Broken pencils and bitten rubbers scattered on my wooden desk while books sat quietly in my bag. The sound of flipping pages, falling rulers and sharpening pencils never seemed to abandon my ear. It’s another school day where the first row students actually paid attention and wrote down notes, students in the middle mostly observe the landscape as they look through the window curiously, and last but not least are students at the back seats carelessly take naps. It’s another school day.

Another school day literally translates to another failing education system. For decades now, presidents have stood up and gave speeches, suggested ideas and claimed money will fix the problem, but they were wrong. For decades now, students’ voices have not been heard because, quite simply, the adults are covering their ears. Here we are again attempting to start a learning revolution that would hopefully change this failing system that lets every student down.

It’s an ugly fact to think about schools as prisons with killing teaching methods. They became test preparation factories that test the process of memorization. Overcrowded classrooms, underperforming teachers and many more obstacles stand in the way, but it is no reason to give up.

Not only schools have let students down and failed them, but also it has taken away their passions, their desire to learn, and destroyed it. We made documentaries about this failing education system, we passed  acts like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, but there is one thing we didn’t do… We didn’t solve the problem. Yes, we know there are bad teachers, bad schools, bad system… then what?

Children are the future, if we hope to solve the world’s major problems, like it or not, we must provide successful educational opportunities for them. But ask yourself: How are we supposed to provide that when education is falling in the wrong hands?

How are you supposed to make a product better if you don’t receive a feedback from the customer? The same thing applies to education. We are missing a crucial voice, and it’s the voice of the customer… the student’s voice. How are teachers supposed to improve their teaching methods if they don’t sit down and talk to their students? The ugliest act you can do is leave students out of the debate.

Before purposing any solutions, or passing any acts that aren’t making any difference, let us think about what is important. Standardized testing, assignments and homework aren’t what we are looking for, we as students, are looking for something more valuable, something that from the moment we open our eyes, it fuels our existence, we are looking to pursue our passion and our curiosity.  We start as kids filled with dreams and high expectations, but unfortunately this excitement and spark of passion settles as the years go by. Instead of learning because we want to, we begin learning because we have to. We begin learning for the test.

This learning revolution shouldn’t be about spending more money to solve the problem, it’s about changing this education system to help us push every student to discover their passion and be brave enough to chase it, let us reawaken the slumbering curiosity in every student and help them to be the best version of themselves.

Our schools should produce students who can’t stop questioning the world around them.

 
2012 Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve… What a night. It’s a night where the whole world gathers together, sing the same song and dream of a new hope. It’s a night where we put our differences apart, throw away the mistakes we made and hold hands wishing for a new start, a new hope… a New Year.

11:40 P.M, most people would have already fled from their homes to the streets to catch the perfect spot and wait under the moon light for the fireworks and New Year’s Eve madness celebrations.

The cold air brings rosy blush to my cheeks, and my hands are stiffened, however, the energy in the air was inviting, this irresistible enthusiasm kept us planted, almost like a tree. The sparse clouds cleared, just like opening a curtain to reveal the shiny moon and to prove that the night is still, after all, young.

The crowd began to gather, shivering because of the stingy air, but excitement was agitated.

My eyes were a little bit unfocused as I glanced at the vague horizon above the pine trees, the sky began to sparkle and explode with different colors and patterns… The countdown has just begun!

In the midst of this ecstatic commotion I stood.

10 seconds left….

Yellow and green fireworks began to spread across the sky, but then faded quickly. With each burst, my heart beats accelerated. Surrounding me were people filled with excitement, like a streaming kettle ready to blow.

9….

8….

7….

6….

5 seconds left…

The colors of the Fireworks were like Chameleon… consistently changing as they began to multiply. I watched in astonishment, and with every loud eruption, my heart beats raced faster and faster.

4….

3….

2 seconds left…

A train of thoughts landed in my head. A strange feeling it was… as we got closer and closer time started to slow down, or at least that’s what I felt. It was almost like a slow motion video, the voices, people jumping… everything seemed to slow down. 1….

In a fraction of a second I was back to reality. People around me were celebrating and the only sentence I heard at that time was “Happy New Year!” as the fireworks began to look like rain...

