful as a child. I remember walking around malls with my cross on and people would just stare like I was an alien. Even once I was in an elevator at a big mall with my older sister and this little boy, he couldn’t be over the age of 6, nudged his sister, and said “look kufar”. He didn’t think we were Arab so he didn’t know we would understand what he said.

As I grew older I realized that in the Islamic classes of public schools in Qatar, many teachers would refer to Christians as ‘Kufar’ which means non-believers of God, and people that did not believe in God would go to hell.

Getting so much hate because of my religion made me a stronger person.

Growing up in a very non-religious household, I didn’t know much about Christianity. I knew a lot more about Islam than Christianity, so I decided to research about my religion and read the bible. I attended a few Sunday school classes around the 5th grade as well as the 9th grade but I didn’t stay for long. I preferred learning on my own.

Those little children that used to mistreat me or make me feel very uncomfortable about who I was  because of my religion were the ignition to me learning about Christianity. I’m glad I had racism around me because if it wasn’t for them I would not have wanted to learn about Christianity. At the age of 21, I still do get slight racism, but mainly I get lots of questions about Christianity, and I love it because I can educate people about it. Not in a way where I would want someone to convert to Christianity, no, but in a way that would make people more understanding and more acceptable of what is different from them.

After all, Islam and Christianity and incredibly alike. We believe in so many similar things, and when more people start to understand that, the less racism there will be.

I don’t want to change the world, but if I can educate a person about something they know very little about, then I have accomplished a big thing in life.

Everything is worth a shot

You’re scared, aren’t you? We’re all a little scared.

You may be scared to start over or scared to try something new. Maybe you’re scared to get hurt all over again. You might be scared to move on, or even scared to let go. You could be scared to be honest with someone, or even worse, you may be scared to be honest with yourself.

Whatever it is, fear always lingers in us. Some show it, some don’t, but everyone feels scared even if it’s just in the back of their minds.

We say we’ve been through it all, we say we’ve felt it all and that we are prepared for what is coming, but then we get hurt, and it feels worse. The cut feels deeper, the bruise stays longer, the comfort feels like it’s never coming back.

Every time we fail, we question ourselves over and over again. We lose faith in ourselves, and in our ideas. Our thoughts and emotions become our worst enemy and we just throw our hands in the air and give up.

Time passes, and you build yourself up again. We tell ourselves this time we are stronger, this time it is different, this time we will make it work. A couple of days pass and things mess up again and you blame yourself all over again.

You question and question, but they never get answered. You might cry, you might not. You might sit alone, in the silence, as your thoughts eat away on your emotions or you might go to the most crowded place you know and try to push your judgmental thoughts away. We all deal with it differently, but we all get it the same way.

Fear is always going to be in our lives; second thinking is always going to be in the back of our minds; Regrets? Maybe, but no matter what at least you tried. You might have gotten hurt, or broken but everything is worth a try. You may have failed or given up, but at least you gave it a shot.

It’s always better to know you tried and it didn’t go the way you wanted, then to know you never tried and will never know what might have happened.

We are in charge

It’s very seldom that people change. From liars or cheaters, to honest or faithful women and men. From alcoholics or druggies, to sober and clean people. Once you’re used to a way of life it becomes you. You become one with it. Once you’re used to a routine, a daily step, you do it without double thinking or even feeling guilty.

Very rarely are people worth a second chance. It’s not about the persuasive way they may convince you, or their beautiful big eyes and soft voice you can’t resist. The very few that deserve a second chance will prove it. From the time you wake up, until the minute your eyes rest and dose off in your dreams, they will be working hard proving they are worth a second chance.

People do not understand how their group of friends, or the people in their lives extremely impact who they are. There is a saying, “tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are”, I used to think it was utter bullshit. 

We humans have a big issue in our lives, a problem in our souls, an insecurity in ourselves, were we give the power to worthless people to either make us or break us. Since when should peoples emotions or feelings be controlled by a ruthless person, that isn’t worth a spec of their world.

Humans tend to place a single person in the midst of their planet and cherish the inconsiderate persons every word. We worship their every smile and laugh, and put their needs way ahead of ours, when all they do is abuse our kindness and affection towards them. We resemble puppets in their eyes, do whatever they wish or command. We push our pain in a corner, where it dabs into our flesh, and reopens in the late nights when we lay awake. We lay awake pondering the misery we have trapped ourselves in.

We ponder the reasons of why we have no control over any of our emotions, feeling hopeless and alone. It’s shameful that we think we cannot put our happiness in our own hands. For we are the rulers of our thoughts, the commanders of our emotions, and the controllers of our feelings. We are completely capable of filtering out the negative, and twisting the hurtful into full positive encouragement in our daily lives. We may search our minds to locate what gives us joy and sets us at complete ease. All we have to do is be willing to let go and be brave enough to take hold of our lives. For we cannot blame anyone anymore but ourselves. We must be courageous and understanding of our own body and soul. Discovering what we desire, and what can regain us with hope, warmth, and new positive perspective of this chaotic, beautiful disaster of a life we’re trying to lead.

Power of Words

Spoken words are as powerful of a weapon as anything man made. Some people do not understand the power of their words or the strength of their speech. As much as a couple of words put into a sentence may light up a persons world, a couple of words put in a sentence may also destroy a persons insides.

Words can numb thoughts and actions. They can kill motivation and devotion. Words, can scar a persons soul.

Be the type of person with words that help raise and strengthen someone, not the type of person with words that will haunt someone to death.