Brain Freezes

Most, if not all, of us may have experienced a brain freeze whilst consuming an ice cream or a freezing cold drink! During that time the chances of thinking about anything other than how and when this episode will pass are negligible, if not nonexistent. Luckily an episode of that description only lasts a few seconds and once it is over we feel as if we are reborn!

On the other hand, brain freezes caused by irrational convictions and often precipitated by consistently bad behavior and/or news propagated by some politicians and the media (in all its forms), can last for much longer, maybe months or years, not a mere few seconds.

Alas, when these long brain freeze episodes are over, we realize how much time we have wasted. However, unlike the ice cream brain freezes, we have the ability, if we choose, to jump out of any of these episodes before too much time is wasted!

Hani Badawi 

October 28, 2017

Revelations and Inspirations

Whereas we may have revelations in the form of dreams, we may also experience them when we are wide awake and conscious. These may or may not be influenced by events in our lives but in all cases they may act as seeds for taking deeper dives into our soul and conscience.

Inspirations, on the other hand, are seeded in personal events, education, readings and discussions, all of which we continue to encounter along the path of our lives. They may or may not lead us to take decisions but they can act as catalysts for us to clear up our minds and to entertain further ideas and/or norms.

An inspiration may be precipitated by one or more revelation and a revelation too may be precipitated by one or more than one inspiration. Therefore, in all likelihood, they coexist and may reinforce our beliefs and actions in unique ways that only pertain to our persona.

May all your revelations and inspirations lead you to the best path in your lives.

Hani Badawi

October 27, 2017

Guilt, Regret, Remorse and Conscience

Feelings of guilt, regret and remorse are not uncommonly encountered at some stage in our lives and are simply manifestations of a conscience that’s alive and kicking.

Logic says that the absence of these feelings is a reflection of the absence of conscience!

Hani Badawi
October 25, 2017

Difficult Decisions

In life we often have to make decisions and choices that are difficult for us to make. Normally, “difficult” implies that much thought and reflection has been expended in arriving at the actions to be taken.

Difficult decisions and ensuing actions are never without pain because it is only the long term effects that will reflect their justification.

Hani Badawi

October 25, 2017

My Book Is My Loyal Companion

Whether you read books in the old way of thumbing through the pages or electronically on your preferred e-reader gadget, I’m sure you’ll agree that a book is a good companion. Needless to say, you can choose to start, finish or terminate reading a book without it putting up any resistance to your actions!

Not only does a book keep you entertained and provide you with knowledge but it also provides you with food for thought for new ideas and for discussions with friends hence widening your scope of awareness and friends alike.

During our formative years we learn much about life via fairy tale books that, more often than not, contain subliminal messages about what to expect in our lives and that, whereas evil exists, good prevails in the end!

Later on in life we learn that fiction sometimes beats reality and thanks to books again for affording us the chance to put things in perspective and find out how to utilize the power of imagination to propel us into new frontiers of knowledge and relationships.

History, biography and historic fiction books are now my favorite reads. They allow me to see different aspects of life and live in different worlds, so to speak!

A book can keep you entertained, enhance your imagination, provide you with facts, give you hope, warn you about dangers in life, guide you as to how to behave under different circumstances and may also send you to sleep!

What a great companion!

Hani Badawi
October 19, 2017

Happiness and Pleasure

Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?

In this short essay I will only touch on what comes to mind on the subject of happiness and pleasure for I do NOT purport to have the expertise to offer a comprehensive analysis on these feelings an/or emotions.

Most arguments about the difference between happiness and pleasure suggest that happiness is more enduring than pleasure, the latter being perceived as a transient feeling (or state of mind) which lasts only for a short duration. In other words, happiness and pleasure may be described as finite feelings (or states of mind) that have a duration associated with each, the former being the one that is expected to last longer than the latter.

The common examples of comparing the two feelings (or states of mind) include the following:

- Pleasure from eating something you like only lasts for the duration of consuming that pleasing bite or meal.

- For a finite duration, physical possessions can be sources of pleasure but not happiness

- Happiness emanating from a relationship whether it be marriage, friendship or a combination thereof may last for a lifetime or, for what most would agree, longer than the foregoing examples about pleasure.

With the above in mind, let me address the question that I posed at the outset of this essay, namely: Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?

Staying true to my note about keeping this simple and, after considerable deliberation about the sources and nature of each of the two emotions, my answer to the question is: neither! Instead, I would say that I am happy to have you as my friends and pleased that you took the time to read this and some of my other thoughts!

Hani Badawi
October 18, 2017

Minds Eye, Nature and Perception of Things

We all perceive things and react to them with different eyes and never will what you perceive or react be exactly the same as what anyone else does. This is because our minds eye, unlike our physical one, will color things differently from others depending on the unique circumstances and experiences that provided the coloring box and brush to each.

I would argue that, not unlike humans, nature will also manifest itself differently depending on circumstances that, by and large, originate from geological, geographical and physical factors, but in some instances ones that are inflicted by humans.

Modeling behavioral patterns of nature, whether it be hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, changes in climate such as global warming, etc. is a very difficult undertaking but progress continues to make headway as our tools continue to develop.

Likewise, understanding or modeling human behavior is a very difficult undertaking when tackled by specialists in the field of psychiatry or psychoanalysis and again, like in the case of nature, specialists have made some headway at unraveling some of the above mentioned coloring boxes and brushes but considerable challenges remain.

With the above in mind, it is not surprising that we often ascribe differences in our human perceptions and reactions to us having different natures!

Hani Badawi

October 17, 2017

Misinformation Sources

In this age of “information superhighway” and its associated diverse media channels, one has to be aware of the multitude of misinformation that is being propagated.

Needless to say, when misinformation is blindly heeded it may cause anxiety and animosity amongst friends and family to reach new heights and, alas, falling from these heights can be very painful!

Hani Badawi
October 16, 2017

Marking Territories

Dogs mark their territory by urinating on trees and walls, never on human beings, whereas pathetic leaders do that by tweeting on their fellowmen/women to the detriment of their nations!

Hani Badawi
October 10, 2017

Chicken and Egg Dilemma

History shows that when respect is demanded via scare tactics and bullying, invariably the outcome is more strife and uprising by the bullied parties.

Unfortunately, it is often the case that the bullied themselves turn into bullies and perhaps that’s the reason for the endless strife and discord amongst individuals and/or nations!

Hani Badawi
October 13, 2017