These ten seconds felt more like a decade. Mostly because we are starting a New Year and ending a year full of memorial events, which made me think “2011 was a year of?”

2011 was a year of revolution, adversity, possibility and remembrance, but we made it. It makes me think we survived another year and that there is a new chance, a new opportunity waiting for us to chase after it. 2011 triggered change and transformation with results that remain uncertain.

2011 year in review.

Some years stand out because they change the course of history and some because they change us.  2011 accomplished both successfully. It’s changed the way we think about our society, about politics, about the possibilities for social change.

It has literally been an extraordinary year, fully of tragedy and tumult. We lost many historical characters and saw many rising stars. 2011 could be called an era-defining 12 months.

2011 started off with a strong bold word “Change.” 2011 was the year that citizens all over the world fled to the streets to protest wealth inequality, from the Arab Spring to Spain to the Occupy movement. It was time for change.

Change was different for many countries, but it was change. The Arab Spring rose up against Western-backed dictators and agendas that have condemned people to poverty and repression for decades.  In Spain, Greece and New York it was called Occupy Movement rallying against the inequalities endemic to the system.

But that was a very small-tiny part to defining 2011.

2011 was also a year of adversity. In Japan, a whole nation was wrecked by a disastrous earth quake that was followed by a massive tsunami resulting in nuclear crisis and devastation.  Brazilian floods were marked as the worst single-day natural disasters in History as it claimed over 600 lives.

We lost many lives, many inspirational people beginning with Elizabeth Taylor, Ryan Dunn, Betty Ford, Andy Rooney, Vaclav Havel and my two favorite heroes I always looked up for Seve Ballesteros and Steve Jobs both lost their battles against cancer. Let us not forget the death of Osama Bin Laden, Al Ghadafi and Kim Jong II.

Years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of 21st century when tornadoes ploughed through cities, floods and droughts set recodes, world population surged, food prices spiked, governments were threatened by nations who demanded change— and ask ourselves: What did we do wrong?

Though there is dim shadows surrounding us, here’s to an interesting 2012, interesting indeed!

I don’t want to end this article like many saying “Let’s hope the Mayans were wrong!” But instead let us live this year “as if” it’s our last, then we can achieve every goal we postponed and live each day as if it’s our last to make the most out of this year. I personally think it’s better than wishing the Mayans were wrong!

Happy New Year!

 
The festival of the dying year, brown replaces green, the dead leaves fall off the trees… you know it’s All- Hallows’- Eve or Halloween.  

Every holiday provides great learning opportunities for kids and adults too. Since today is October 31st, it’s time to put on your Halloween costume, eat candy corn, and visit haunted houses.  However, have you ever wondered where these weird traditions and old origins came from?  What do we truly know about the ancient traditions that sparked our modern celebrations?

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays originated in Ireland dating back to 800 years before the birth of Christ. October 31st was known as the end of summer in Ireland, or Samhain. Samhain was actually a ritual to mark the end of the year. They believed that the winter represented death and the season of life met with death on October 31st. Spirits on this night come from the underworld and roam the earth.

Today's Halloween is no longer just for kids and has become bigger than ever. It is now acceptable for adults to dress up and party. Today's Halloween is a holiday for all ages young and old. Whereas the 20th century was marked by tiny little vampires going up to neighborhood houses, 21st century experience wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a truly terrifying haunted house containing Hollywood-level special effects.

Halloween history has remained remarkably consistent for almost 3,000 years. While the ritual activities have changed in practice and meaning, neither the real or imaginary darker aspects of the holiday have been enough to obstruct its route toward becoming the most popular holiday of the year. The average American will spend $66.28 on Halloween this year. This means a lot of people are shelling out big bucks to celebrate the holiday.

An old Irish folk tale tells of stingy Jack or Jack of the Lantern who is a mythical character associated with Halloween. As we all know the symbol of Halloween these days is the Jack-O-Lanterns. Long story short: There was once a man named Jack and he had a terrible reputation for playing practical jokes on people. When he died, he went to the underworld and he dared to play tricks on the devil so the devil got so mad and he kicked him out and then he went to roam the earth at night with a light of a lantern to search for his lost soul. Some say old Jack only had a pumpkin to carry his light. 

