Uzma Saeed

There are people who work hard plus some more and get nowhere. Then there are people who hardly work but get to the very top because they know how the system works, they have someone in the top who knows them etc.

It’s truly unfortunate but now its very rare if the people in the first group get to succeed…in today’s world it seems that people who belong to the second group are the ones generally succeeding. I know I am generalizing but just bare with me and hear me out. Look around you and start making a list of people you know who deserve to be appreciated but are seldom ever taken seriously let alone given praise. They are probably the ones looking the most stressed and walking around with a huge weight on their shoulders. Sometimes, these individuals are taking on and doing other people’s jobs for them as well. These individuals have a wonderful heart, are people pleasers and if stuck in the wrong crowd end up paying not just with their health, their jobs but sometimes even with their integrity.

Now, start making a list of people you know who just knew the right person, had a connection in the top but hardly worked…yet made sure they had a presence, were at the right place at the right time, created problems for others, took credit for someone else’s work etc. What is happening with these people…are they succeeding or failing like their counterparts. These people have learned early-on how to manipulate the system, how to play the people against each other, so on and so forth. They know when and where to open their mouth…so to speak when the iron is hot. They know when to keep it shut as well. See, do you get what I mean?!

All of us are a part of this problem by letting things like this keep on happening because we keep silent when we should speak up. We need to bring the change by using our voice to stop such things from happening. Take the power back…give credit and praise to people who deserve it and stop letting wrong people keep getting ahead of others so that they can manipulate the system. Hard work needs to be praised and hardly working needs to stop!

Death is the reality of life…I say this because it is what I feel to be true and it is also a big part of my own life experiences.  Everything else is there as well in life but it’s not real and will end one day. My reality might differ from your reality which is true as well. All of us keep on acting as if we will be alive until eternity not paying attention to the clock which is ticking and is part of our unique life story’s ending. We all have to die, no one will be alive forever. Some might outlive others but will definitely leave this earth, the world and the life as we know it at some point definitely. Why not try to make life worthwhile by making sure we do some good while we are alive and able?!

It doesn’t take much to do good, even a simple smile, hi or helping hand can make a big difference to someone else’s day. It is like a chain reaction, every good deed makes someone else want to do good deeds and every bad deed makes a person take it out on someone else. I know people say and feel that all the actions are in a person’s own hands and yet it is also true that if we feel good than we feel like doing good and if we feel bad, chances are pretty high that we will not feel like doing good for anyone else as well.

Start today and spread the kindness. Start with yourself, your family and loved ones and after that move onto strangers. Imagine today is your last day and decide how can you try to make it your best day yet…go ahead, I dare you but I also believe in you!

Peace…

Uzma!

I was born in Karachi, Pakistan. Growing up, I was a dreamer and lived in a world of my own. I was the youngest of four, I had two brothers and one sister. I wanted to be happy and loved reading books, loved listening to anyone reading books to me. Life was all about playing outdoors, with my siblings or by myself digging into things and trying to find all the stuff that I imagined existed somewhere.

My father was in Navy and my mother was a stay at home mother. She was my first teacher and taught me all the letters of alphabet, both in my native language (Urdu) as well as in English. She taught me all the numbers etc. so that by the time I was about to start school, I was very well prepared and was given admission to the school right away. Unlike US and Canada, you had to know some basic stuff before you could be given admission to a school. I was super excited to start school because I grew up watching my three sibling get ready and leave for school every day. I felt left out as they would leave…no more…now I would be doing the very same thing.

We had to wear uniforms in our school, I had to accompany my parents to certain shops which carried the uniform for our particular school. I so enjoyed getting the uniform the first time and each consecutive time after. The new shoes, the hair ribbons which had to be a certain colour for each individual school as well.

I loved talking, chatting and hence made many friends. I was confident and teachers liked giving me responsibilities such as assigning me class monitor job and later the school monitor. Life seemed pretty good…seemed pretty normal…seemed happy!!!

My name is Uzma R. Saeed. I am a teacher by profession, by chance or by accident…I can’t decide. I remember still being in College..I was going to a Business school in the evening and to a Government college in the morning so I would get my B.A in Education, Psychology and Islamic Studies. One of my friends had a job interview one day and asked if I wanted to come along?! I was curious and bored since I believe we were having some kind of break and hence said yes, of course!

As I drove with her in her chauffeur-driven car to her interview, I was listening to her and looking out the window trying to figure out why I had said yes. I could not decide exactly why I had done so when we reached the destination. It was a school and for the life of me, I cannot remember if she had already told me she had an interview at the school. Anyways, we walked in and were seated quickly and quietly outside the principal’s office waiting for my friend’s turn. We didn’t have to wait for too long, soon someone came out inviting my friend to come inside. They looked at me and asked if I was there for an interview as well. I laughed it off and replied that, “No, I was just there to support my friend”.

A short while later, they approached me again. I believe it was after my friend had her interview already. They said I should just try to have an interview at least and get an idea of what it felt like to be interviewed. I decided that yes, that sounded like an okay idea and went inside the office. The two ladies introduced themselves and also let me know what there job tittles were…one of them was the principal and the other was the vice principal of the school. They asked me various questions and also asked one very interesting question. Well, at least I thought it was interesting…they asked, “Would you take the job if we didn’t offer a job to your friend?”. Without hesitation, I said, “No…I would never do that to my friend”.

They hired both of us!!!

🙂 🙂