Peace, a real dream or a pipe-dream?

Each time I switch on TV to watch the news, with the aim to keep abreast of what is happening around the world, the first thing to come into sight is blood. The world is becoming full of conflicts wherever we go, humankind is yelling because of pain.

In fact, no one of us could deny that we are all on the same boat, dreaming of living in peace, but its implementation remains quite difficult.

Actually, each one of us may have one’s own vision about the way human being may bring peace to planet earth, and it would be better if we share our own perception, concerning the way we could make this happen. As a part of my duties, since I’m interested in this issue, I should take part as well, by sharing my ideas in a lieu of standing out of the picture.

Firstly, let us know what are the hindrances that stand against any attempt of spreading peace around the world? I have been thinking about this matter for years, therefore, I may say  that one among many reasons preventing us from this grace; reside in lack of communication between nations, made on purpose. The world is a room with a complete diversification in kinds of cultures and religions, yet we the dwellers of the Earth we don’t know each other. The reason why we don’t have plain ideas about each other is that no program so far exists to uphold and promote, for instance, a real interfaith dialogue or dialogue of civilisations.

Moreover, there is another factor which also leads the peace process to failure. The foundation of the international community was based on dogs eat dogs, the strong and developed countries dominate the world and impose their vision on the rest. This way, we could only expect one outcome, the other side, the dominated, will react and proceed to resistance, as their last-ditch attempt to achieve their rights and dignity, and then it’s a vicious circle.

All people have the right to dream of a world where everyone lives peacefully and has their fair share. It’s so wonderful to have ideas in minds; however, reaching a peaceful world is built on actions, because it’s the only guarantee for a real shift. Dahli Wasfi, who is an Iraqi-American peace activist, said in her famous epic speech:” No peace no justice”. As a matter of fact, such as bold voices and people are badly needed, in order to urge on the international community to change its mindset. It’s time to end carnage and bloodshed. Instead of bringing turmoil, house raids, rape and pillage, and living at the expense of others, just take a moment to think about how to build a decent future for the coming generation.

Each person, especially the literate ones, has an obligation towards the world, otherwise, keeping silent could apparently be deemed as uphold to those who are wrecking the beauty of our life. We all share the same dreams but only actions can make the difference.

Why not to exploit all possible tools to promote peace around the world, for example, nowadays people are getting more and more familiar with the new technologies, smartly social media could be the suitable field for prosperous actions of this kind, but all is about the way we proceed.

Finally, I would like to say that even though the wicked are disturbing peace around the world, let’s keep dreaming that one day we will make it happen, besides, we have to make  all huge efforts to eradicate all porous holes which may let them break in to our souls, then wreck our dream. As long as we are awake there will be no save heaven for them.

                       

By: Ismail KAMAL

                   Satisfaction the double-edged sword

                     

I’m frequently asking myself what most people are going after. Each time I get the same answer, most of them are going after a peaceful state of mind whose meaning is to live at ease, without any possibility or trace of worries and fear. This state of mind could be reached but it requires some conditions, which can be summed up as a whole in one word; satisfaction.

Satisfaction is a very crucial concept to be discussed over, especially nowadays, while a great deal of change occurs in our daily life, in a swift pace that is becoming so hard to control.

As a suggested explanation to shed light on this concept, satisfaction could be defined as the condition of having your needs and desires fulfilled along with being pleased with what you have in term of material possession, to consider your skills and characters as your only identity that define you among people, then act out yourself.

Accepting the explanation, satisfaction can be deemed as a reliable tool to eradicate any potential of greed, as a positive result, one can deal with life and its hindrances with a spirit of heroes. In fact, once you focus on what you possess and never put yourself in a situation where you may keep fighting to build a fake personality based on imitating others or even to try to please them, this time you can consider yourself you are in the right path and not going astray. Satisfaction is a very important weapon to wield during the process of aims reaching.

On the other hand, it’s necessary to point out that any misinterpretation of this concept may have a grave effect on you. The negative side of satisfaction could be touched if we carefully analyse our surroundings, have a typical look at people’s mindset, we will find many of them refuse to make an effort in order to bring a change into their lives, pretending to be satisfied with what they have. Such allegation will only drive people to a complete laziness. Moreover, there are a welter of people who are doing jobs they don’t like and making great efforts with no apparent outcome on their lives, instead, unintentionally, they are making others’ dreams become real. The misinterpretation of satisfaction will drive people to commit what we may call spiritual suicide and stop making any progress.