I can’t imagine a fall without craved pumpkins, vampires and zombies walking from house to house for trick of treat. As the full moon shines through bare leafless branches casting weird shadows on the path as we walk on crispy brown leaves. And nothing is better than visiting a haunted house and hearing scary stories just before you go to sleep!  Halloween is truly one of the most amusing, enjoyable and entertaining holidays there will ever be!  It’s worth dressing up and walking in your neighborhood all night!  

 
Picture
The sun’s beautiful rays broke throughleafless branches; fell through the glazed windows to rusty worn-out curtains awaking me on a sound of southern birds, rumbling trees and warm summer days, back to eager memory bringing the sweetest thoughts of happy days.

The joyous laughter of kids playing outside my wooden cottage increased my desire to get up and smell the fresh summer day under the sylvan shades of an Oak tree.

Sunshine’s streaming through the trees intensified the vivid colors of sunflowers and Lilies. Dark trees bent together as though whispering secrets. Still early in the morning, I lie down next to the roses that lay upon the grass like little shreds of crimson silk and slowly I looked at the gleaming sky, curiously staring at the clouds, white clouds like daisies, white clouds like grazing sheep on pastures.

My cozy wooden cottage lasted 20 years of happy and blissful memories. It wasn’t an epicurean castle of fairy tales, but the beautiful antique French furniture, now worn-out and raddled, still looked fresh in my eyes like a new pair of diamond earrings. Every piece of furniture, every antiquity was special, surrounded by the white-gray walls of joyful and sad memories over the years. The small empty lunch table still has the round waxy circle of dripping candles, and the rusty silver spoons no longer shine like the old days.

Up there, my tree house standing still next to shady trees and big green leaves. I’m not sure my tree house will last much longer, because cracks of pine wood are breaking slowly.

Warm breeze making the pine trees sway brings the smell of summer days when I was ten…  I remember. Hair was golden as tints of sunrise, eyes as bright as water of Woodland River. Running around the fields, playing hide and seek and blushing until my cheeks were like roses.  Dragon flies landing on outstretched fingers and butterflies gathering around me like I was a flower.  I remember my grand-mother’s fresh apple pies, and how I used to help my grand-father paint the roof. I love the color blue, like the sky… so beautiful. I used to come back with blue hands and paint all over my clothes.
 I walk, barefooted. I see a small rivulet just next to where I used to sit and hide most of the day, next to the big rock. Glittering like a star, just under the rock I see a key…

I will hide the key under this huge rock and then I’ll come back after 20 years, will you promise to meet me here?  

I waited for him to scrape the candle wax of the table like he promised to; I waited for him to help me build a new tree house… but he never came. I waited for him, but the candle burned-out.

It’s almost dark, night falls like fire… time does fly… the sky glittered with million diamonds and pearls, while silence seems heavy and dark like a passing cloud. After 20 years, I looked back, days past by so fast…. Time drops in decay, like a burned-out candle.

I’ll come back… I’ll come back to hear the cows mow and to listen to the bird’s sweet music, to wake up by the sun’s beam, to smell the fresh, earthy grass, to stare at the stars and for one last time to feel the breeze in my hair.  

I watch kids play, hear their laughter and I look back fondly on my halcyon days, remembering the peaceful and happy times of my youth…

Everything here is so elusive, that the memory come and go like a flash of light.

I’m home.

The End.

 
Three apples changed the world. The 1st tempted eve. The 2nd inspired Newton. And the 3rd was offered to the world half eaten by Steve Jobs.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, anything new?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Steve Jobs is dead.”

These words literally dimmed black shadows on my beautiful Thursday morning.  Like many of you, Steve Jobs was one of my heroes, a true visionary and a creative genius… Steve had it all: curiosity, passion and determination with other countless innovations that made our lives much more interesting.  

Today we lost a magnificent iconic human being. He utterly changed our lives from the moment he introduced Macintosh. I remember how I first read about his story, and since then I was hooked by his charisma that shined the stage every time he stood on it… Steve was a challenger that looked deep in our eyes and made us look deeply into his. Today, we should remember “Stay foolish, Stay hungry.” And with these last words, my prayers and thoughts are with Steve’s family, may he rest in peace, because he definitely left a ding in the Universe as he wished to.

