Stress Me Not!

Many moons ago, when I was growing up I learned about the superstitious approach of conducting my own, so called, “fortune telling” by plucking the petals of a flower and alternately uttering the words "love me" followed by "love me not" and relying on the last plucked petal to predict which of these will seal my fortune!

As I grew older and came to terms with the fact that this was only a game of chance and hope, I, nevertheless, continued to model other life alternatives in a similar gamely fashion, knowing that, although they are just games, this process does have merits in allowing me to review the different facets associated with any challenging situation.

In light of the above, I am sure you will agree that stress plays a prominent role in our lives and is therefore worthy of consideration and thus prompts me to address the title of this note "Stress Me Not!"

This phrase, unlike my childhood flower petal plucking game, signifies several connotations, and I list below the ones that readily come to mind:

Prayer: Lord, I beseech You to make my life comfortable and I beg You to Stress Me Not!

Threat: Challenged by circumstances that are imposed by social, business or financial factors, using that phrase followed by "or else" carries the threat implication that it is intended for!

Plea: When the going gets tough in relationships and when arguments become difficult to resolve, one may resort to saying Please, Stress Me Not because I am at the end of my tether!

Question: How many times have I told you to Stress Me Not?

Command: I order you to Stress Me Not!

Reflecting on the above, and, in as far as stress is concerned, I pray that, in the adult equivalent of the petal plucking game, the “Stress Me” option never presents itself in any of its varied connotations to any of you!

Hani Badawi

April 14, 2016

Reading, Writing and Making History

Whether we like it or not we are all students of history (family, national, international, sports, music, science, economics, etc.). Our levels though will vary depending on our, desire, interest and aptitude in learning about days gone by.

Some students will keep personal memoirs which may be read by a select few, some will commit events to memory and verbally relate them to their inner circle of friends and family and some more advanced students will write essays or books in areas of interest to them to be shared by a yet larger audience of students.


It is a no brainier that, to write history it is mandatory that one be well read and versed in the discipline of interest to oneself. Conveying history accurately though is a subject of another discussion that is beyond the scope of this article!

Moving on to the topic of "making history", I think most of you will agree that the path towards that end, whether followed deliberately or not, is very intriguing and is worthy of deeper analysis.

Like reading and writing history, making history can take many forms and shapes. It is more likely than not, that out of one's personal experience and passion combined with reading and writing history, that a few will end up in making (either good or bad) history! Written books or current events are replete with examples of those who have attained fame or infamy!

Strange as it may be, disciples of those who have made good or bad history continue to carry banners in writing and in action too that, more than likely, leads to factions, cults, ideologies, resolutions, etc. that ultimately continue to add reasons for world unrest and wars.

I would be remiss if I do not address the role of religion and politics in our world strife! The former is often misinterpreted and misused and the latter often relies on the misinterpretation and misuse aspects for their own personal benefits!

The saga has been with us for ages, and, alas, the saga continues!!!!


Hani Badawi
April 9, 2016