What is happening in this world?

With so much violence and hatred you can't help but wonder if this world is really coming to an end? I remember at one point in time when people were friendly no matter where you came from and what your name was but now everybody is suspicious of everyone. Why and how did this happen? How did we become such unfriendly, and bitter people? I am worried because as a Muslim and especially from Pakistan, even though I have been a resident of U.S. for more than 20 years, has a number of strikes against me. The only thing that is in my favor is that I am a woman and women are not as strictly scutinized as men.

What I am trying to say is that just because a few demented individuals decide to blow up buildings and people in the name of religion, why do the rest of us have to suffer? If you really look around than the majority of the Muslim population is peace loving, tax paying, God fearing human beings that do not believe in violence. We even condemn the people who carry out these violent acts. I personally consider terrorists as animls who have no religion or conscience. They kill because they are brain washed by a handful of people who don't know any better. I believe that they should all be hanged because they give the rest of us a bad name.

But the public opinion in the west is not very favorable for Muslims and I blame the media for doing this. Every day they feed us with stories and violence committed by Muslims. What they fail to show is that Muslims are very progressive in the fields of Science, and technology. We play a very important role in advancing this world.

My plea is to not judge us by actions of a few but get to know us as individuals. We are your co-workers, your neighbors, your teammates. All we ask for is respect. We are on your side and do not recognize any terrorist act that jeopardizes world peace.

Uncertainty

Sometimes I wonder what is the difference between me and other people in terms of planning ones life? I've had friends who knew exactly what they wanted to do and when they wanted to do it. For instance, one of my friends wanted to become a doctor, get married, have kids and open a practice by the time she turned 30 and that is exactly how her life turned out. Another friend wanted to get married right after high school and that is exactly what happened. Even now I hear women say "oh I'll get married when I am 27, enjoy three years with my husband and have kids when I'm 30."

Now coming back to me, I had very similar dreams of going to college, getting a degree, working in my field, getting married and having kids. I also had a timeline sketched out and my life perfectly planned in detail. But in reality it did not work that way. I graduated from college two years later than I anticipated. Did not find a job right away. Got engaged to the wrong person and lived on my own for about four years. None of this was supposed to happen. By the time I was 29 I was supposed to be pregnant with my first child but I was just getting married. Now I am 33 and still do not have children due to complications and this endeavor may take a couple of more years.

So coming back to my point, what is the difference between me and other people? We both had timelines and goals. Where their goals unfolded exactly according to their timeline, my life has been full of uncertainty. Why is it that some people's wishes are granted exactly at the time they want and others have to wait to find happiness?

R

The newbie

I am a first time blogger so this maybe a little amateurish but I was keen to do this since I love to write. Blogging has become huge in the last couple of years and seems like every person worth anything is blogging. I guess it is an easy way to get your thoughts out there. Sometimes I wonder if these bloggers even know what kind of people are reading their posts, but then if you post it to the world then anybody in the world can see it. I am fascinated by this phenomenon and wanted a piece of it for myself. I am still not sure what kinds of things I will be writing about, or if I'll write regularly. I don't know if anybody will even read my blog, but right now I don't care. I just want to do this for myself.

I feel that writing your thoughts and then reading it out loud puts a lot of things in perspective. It lets you take a step back and look into your life and see what's right and what needs to be fixed. Right now I can say that I am content. Of course there are a few issues that everyone has to deal with and I will share whatever I can but compared to where I was five years ago, I am in a much better place today.

Well, I guess this is good enough for my first blog. See you next time.

R