R.I.P Steve Jobs

Iconic legend

The reason Apple is successful according to Steve Jobs: "Picasso had a saying: 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas...I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, artists, zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world."
-- 1994

I might not be a Mac user, but still I’m fascinated by what Steve Jobs invented. He was Thomas Edison of our Generation. One of his speeches that inspired me was Stanford Commencement speech, even though Steve Jobs didn’t graduate from college, he knew everything will fall into the right place after all.

Here are three lessons I learned from his story: from (Stanford Commencement speech)

1)      Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t spend your life living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They, somehow, already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

2)      Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. 

3)       “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. 

This year has been tragically interesting so far! Seve Ballesteros died at age 54 from cancer and now Steve Jobs aged 56 died for the same reason. I hope that kids’ bold ideas and creative imagination might be the cure of cancer in the near future.  

One more thing.... Crazy Ones....  
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs will always be my hero whom I’ve never met…. R.I.P, you’ll be missed.

“Stay foolish, stay hungry” 

 
In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb'                                                                                 'The third big war will begin when the big city is burning’...on the 11 day of the 9 month that... two metal birds would crash into two tall statues... in the new city... and the world will end soon after

- Nostradamus 1654

Ten years ago, a brightly September day was darkened by the dim shadows of hatred, one of the worst terrorists’ attacks in history. New York, September 11th 2001, 8:46 A.M felt like any other Tuesday morning, people at work, children at school and former president George W. Bush was visiting Emma E. Booker elementary school at Sarasota, Florida reading “The pet Goat” with second graders when he received the news. You’ve also heard it in many ways, most of you saw it on TV, others were right next to it and at 9:06 A.M., as Bush sat in front of the class, Andrew Card approached him, whispered something in his ear, and taking less than two seconds, told him that a second plane hit the towers.  

Today we remember humanity at its worst times. 10 years ago we experienced violence and tragedy when the Hijackers intentionally crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and Hijackers also crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. But we also witnessed courage, unity, and generosity…Although the United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, passengers attempted to take control of it.

Nearly 3,000 victims died in the attacks…

Who is responsible for the empty seats at the dinner table? And the endless tears on the cheeks of a five-year-old? Children were forced to grow up without their mothers or fathers, and parents never knew the feeling of their children growing up… the empty rooms and deserted houses. These worst images are unseen to the world, but forever changed life as we know it today…

It was the worst decade in the history of America, however on this 10th anniversary we can help to refine 9/11 and start a new decade.  We might open a new page, a white one to be remembered, but the world will never forget 9/11… It was like watching a silent movie while we breathed the air and dust of unspoken tales in a box of locked secrets and in the graves of broken hearts… Ten years later: 9/11 speaks for itself.

“In honor of those who have fallen, let us rise together in making America and the world even stronger.”

Finally let’s hope for America and the world to be safe, remember it was not a war of race or religion, it was a war against terrorism….   A victory of unity and love against hatred. 

 
Recently, I have been doing some science tests on every topic related to Science, starting from biology and ending up with astronomy. It was about 70 questions. Question #52 caught my eyes, and surprisingly inspired me to write this blog post.

This question was about Charles Darwin evolutionary theory. We all know Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame by outlining the theory of evolution and proposing that evolution could be explained through natural and sexual selection. Prompted by awareness that Alfred Russel Wallace was developing similar theories he published his own sooner than he had originally intended. This theory is now considered an integral component of biological science.

This is the question that opened my mind and widened my eyes: What species would likely to survive?  

  -          The most intelligent 
  -          The strongest
  -          The most adaptive

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change" 
— Charles Darwin

Obviously the most adaptable! This question alerted me to think not only about the animal’s species that will survive, but also the dominating  Homo sapiens “ humans”.  

One of the most essential life skills a person can have is the ability to adapt to change.  An adaptive individual is one who is able to refocus the mind in new directions and make choices based on his or her desired outcomes.  However, adapting to change is difficult for most people due to the fact that humans are creatures of habit; having to change our patterns and behaviors is frustrating and annoying, and takes us out of our comfort zone.  But developing the skills necessary to adapt to change can have powerful outcomes, including self‐improvement, ongoing learning, and a higher level of personal and work achievement.  