Satisfaction as a valuable concept in human being life should always be dealt with carefully in a bid to avoid any misinterpretation and any potential misrouting.

                                    

                                                                                                                          By Ismail KAMAL

Why school is becoming disruptive? A wake-up call

Childhood was for me a very special and compelling period in my life. It was an emblem of complete freedom. At that time, I had feelings replete with purity, with no sense of any kind of responsibility.

Most of my actions were performed without caring about the consequences, because simply, I was not under the spell of any disruptive rule, which had considerable impact on my life, paving the way for my imagination to get wider.

It’s the first time to reveal my ambition over that time, being an astronaut was more than a dream, as I was obsessed with the stars in the sky and didn’t miss any opportunity to watch programmes treating astronomical topics. I even, indeed, wondered whether we shared the universe with other dwellers, other creatures with fearsome power. Such obsession drove me to create a simple model of a spatial vessel, and playing the rule of the captain.

The unspeakable happened when I reached school, of course like any other child, in the normal course of life. Then, the dream was gradually vanishing until it came to its end. The reason behind, I was deprived from freedom, freedom of thinking and imagining things on my own. This new stage of life means to be surrounded by disruptive rules made by others and like my counterparts, I was forced to follow, otherwise we would face the music and the outcome was to be subject to punishment.

Moreover, another burden on my shoulders, a monkey on my back. It was question of dealing with a mass of daily homework, most of time not only hard and exhausting, but also made me get other people  involved in my activities by asking for  their help to solve the questions.

 School should be a room whose aim is to refine our kids’ skill, instead of being a creepy dark hole, where mistakes are never allowed, counter to human being’s nature, and caning the students is widely welcome and promoted, with no ambition to provide a space for tempting rewards. Unfortunately, this is what I was going through.

Through these lines, I’m not trying to spread a pessimistic image about school, but I would like to convey a message to those who are responsible for this failure.

If we focus on school and we try to revamp the educational system, then It will be utterly an impressive move, and not only bringing a shift to school, but we will also shape both, the future of our kids and of our countries.

Here I suggest some typical tips to take in consideration while we deal with this issue:

• A reform should take place and target the relationship between the teachers and their students. Chasm between them must be slashed. It’s question of how to come up with new workable solutions to overcome generation gap inside school. This not a very formal relationship, where we must abide by ranks, and teachers should be trained to develop the sense of friendship to grow able to understand their students’ mindset.

• According to experts, the zenith of smartness and innovation during lifetime occurs in childhood. Thus, I urge that the four or five first year of primary school must be dedicated to the process of enhancing and refining skills.

The first thing children need to learn is how to conceive life and deal with its hindrances. Before to make them bear any kind of responsibility, and we have first to prepare the ground by developing their personality so that they be able to handle the missions.

• Reward instead of canning: no wonder that the fact of committing a mistake is part of our life that teaches people how to react in the upcoming challenge. It’s time to adopt a new strategy based on rewarding students, and make them learn how to overcome the previous fall by introducing mistakes as experience likely to teach us how to face the upcoming.

• No more homework: in the first earlier years of school, the notion of homework, in my book, must be eradicated; because I consider it the main reason that let children hate school. Spending about eight hours a day at school is quite enough for a child, besides, home should be place of relaxation in order to give enough time to the children and parents to meet and strengthen their relationship.

School is a place for teaching not for canning. Let our kids love school by providing all kinds of care and love. Frowning, beating and much homework are the tools that destroy the future of both, our beloved ones and our countries, most of time unintentionally.

                              

By Ismail KAMAL

Just give it a try

What is he doing in there? The place is so weird, and day by day is getting weirder. Though having enough space to carry things, it’s indeed like an isolated island far away. It doesn’t leave enough room so that he can work out his imagination. I shudder to think what hideous outcomes he will go through; surely it’s going to strike hard, having its tall on him altogether. The relief, it’s all about a move, but he is wavering. Should he consider it the well-timed moment to make a move and give it a try in order to be at the helm of his life?

He knows plainly with no scintilla of doubt that he has to leave his fingerprints before the passing. Life is short, meanwhile, time elapses swiftly, and he knows it like the back of his hand. That’s what  keeps him continuously thinking over the next move.

Some sounds are trying to curb him, besides drifting him across unknown waters, while others, laden with wisdom, are always endorsing and whispering: “Just give it a try!!!!”

  By Ismail KAMAL