Those who are ready to change and adapt to new environments, especially in this fast moving world, will be able to survive. Change is coming whether we like it or not, some people welcome change and find ways to turn the unexpected into an opportunity for growth. Others become frightened and simply react. How we handle the inevitable changes in life is the key to living a life without fear.

 Those who are not ready to adapt will be left alone and forgotten. On the other hand, when you see a 50 year old who is always prepared to change, long-term thinker and tracking the most technological development, you will, without hesitation, be surprised.

Traditionally, when you turn 40, maybe a little older, you will be considered to be “Old school” or what generation now describes it to be “Not Cool.”  You should keep up with the world around you. Don’t think of limits like “I’m too old to change,” instead, start thinking of adapting into the world as we know it today, a fast and changing map every day.

Charles Darwin didn’t say the strongest or fittest of the species will survive, he said those who response to change most efficiently will survive. I say those who lead change would do more than survive, they would thrive.

When you want to change any area in your life, you should master the mechanics of change. Sometimes, change might be dictated from the outside and it will force itself on you. Like a disease, you will try to fight it and protect yourself from it, but at last you will respond. Life is a mystery, it requires us to adapt to change and also create change. This process of creation begins inside you, but it manifests in what you do. The way to change your life is to change your behavior. Yes, it may start with our thoughts and beliefs.

Think of it as brushing your teeth. If you brushed your teeth once, they will get rotten. In order for your teeth to stay white, healthy and strong you’ve got to brush them every day. To adapt to change, you’ll need to brush your teeth every day, in other words, be ready to change always.

I’m so disappoint to see people saying “Oh, I can’t change that! “Force of habit!” well, if you think about it, habits aren’t determined by the quality of our character; our character is determined by the quality of our habits. For instance, biting nails is a widespread habit; however, whether you like it or not you will stop someday! Or smoking etc…

What I love about habits is that they’re automatic. Sure replacing a habit can be a challenge but once you have, you don’t need to think about it. Habits are the brains own autopilot system. When they kick in, what a pleasure, you can sit back and enjoy the ride. If a habit is unpleasant, rude or bad, you ought to replace it by lovely, agreeable and skillful one.

Nonetheless, there are rules for everything and even for change. The simplest and the vital rule is to change yourself first, Mahatma Gandhi said “You must change the world you wish to see.” Take action and lead the change. Not everything you face in life can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it’s faced.

In conclusion, if you finish changing then you’re finished… literally. Progress is impossible without change. If a snake can change its skin, and the tree replaces its dead leaves, then it’s a “must” to keep changing in order to survive.

John F Kennedy said “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

….. Don’t miss the future…. Change….

 
I lay in my bed thinking of my birthday, the thrilling party, exciting presents and a chocolate cake, but that doesn’t matter to me as much as what I accomplished when I was 13.  How did I help to influence lives of other people? Did I accomplish all my goals? These questions always pop up in my mind before every birthday.

Open your eyes to a wider picture. If we are to appreciate the fruits of life, we must first appreciate the tree that bears the fruit: birth itself.

When I think of birthdays, I think of a beginning. It is a window of a lifetime, and a chance to fulfill your unique missions. A birthday is more than receiving presents and eating cake, it is a chance to remember the day that a major event occurred.  

As I logged in to my Twitter page, I searched for #Birthday and I saw lots of Tweets about people turning 40, 50, 16 etc… And that made me think of the value of each day, how we live and how we appreciate it. While you read this sentence a child will be born and another will be dead.  Every single minute a world record will be broken, conflicts and celebrations occur around the world. We think we are different, but we are the same more than you ever can imagine.  

We should celebrate our birthday as a reminder of our original purpose here on this planet. During the year we have sojourned through the twelve months and twelve zodiacal signs gaining the experiences that life has to offer us. Every year, we return to the time of our birth, not quite the same as we were the year before. Each sojourn around the sun is different and brings new opportunities for greater awareness and self-realization.

Our birthdays are a celebration of the gift of life, given to us by the Universal Spirit. It is a time to reflect on who we are, what we have been given and what we plan to achieve.  

Sometimes thinking about your life and sorting out what you have learned is just as important as tackling a new venture. It is not like I’m turning 20 or 30, but overall, I always cringe when I approach a new age. For some reasons, we don’t realize how powerful our lives can be until we reflect and share our experiences. Here are 14 lessons I learned in 14 years.

  -          A life without cause is a life without effect.
  -          It’s never too early to start something new.
  -          Dream wild beyond the boundaries and limits.  
  -          Personal glory lasts forever.
  -          Take a lot of pictures; someday you’ll be really glad you did!
  -           Life is a roller coaster; don’t be scared…
  -          Appreciate time; it’s the only thing you own.
  -          Laugh, cry and enjoy life, nothing can be repeated.
  -          Being a vegetarian can teach you a lot of things, from compassion to simplicity.
  -          Rules are meant to be broken.
  -          Climb your own Everest.
  -          If someone feels they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they had never tried a new thing in their life…
  -          Change yourself before changing the world
  -          Winning doesn’t always mean being first, winning means you’re doing better than you have done before.
  
I didn’t climb Everest or went to  Mars {I know I will soon :P} But I did find a purpose in my life and I did use my writings to inspire others. Always remember 29th July is important not only because it is my birthday:

1981 UK Charles and Diana Marriage 

29th July 1981 : Prince Charles marries Lady Diana at a royal ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral, it is estimated 500 million television viewers in 74 countries tune in to witness the fairytale marriage. :D!

So as my Birthday will be official in couple of hours, I will always remember that eventually all the pieces fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moment and know that everything happens for a reason.

 
We don’t often get to see life from kid’s eyes, but kid’s eyes are small springs of love and happiness. They act innocence and are always discovering new meanings of life. Children are sponges; every day is a new adventure in which new things are being learned. Somewhere along the way, this all changes and we mature and become adults. 

Well, that’s a problem, isn’t? As we grow up and become {Adults} we tend to act like we “Know it all” and yes, adults only learn what they feel they need to learn. Adults’ learning are very practical and old routine. I’m sure we all remember the “Blah- Blah- Blah” from our middle, secondary, high school, college teacher/ professor.

The other day, I was doing an English Reading Test. The passage title was (Creators of Grammar) this is very interesting. Grammar is what we use every day to help us describe past, present and future actions. Grammar helps us understand each other and the times this particular action happened because grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is. 

So the question which has baffled many linguists is - who created grammar? At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. Surprisingly those who created complex grammar were children!

It’s a long story to tell, this one is from the passage:

“Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade.  At that time, slaves from a number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer's rule.  Since they had no opportunity to learn each other's languages, they developed a make-shift language called a pidgin.  Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the landowner.  They have little in the way of grammar, and in many cases it is difficult for a listener to deduce when an event happened, and who did what to whom Speakers need to use circumlocution in order to make their meaning understood.   Interestingly, however, all it takes for a pidgin to become a complex language is for a group of children to be exposed to it at the time when they learn their mother tongue.  Slave children did not simply copy the strings of words uttered by their elders; they adapted their words to create a new, expressive language. Complex grammar systems which emerge from pidgins are termed creoles, and they are invented by children.”

What do we count on when telling a story? We count of grammar and it has been invented by kids. Children appear to have innate grammatical machinery in their brains, which springs to life when they are first trying to make sense of the world around them.  Their minds can serve to create logical, complex structures, even when there is no grammar present for them to copy.

It is pretty much obvious that every adult was a child in some point, and every child will turn into an adult. Somehow, it is important to keep our ideas, creativity and our interesting way of learning as we develop and become adults.

This passage (Creators of grammar) shows that children invent everything because they want to be heard, they want to communicate, share and explore. They created complex grammar; this shows that they have unbelievable abilities. What is happening? {Adults} are not really paying a lot of attention to children and therefore, children are not being exposed of what they can do.

We think that kids don’t know anything and parents need to start teaching them, but this is not the truth. Kids are born with something new and {Parents} need to listen to their kids more than telling them what to do. {Adults} need to listen, because kids speak words of wisdom and they should learn from that.  Don’t just tell, but learn.

Kids are like sponges, they soak up everything. Your actions, words, gestures, and mood, are constantly being watched and internalized. We are role models for our kids, however we are not perfect. Expressing ourselves and communicating our feelings is very important. Take time to think about what’s important to you and how you want your kids to grow up.

We try to teach kids what life is all about, but they end up teaching us about life

For example, as we know it is the technology revolution era, and surprisingly kids, teenagers are the leaders.  It is very helpful to ask your children/ students to teach you new things. That way you will learn and your children know they are important. It is a better way than taking a course and paying loads of money for someone to teach you.

I’m not saying adults are running our planet, but instead we should try to learn from each other. Learning is an exchangeable act and we should be aware that every human being has something worth sharing.

 John F. Kennedy once said Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the futureEvery day children are born with hope, new thoughts, they are the reason why the world is living and continuing, I guess kids are always optimistic.  

Kid’s abilities are unbelievable, if we just give them a chance to show us, we will be amazed. Every child is born into the world is a thought from God, let’s appreciate this thought and expect everything from it.

 A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer.  ~Author Unknown   

 

 
When you understand the language of the flowers and the music of the birds, you can see the rainbow, you know the sky is blue over that are the dreams you dare to dream, really come true.

The kingdom of dreams is in your imagination. A dreamer sees the dawn before the rest of the world. A dreamer walks under the moonlight and looks at the sky, every star is a dream…

A dreamer sees everything possible to achieve. A dreamer draws his imagination and slowly turns it into reality. Every great dream beings with a dreamer, those who dream live the impossibilities, they are out of touch with reality, and if they jump they will probably think they can fly… 

I wish all of us were dreamers then we can live in peace but in the real world we are often being pushed by our problems to move on with our lives, but never lead by our dreams.  We don’t set high expectations and goals for ourselves because we did once and it didn’t work. We gave up once and twice… we left our problems hanging on the shoulders of the next generation.

Most of us stopped dreaming about a bright future. Dreaming is becoming a silly thing to do, why? because it is taking a lot of time to turn into reality. On the other hand, if you think about it realizing one of your dreams come true, comes to life is often- without exaggerating- like traveling in a time machine. This particular moment when your dream comes to life is a state between the past and the present, a state between the times when you set a goal and determined on making it come true.   

But in the matter of age, we often tend not to encourage kids ages 10,13,16 etc… to dream big. Especially when our closest, best friend replies to us by “You wish!” “Ya, right! As if!”  Maybe that’s why kids and teenagers today are leaning towards hanging out in the malls, watching T.V, playing video games but not actually “Use” and “Explore” their potentials.

We need to fathom the truth behind realizing our dreams, the truth that literally says “There are no shortcuts to success.” But however, success doesn’t happen in one night or another; it is going to take time, determination and dedication.  Most of the people want to have immediate results after the action, but it is not that easy. To climb a steep hill requires slow pace at first.

What is a dream?

There are two kinds of dreams, one happens during the night when you fall asleep and the other is during the day.  

In the matter of the universe, dreams are the eyes of our soul and the wish that our hearts make when we fall asleep. It is a way of communication between our subconscious and our conscious minds. Power of dreaming, how blessed we are whenever we close our eyes we can see? Dreams are messages to us and we should pay attention.

 Also dreaming doesn’t only happen when you fall asleep; in fact T.E Lawrence once said,

“All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind wake in the day to find that it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.”

Never stop dreaming even after you wake up. While we are busy moaning and grumbling, some people already made the far future possible to reach. With their eyes open all day long and their wide imagination, they made our |Dream| future real.

Dreams depend on how big your imagination is “Imagination is more important than knowledge” Einstein once said “Knowledge is limited, imagination circles the universe.”

What is imagination?

Imagination is the infinite possibilities in reality. It is a mental creation that resides in all of us. Imagination is a gift and an ability that can take us everywhere, it is limitless… just like the journey to space starts with a dream; it starts in your imagination. We imagine things; you imagine being on the moon and jumping from here to there, you might imagine your future wedding and sailing the world. You can imagine everything… even a world full of giants and cars flying, maybe flying pigs too… We live in a world, but in our imagination we can go everywhere.

In our world it is thought that intelligence depends if you are a Math whiz kid, science, technology etc… but in reality intelligence depends on the wildness of your imagination because the early human beings didn’t have textbooks, guidebooks instead, they had their imagination. They imagined building houses and they did, they imagined making clothes and they did. You see, our life is a wonderland and our imagination is its building blocks.

I deeply feel sad for those who their imagination didn’t exist yet “As they think” and also to whoever tries to build borders and limit it. Imagination is creation, a true sign of intelligence, imagination is the only think that keep life going and keep us asking questions.

Where does it go as we grow up?

It is a fixed law of nature {until now} it says “As we grow up, we become a problem to the world” 100% true. Stop for another minute and think….

When you were a kid didn’t you use to ask a lot of questions? Ex. Why fishes swim in the sea? What does the sun rise? Why is the sky blue? Well, happy news for you; these questions are what has drove science and technology forward and opened our eyes to ask questions to the ultimate world. 

Childish questions, I’m sure your teacher called them “Silly questions” why? Because back then she didn’t know the answer! Yes, we pretend like we know it all… I know.

Children minds are full of wild imagination, infinite dreams and high hopes. Kids dare to dream and believe in the impossible. Picasso proved this by saying “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” We should try to turn today’s generation into better adults and the next generation into a better one and so on.

Dreaming big…. Yes dreaming big is what helped the world evolve in many ways. If it was not for big thinkers and open minded legends, we would have been sitting in the dark ages. With every generation comes a new responsibility. Those legends helped shape our world in many ways; for example: Bill Gates and the invention of Microsoft has opened millions if not trillions new doors in front of us. But you also might wonder: “Why bother?” well, because they came to earth with a purpose and each one of us has a purpose, you need to search for it. I do believe that we are all equal; we have the same abilities and the same talents, but not all of us “Believe” in ourselves and our huge potentials.

 I’m trying to prove that there is no “Prodigy”, “Wonder” kids. We should all expect the best from ourselves and work hard to deliver our message.

Eventually everything leads to success. Success is a journey not a destination. My journey in these 13 years I’ve lived on earth has been long, full of energy, ups and downs but also determination. I don’t claim to “Have it all” or that I have my “Own” “Success” story, because I believe that there is no limit. No matter how many “Great” things you can do, there is always better. In my own perspective, success happens when you are fulfilled and to have a “Successful” life you can’t be fulfilled because you can always do more. 

Kids my age (Younger and sometimes older) dream about perfection and doing everything in their lives and that’s a good thing. Dreaming…. Is the first key for achieving, remember: “In order to make something true, you have to dream about it first.”

Visualization is what also helped me achieve my goals till date, and what kept me strong during “Negative” comments (Which I truly appreciate and helped me get better as I progress older, so thanks to the people who gave negative comments.)

Because I play golf, I’m very strong at the mental side. Every time I want to hit a shot I try to visualize it. Left to right, straight, right in the hole. Visualizing your dream, just like visualizing a golf shot will help you get it to action. 

Your dreams aren’t crazy, they were your passion. For example, when I was 12 my “Wildest” “Crazy” dream was to speak at the TED or TEDx conference. Although I haven’t been to any conference ever in my life, I wanted to speak at TED. A year later “This year” I spoke at TEDxAjman, and I was very excited not because I got to speak there but because I knew that no matter how “Wild” your dreams are, the world need them. Unfortunately, the society and the environment around us interfere in a bad way. If every person follows his/ her passion, the world will literally be filled with exotic ideas. (In a good way).

Then again, if every idea came to life immediately, this world will be a horrible place to live in.

Like when I was 8, I still have some “Crazy, Wild” dreams and for some people it may seem “impulsive or naïve.” However, it’s a dream… it is your imagination; you have no restrictions and no limits. Dream big even if that meant thinking crazy, every big think start small and every great thing starts in a crazy way and you know maybe some of kid’s childish dreams and thoughts can be a cure for cancer or the next solution for global warming.

The world needs impulsive thoughts, childish ideas. John F. Kennedy once said “Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the futurewhy? Because kids don’t think of limits and hard things to achieve, kids just dream.

What is your dream? What are you trying to achieve? 

When you close your eyes and dream, then it is your world. Try to open your eyes and hold on to the same dreams… you can dream. It is your world.

Remember that YOU are the instrument of change, the mechanism that with all your capacity will see new things unfold as you put thought into action. Anything is possible.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt