Dedicated to The Late Paul Walker — Gone Too Soon

On the first Anniversary of Paul Walkers Untimely death, I wrote a poem for him a year ago.

Here it is again.

Dedicated to The Late Paul Walker — Gone Too Soon
By: Talin Orfali

Sometimes I Think to Myself on How Unfair Life Is,
Wondering How I am going to get through this.
Asking Myself why great people have to leave us?
Wanting to know the answer is why I am making a fuss.

Paul Walker Gone too soon from all of us,
To some, the News Felt like we got hit by a bus,
That feeling of mourning will take longer,
but for the Sake of Paul we must learn to be stronger

Our Blue Eyed Paul, Has Turned into Ashes,
We don’t realize how quick our life Flashes,
Paul Has now entered into heavens Gate,
Who knew, that this would be his final Fate?

Our Sweet Paul has gained his beautiful wings,
but we all know that this news really stings,
He is no longer with us on this earth,
but We know the great things he has done since birth,

Oh Paul How can life go on without you?
We have no choice but to pull through,
We know your life from us was cut too short
which has put a lot people out of sort,

Paul we didn’t get the chance to meet,
but I can look above and have that chance to greet,
You will always live on in our hearts forever,
This is not a goodbye, its see you later,
Gone too Soon Paul Gone to Soon.

Sahlab – Salep — Middle Eastern Sweet Beverage

Sahlab, Salep is a type of middle eastern sweet beverage that is served hot. You can top it with cinnamon and serve it. You can also put raisins in it as well and drink and eat the raisins. With the winter upon us and the cold weather has arrived, this is a great thing to drink in a cold winters night. I was introduced to this a few years back going to my Armenian Bible study. We would usually have cookies, and snacks for after bible study sessions, so a few times Sahlab, Salep was made by the women’s guild group of the church and we would enjoy 2nd even 3rd servings of it. They would make so much that everyone got seconds and 3rds. It is so delicious.

The ingredients are Skimmed Milk or Water
Salep Flour
Sugar
Rose Water
Cinnamon
Coconut

In Specialty Grocery stores and middle eastern stores, they sell the ready mixed ingredient packages, you just add the milk or water to it and it becomes Sahleb, Salep, however you want to call it. Many countries and regions have different names for it which have different spellings and pronunciations. Sometimes all you need is a warm beverage to satisfy your sweet tooth and just enough for cold days. Who says you cannot have it in the spring and summer also. Its a good thing to have all year round. It is yummy, delicious and you will keep wanting more of it.

Enjoy and bon apetit!

My Internet and Social Media Favourites

In the last little while, I have ventured off in the internet and social media sites in particular Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and I have found some really funny places on the internet. When I am having a bad day, and sometimes when I just feel like looking for some funny websites with memes and funny sayings and everything, I look for Some of these:

– The Grumpy Cat
– The Oatmeal
– The Chive
– The Onion
– I don’t always, but when I do Memes from Dos Equis
– Relatable
– Brace Yourselves Memes
– Funny Quotes
– Buzzfeed
– Aunty Acid
– Funny Ecards
– Rotten Ecards
– Funny youtube Videos, Vines, Small Clips
– Some Ecards
Others, but It can’t come to my mind right now, however Whatever comes to my mind at that time I want to find, It always makes my day. I love it. I really enjoy those sites. I always look at what makes me laugh. Do you enjoy looking at them yourself, or do you like to enjoy looking at them with family and friends? I love it when I am alone sometimes and with people too.

What are your favourites?

Has Television lost its way?

In the last little while I have not tuned into watching television much and somehow it doesn’t interest me anymore like it used to. So many years back I was glued to it, watching so many different shows and everything else, however recently, something is preventing me from touching the remote control and resorting to social media and getting my news from the internet, communicating online, as well as how busy my life has become outside the virtual world.

Now the question is, has television lost its way? I seem to think so. Nowadays, there isn’t quality content like there used to be. Before this whole stream of reality shows, violence, adult content, coarse language, discretion advised warnings and the string of nothing but bad news has been broadcasted and I just cannot seem to watch anymore of it. I probably spend about an hour or 2 a week watching television with the exception of a few special shows which make me tune in a bit longer, however after that it becomes boring, repetitive and then my TV is shut off. A lot of bad influences come from television and the shows being produced now. Things that teens, children, youth and young adults are tuning in and that is where it becomes dangerous. They think and see it on television, so they thing its alright to do it in real life.

Back before even the 70’s, 80’s, early 90’s, you’d see great quality family values always being implemented, you’d see clean and very well thought of shows that you never got bored of, people were entertained for hours watching their favourite icons play their part, you’d see appropriate clothing, appropriate topics discussed and teaching life lessons to people of all walks of life, things that never offended or hurt anyone, shows that are still discussed up until today from people who grew up in those years.

There is just a couple of good things that are on television now, like the game shows and a few of those sitcoms, award shows, and special events. That is all I tune into. Do you think that TV has certainly changed in the last 20-25 years? I think so. I think it is getting worse and not better. I am glad the TV show reruns are showing at least.

Do you give yourself a time limit to watch?

I’d rather do something more productive like writing, communicating with friends and family, going out, cleaning, cooking, going out to the malls, going out seeing people, doing more hands on crafts, reading, being on the internet and learning so many new things, making new friends online, and so much more.

Do you watch television much? Do you tend to stay away from it?
What are your thoughts?

The Expert Travel Packer – As I am Known To Be

for the last 22+ years of traveling to many destinations, and the countless amounts of times of packing a suitcase has really become nothing for me now. I have another title now, which is “The Expert Travel Packer”. I really enjoy packing and it is one of my favourite things to do to believe it or not. I am known to be organized very well with everything, so packing comes very easy for me. I learned how to pack my own suitcase when I was 7-8 years old. It was fun to do with the supervision of my mom of course, and then after a couple of travels, I began to do it all on my own without the help of anybody, from then I learned how to do everything.

With air travel sometimes there can be this odor in the luggage that seeps in from the baggage storage areas and transporting the baggage to the aircraft, so I buy fabric softener nice smelling sheets, and I scatter them around the baggage, underneath, in the middle of the clothes and a little bit on the top. You open it up and your whole luggage smells nice and fresh, then you can pack some dryer sheets in a small plastic lock bag and then use new ones upon your return.

There is nothing to packing. It does take some practice and a little ingenuity, but everything is quite simple to do.

A couple of days ago a great family friend asked me for packing and travel advice, so I went over to pack suitcases and saved a lot of space and made sure everything is packed neatly, tightly and organized. I did all the packing within an hour. not even. If you have any questions and ideas of how to pack your suitcase with everything that you want to know, especially when it comes to toiletries and bottles with liquids in it and you do not want them to spill out or anything, please do not hesitate to ask me on tips and tricks and I will gladly explain it to you.

The Purpose of Blogging – Why do we do it?

In the past few blog posts with the subject of communication and along the lines of what is relative to that, the way we feel, how we get our words and points across to the world and how we do it to reach out to others, and to share with the world our points of view, opinions, suggestions, to raise awareness on issues, to advertise, promote, social issues, recipes, tips, organizational ideas, simplifying life and so much more. We all have our own perspective and our own purpose when blogging and writing about our life. The question is why do we do it? Why do we spend time with writing? Why do we post our blog entries?

To answer those questions is quite simple. We all have a voice and existence in this world and there is just so many stories, journeys, experiences, moments, memories, being helpful, useful and beneficial information about life, travel, food, the holidays, situations, issues to address to the world and things that happen to us to share, to give our insight, and so much more. We spend time writing is because it gives us a boost, and the most important thing is how we feel, and how we want to communicate to the world. Blogging is a therapeutic yet rewarding feeling. It is like writing in our diary, but a virtual diary that we want to post public. We post blog entries to contribute something, an idea and something to share with the world.

Now with this being a virtual diary, there comes responsibility and thinking before we press the post button. There are private issues and things that should not be published of real private matters in ones home, in ones personal life. back in the day and maybe until now people have a personal and private diary, and I am sure you do not want certain people to open it up and unlock your diary of real personal things that you do not want people to see, its almost like the same thing with public blogging. You do not want to post private matters for the world to see, so always be mindful and think before you post something so personal.

Never keep your blogging private. It defeats the whole purpose of writing and expressing to the world. If you want to keep some of your writings private, make a diary, and keep it for yourself in hiding, but hiding a blog is pointless. Somehow no matter how private a blog is, somehow it can always be seen in a way.

Never stop blogging, never stop writing and most importantly never lose your purpose and perspective on why you started blogging in the first place. Never give up what you enjoy doing, never ever let anybody tell you to stop doing what you are good at. Well, nobody is perfect, however that should not define anything. You are in control of your own destiny, your own goals you want to attain from blogging and writing to the world. Remember you do not have to be a perfect blogger, its how you feel and what you want to accomplish. The beauty of blogging is something that is indescribable and the future of journal writing which is now.

So, what is your purpose? Why do you do it?

Communication Style – What is your Type?

As we go through life from the moment we are born, communication is and will always be a vital asset in our day-to-day lives. We need communication when we speak to our family members, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, partners, groups, friends, colleagues, our bosses, fellow students, teachers, traveling, in social media, sending e-mails and so many different types of communication.

I attended a seminar “Inspire For Tomorrow” at my Armenian Community center and it was about communication, and I learned so much in a couple of hours. It put things into a new perspective, it gave me new light, new ways to deliver our speech, our stories, and so much more. There are several ways you can communicate, but here are 4 styles of communication, that I have observed in my life and my thoughts on it all:

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– The Driver — Someone who is direct, to the point, detail oriented, who speaks their mind, who produces results, attaining goals, gets into competitive situations, taking charge and being in control, wasting no time to beat around the bush.

– The Relater — Someone who cares about a situation, who can connect with others by thinking of the other person first, who’s relationships and friendships mean the world to a person, someone who is relaxed, and feel cared for, becoming silent, introspective and withdrawn, being helpful, coinciding with others, comforting others.

– Analyst — One who always seeks data, second guesses people, making decisions after analyzing a situation, testing people, giving people to focus on interpersonal and communication skills, those who despise making mistakes, double-checking everything, not being able to trust situations and people until doing further research on a person.

– Expresser — Someone who recognizes emotions, who expresses feelings, and what that person wants to say, the over sharing person who keeps on talking, and beats around the bush, making a small story into a big one, gets excited, giving feedback, boring people because of overusing communication, explaining ideas to the core then saying things out of turn which then makes it into an argument and problems can arise of sharing too much information.

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All those 4 styles have good and the bad, but we must find a way to be consistent when we communicate with others, using the right tone, words, following up with someone privately about something that you feel is gone wrong, not announcing it in a public, group setting, taking up issues with the person directly, instead of involving others in the mix. People will appreciate it when someone brings the other person to the side and discuss with them a problem, situation or something going on, then finding a solution to the problem, solving whatever issue, and finding the right words, tone to express those feelings.

We must always think about how we are going to present ourselves, no matter where you are, whether it is about self-regard, being assertive, emotional self-awareness, self-actualization, independence. It could be a beautiful thing, but it is in the way we utilize it all.

Communication is a never-ending learning process, and nobody is perfect and makes mistakes, however to always learn from them and progressing to do better, to improve in relationships, friendships, is something that is imperative. If you believe you have made a mistake, do not worry, focus on the future and make it better, improve the way you speak to others, always ask for advice, always have a mentor, someone whom you can talk to a person whom you can trust if you are unsure of how to deal with a situation if you are unsure yourself. It is always good to ask, then to stay silent.

Always be confident, express your ideas to others, be in communication, always tell a person how you feel about something without offending them. There is always a way to go around it. How do you normally handle situations that are presented to you? What have you learned from it all?

Why is communicating and expressing yourself so important? Everyone has a voice, everyone has something to contribute to the world, that is why everyday in technology, and things of the world are being invented, new innovations, new concepts, context, perspectives, theories, discoveries are being made across the world, because many people communicate, and want to get out what they feel is right for the benefit of the world and its people. Each one of us can make a difference in this world, and communication is one of them and we begin just doing that. Without that everyone would not have a voice and this world cannot continue to move forward. That is exactly why Communication is key and so important in our daily life.

So no matter how we express ourselves, the most important thing is the way we do it and a way where it will not hurt others, and where we can find common ground with everything in our lives.

How do you communicate? What is important to you to get across to others? Best wishes to you in your journey. We can all do something positive, say great things and to avoid messy situations, by just changing our tone and the way we communicate.

Never Apologize for The Way You Feel

A lot of the times in life we go through many feelings, emotions, and sometimes we tend to apologize for what we are feeling and telling people our emotions. You have every right to feel what you are feeling, You never have to explain yourself to anybody. Never be ashamed of your feelings. I know they say that you have to express your feelings everytime and tell people exactly how you feel, however sometimes you cannot control feelings, you cannot explain the way you feel due to a certain situation. I know no matter what you have to tell someone how you feel, and not keep anything inside of you, but some circumstances say otherwise. It depends on the person and whom you can confide into easily.

If you keep on living your life on other peoples terms and the way they want you to feel, the way they want you to live your life always telling you what to do, forcing, commanding you to do something is not somebody you want to associate with. Find the path and the people who can relate to you, do what you feel is right for you. Sometimes you need to get out from the norm, and do what is best for you. If you keep on living your life to please others, to always try and impress others, to always keep proving yourself and working hard for other peoples approval, you are not going to get anywhere in life and all you are going to do is just live for other people.

Sometimes you need to put your foot down and say, okay enough is enough. People talk so much about you and your life, gossip, spread rumors, put words in your mouth and what you should do with your life, however sometimes people need to look at themselves in the mirror first before they point fingers, criticize and belittle you. Some people have nothing better to do, than talk smack about other people, when they need to sort out their life and what they need to do. Remember nobody full knows you and about your personal life and what you are going through, and you never have to explain yourself to nobody.

Ignore people who talk so much bogus about you, and ignore people and block them out of your life. Life is too short. Be happy, be you, live your life on your own terms and your own comfort, and do not worry about anything else. People are always going to judge and point fingers. Don’t let it affect you and your life, well-being and who you are. True, compassionate and understanding people will be there for you every step of the way without explaining yourself. Remember others opinions of you, do no matter. Its how you make an opinion of yourself that matters. As long as you feel good about yourself and bring yourself up with good thoughts, confidence, the way you are is what matters the most.

People will always do and say mean things, but never let that take control of yourself.

I have realized a lot of things in the last little while, that you cannot expect people to understand you, your feelings and be on the same page as you, not everybody will be your friend and agree with you. I recommend that people should never stop being themselves, be who you are, feel what you want to feel. In the end we are all human beings in this world, we do make mistakes, we do wrong in social issues, we tend to sometimes associate with people whom we always have to try to fit in, do things to stay in the loop, however you never need to try to fit in, try so hard, and try to stand out, because there will be people who will appreciate you for you and there will be people who will love and cherish you and the memories shared and will share in the present and the future.

Wishing you the best with everything and remember never apologize for the way you feel. Always be thankful and just go on with life. There is only so much you can do and life will never give you more than you can handle.

The Benefits of Writing and Blogging in Social Media

All of us in this life have something special and incredible to contribute to this world, and whatever it is, each and everyone of us are gifted with something great. In this day in age with social media, blogging, writing and contributing to the digital world with our thoughts, words, feelings, emotions, issues, and other things is something so fabulous and the rewarding feeling of stepping out to social media and the benefits from it all is something that some people do not realize what an impact an individual puts on other people reading and engaging into peoples blog sites.

There are people always searching for something, and it is quite easy to get to a website/blog that has the topics that person is looking for when blogs are put as public and visible to search engines which I recommend people do, because what is the point of writing a blog to keep it private? I truly believe that when you sign up to write a blog, it is imperative to post it as public. There can be people reading the blog and then offer insight, comments, recipes, interests, music, about family, friendships, world issues, topics, hobbies, health, love, organization ideas, notes, tips, travel and so much more. You just need to moderate comments coming to your blog and everything will be alright.

The benefits of writing and blogging is something that is very important to me and my life. I have been writing for 12 years now, and so many articles written for my local community, for websites, for other social media sites among my WordPress blog of course. I saw so many benefits from it from not only engaging into other peoples blogs, and following people, but it makes the world a much smaller place and easy to interact and reach out to other people.

You do not need to be the perfect writer, or have the most perfect blog, you do not need to be 100% in your Blog writings, it is however you feel the need to write your blog and how you know it, how you want to express yourself to other people. Just make sure that your blog and what you write is something that you should always be careful and think about before pressing the submit, send, post button. Also with Social Media comes the social responsibility of the content we post, and what to post. Always use your discretion and if you are unsure about posting something, do not post it.

Enjoy your blogging journey, take in the benefits. You never know who stops by your blog, it can be someone famous, professors, preachers, and whoever is looking for information, inspiration, positivity, or whatever their heart desires. It is an amazing journey to go through. Even if you cannot blog everyday, no matter how many times you write, its amazing. There is no time limit or rules. Besides you make your own rules when it comes to your blog, but like I said use disrection and make wise decisions on what to post, and you will see the benefits soaring and you will see a whole new world to social media and blogging.

We are all in this together, we all have something to contribute and to share around the world. We all have different perspectives, opinions, suggestions, advice, feelings, emotions and so much more to give. Once we join social media, blogging, and the virtual/digital world, we can always do something fabulous with it, make a difference in this world and making everyone welcome to it. It is the way we handle it and the way we control it.

Blogging is a beautiful and incredible thing. Thank you to my fans, supporters, family, friends and so many others. Without my readers, blogging would not be possible. So again I say thank you.

Just have fun with it, do what you do, and enjoy the benefits of your social media journey through blogging and much more. many best wishes to you all.

Ways that We Can End The Cycle of Bullying

Since I was a child up until High School, I was emotionally and mentally bullied and I know what it is like to be hurt so badly, being put down, always making fun of me because I was different then everyone else and it was the most toughest times of my life. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t have what others had when they were with each other in groups when I felt left out and being an outcast 99.9% of the time. They were moments that I will never forget, no matter if I have moved on or not. It sticks with you, however I have learned to live past it and began doing positive things in life, to move forward and to stop dwelling on the past. I have been taking a lot of new approaches to this matter and I am going to begin my own social group where people come together from all walks of life and make new friends, interact with others and just figure things out, hear other peoples perspectives on social issues.

There is always a solution and some form of ways to end this terrible cycle going on. Bullying is a very serious problem and it does need to be rectified as soon as possible. It is enough of torment, disgusting behavior that needs to be addressed quickly before it escalates even further.

Now here are ways that we can all come forward to end bullying:

– Creating small, intimate, or large social groups amongst you’re community for those who want to make friends and gather together to create a lovely group of individuals who can relate to one another, creating activities, discussing issues, doing fun, interactive, communication, group work.

– In this modern day society the importance of making it a mandatory course/subject that must be taken and taught in schools and institutions, also the workforce on the prevention of bullying, cyber bullying, social media safety, communications course which should teach students/workers what not to do, what not to say to their fellow peers/colleagues.

– Teachers, Parents, Guardians, School Guidance Staff, School Principals, and as well as outside of school grounds must always be involved in securing our schools, Implementing tougher penalties, more 0 Tolerance in Schools and also the workforce of any type of bullying that should not be allowed, suspension and expulsion.

– tell a person you trust about your feelings, what you are going through and never keep it inside you. Always tell someone you can confide into. Do not wait long to tell someone. In fact tell someone right away.

– Advocate and be proactive in this issue, write to your local papers, attend meetings, start a blog, use social media as a powerful tool to send messages, hashtags globally and come up with your own ways to prevent bullying

– Read up on inspirational quotes, save them on your computer, print them out and scatter positive, happy quotes where you can see them easily, and begin the journey to a happy road ahead.

– Always surround yourself with positivity, good people, do happy things for yourself, and stay away from negativity.

We are on the right road and path to make bullying history, and to look forward to a positive, happy and bright tomorrow. So start today, you can make a difference in someone’s life. No matter how old they are. Bullying has no age as it happens to kids, teens, young adults, youth, adults, and the elderly. Lets end this cycle now.

— If you have more ways to prevent bullying, write them below in the comments section. Thank you.

The Beginning of My Own Social Group of Positivity

Hi Everyone,

This has been on my mind for quite a while now, Every 2 weeks in the Toronto Area GTA(Greater Toronto Area), I want to gather a group together to discuss modern day issues, social issues, those who have been bullied, struggling with second guessing things and not being able to trust easily, How no one is perfect and making mistakes in our lives in social issues is proof that you are trying and bettering yourself for the present and for the future.

The purpose of this group is to strive for courage, positivity, growth and optimism about life, building confidence in speaking out, getting together to make new friends, meeting people from different paths in life and getting to know each other, accepting each other for who each person is, to share ideas and more.

I am not perfect as I have made mistakes too, however those mistakes should not define who a person is, because in the end we’re human. Life is too short to dwell on past mistakes. Especially in social settings. You live and learn. Thoughts on Moving forward, learning lessons in life, reading encouraging, inspirational quotes, and discussing about the deeper meaning to them. being positive and moving on with life is very important as were heading to that direction. Not backwards.

In the coming weeks, I will be working on setting up a place to gather around, which day to gather and so on and so forth. So if you are in the Toronto, Canada area and vicinity and would like to join in, would love to have you and to meet you. This is very important to me, I am passionate about making a better tomorrow for everyone, and gathering people together is what it is all about. I am anticipating, looking forward to a great turn out of people, and to make a difference.

 

Check back soon on the dates, times and the location of the gathering.

Hopefully I will get to meet some of my readers as well.

What are your thoughts? Do you think its a great idea to meet every 2 weeks? Or should this be a weekly event?

I want to Learn More Languages

Since I have been traveling in my life many times, especially in Spanish-speaking countries and tropical places, for many years now, I want to learn and perfect Spanish. As I go to all-inclusive resorts and I speak basic Spanish with the workers there and the locals when I leave the resort to go shopping and meet people on the streets, I want to take courses and learn Spanish from the internet as well, so as I can communicate with them with no language barriers. I only go as far as How Are you, Hello, hope all is well and all that, as well as saying thank you, However I am learning more and more as I go to these Spanish-speaking countries which is something that makes me feel awesome.

I think the more languages you know the better it is. I know 3 languages now which is Armenian, English and a lot of French. I want to learn different dialects of Spanish as well, and Arabic, German and a few others, however I want to begin with Spanish. I love to learn new things all the time and discover the world and have a universal language.

Knowing different languages and about the world, geography, and everything is so important to me. I love being aware of the world, and what goes on, and where countries are, what they speak and everything. It is so intriguing, and interesting to know. I just do not get involved in my own country and everything, I like to broaden my horizons and know the world, study maps, and places, which is why when I go somewhere I learn it right away and I am so observant about the streets and everything. All it takes is one time for me, and everything else falls into place.

It is also good to know more languages because then when you are somewhere and you hear people talking, you can understand what they say. Hopefully it will not be bad and something terrible said about me or anything. I remember one time I was in a store and I was going through the aisles, then I started talking in my language, Armenian not knowing the people in the same aisle were also Armenian, so I spoke with my mom and asked her in my language if you want to get this and what were going to use it for, then automatically both of those people said, OH Your Armenian? We said yes, then we began speaking to each other, then we became instant friends. Thank goodness we did not say anything bad or whatever, that would have been so awkward and it would not have been a good thing, so were always careful.

That is why it is always a good idea to always speak good things or whatever else that is not about the people around you in your own languages, because you never know, they may know the same language, and be of the same race, and then if something bad is said, it will not be a good thing. I truly believe that learning languages is an incredible thing. Many people find employment as translators and then they find many new opportunities and make a lot of money, they travel and do so much. I really should have gotten into that a long time ago, but it’s not too late. 🙂

How many languages do you know?

I Have Found My Mentor, My Guardian Angel

Since joining the social media world and more particularly Facebook, I have come across incredible, awesome and lovely people. Some whom I have met face to face, and some I have yet to meet. We are always in constant communication which is so lovely. It is great to encounter and chat with people, to make friends and to be in a total new interface of communication taking it to the next level. Once you meet a friend you met through a social media outlet face to face, its such a great experience that knowing you kept talking to that person with your fingers doing the typing, and now seeing them is a total different ball game. It is awesome how the world gets smaller.

However, there is this one person whom I have been friends with for about 3-4 years now, and we communicate on a weekly basis and, the reason why I call that person my mentor and guardian angel is because that person is one, which I am so glad to have met also. My guardian angel told me to never let anybody get to you, never let others belittle you and bring you down. That person has told me to always be happy in life, keep smiling, enjoy, laugh and live life to the fullest extent. Life is too short to be sad and dwell on the past.

At one point I had to open up to someone about what I am feeling and all those miserable feelings of that past that kept on haunting me with all that bullying toward me and everything going on when I was growing up. It was not a pleasant thing to go through with my peers at school emotionally and mentally bullying me to the point where I was not able to defend myself, with not being able to stand up for myself and back myself up in situations that I could not control. I just did not have the answers. Then those answers came to me and my mentor really came to me at the right place and at the right time. Everything was so timely. I just couldn’t believe it, but it did happen and its something I am ever so grateful for.

This person said to me, to never worry about what others think of me, as long as what you think of yourself which is the most important thing. That person said the more you worry and care about what others think, that is time wasted, when you could be focusing on positive, optimistic things and look forward to a beautiful life that is meant to be lived on your own terms, not anybody elses.

My mentor and guardian angel put my head back up and told me to be strong, to keep my head up, smile and not care about what people think of me. That person helped me in so many ways that I do not know and how to begin to even thank that person for everything that person said and did for me. I truly believe that each and every one of us has a mentor and guardian angel. We just have to look deeper and that person will come to our lives as a blessing, becomes like family and someone whom we can share everything with.

My guardian angel sent me so many quotes about life, about positivity, and giving me lectures and life lessons. This person has been through so much and now my mentor said to me, “I enjoy making people smile, to have a good time, to bring joy and happiness to kids, to youth, to young adults, and everyone”. That person said to me “Smiles are priceless to me” it does not come with a price tag. – I truly believe in that and its something that I find so warming, so pure and genuine.

Now, the reason why I am not naming my Guardian Angel, My Mentor and even the gender of this person is that I like my Guardian Angel to remain anonymous. My Mentor will forever be part of my life and its one of the greatest feelings in the world to know that someone genuinely cares for you with no strings attached. It feels amazing.

It is incredible on how the internet and social media can serve a great purpose in life. It helps people find other people in relative to their situation, it helps people find their way in life and listening, reading, observing and doing great things. Not everything in social media is bad. It is all in the way you utilize it. Some skeptics always have something bad to say about social media and the people you meet, but it is really not a bad thing at all. Who knows who you encounter. There are still some great people out there for each and every one of us to discover. Sometimes it can be hard to find, but sometimes everything can fall into place and we can find that person just in time as I did. I am ever so grateful for social media and the internet Because I found my mentor and Guardian Angel.

A New Beginning to a New Perspective on Life

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about life, where I stand and the time of whom I spend it with and among doing things for myself and the betterment of me and my future. Life is tough sometimes and we have to find ourselves and look forward to new beginnings and a whole new perspective on life to close a chapter and begin a new one. I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks just analyzing everything going on. You how they say everything happens for a reason. I truly believe in that.

I am very excited and enthusiastic about what my future holds from now. As I had stated a few blog posts ago on how I am getting back into the Armenian community, how I am joining in on events, getting to know people, making new friends, new beginnings. in the last couple of weeks or more, I have been going to a local Coffee shop and I met some really nice Armenian people who go there and every time I go, they are so welcoming, they say hello, and automatically I join them. It feels so great to be there with them and enjoy my couple of hours with them. We laugh, talk, and do our daily ramblings about our lives. It feels incredible.

I have been so bullied in my life when I was growing up in school from when I was in Kindergarten, almost everyone looked at me differently, which to this day I cannot understand the reasons why and with that result, you find it more difficult to trust people, you second guess, and still think everyone is against you. It is extremely difficult sometimes to find closure from unfortunate events that occurred in life, however you think to yourself, how much longer can you do this for? How much more of this can I absolutely take?

Sometimes you have to let go of those unfortunate feelings you have and move forward in life. The only way to find closure, to get a new perspective on life is to move on and to wake up to smell the roses. Take some time for yourself and think things through and just go with the flow. Sometimes you feel like you always need people around you, but you need to spend time alone by yourself to fully think things through.

As long as you have very few friends and your family to count on, the foundation and beam of support from loved ones and those whom you can absolutely trust, confide in is all you really need. When you feel that you no longer second guess things and finally find peace and harmony, everything else will fall into place. Not only socially, but for success, a career choice and so much more. I realize that life is too short, and its really important to always think forward and leave the past where it is. I am learning to never let the past define me of who I am today.

I am absolutely positive and happy about the new findings in life and I look forward to the many plans and goals I have made to achieve them, to strive for success, to get out there and make myself known, to do many things that I have put on hold. I am confident and optimistic about everything. I cannot wait to share it with you all and update on my success and hard work that has taken me to climb that ladder once and again.

Everyone can contribute something wonderful and worthwhile in life. Sometimes circumstances and things come up last minute that it may take longer, but however long it may take, do it. There is no time limit. Its what you feel and how you feel is the importance of everything. Have you recently taken a new perspective on life? Did you start your new beginning? How is it going? Best wishes to you and may you find your calling. What is your story?

Second Time Around for First Time Around Prices

In the last few years, I discovered second time around stores, so I decided to go into the store and see what the hype is all about. There is an array of second hand items donated to the store such as clothing, fashion accessories, shoes, home decor, kitchen stuff, books, cds, movies, bathroom stuff, furniture, organizational boxes, necklaces, handbags, baggage, hats, toys, kids clothes, pillows, blankets, towels, seasonal items, and so much more. These stores are great for anyone who is interested in buying used products or whatever that person is interested in.

Although I support and fully recognize the greatness of these stores, however there are some stores, that sell second time around items for first time around prices. I think that when people donate things to those stores, things customers buy should not exceed more than 5 dollars. Books, Movies should not be over 2 dollars, clothing should be under 5 dollars or less per item, and everything else should be priced more reasonably.

I’ve heard in the last little while, that second time around thrift store customers are complaining that things are so pricey than the regular box stores, and charge more for items. It is ridiculous. Some said that we are regular customers but as of today, we won’t be shopping here anymore very often. I know that things are getting expensive, and prices are increasing, however there is no excuse on charging people 25 dollars for a handbag, or 10 dollars for a pair of jeans, or 8 dollars for a pair of shoes. I know these thrift stores need to make money too for rent of the place and to pay its employees, however second time around stores are there for a reason to be more convenient and to recycle items which can be used by another person.

I fully support the recycling of clothing, and stuff, but things should be priced a bit more reasonable, so that people can actually buy things. I heard many people in the aisles saying, I am not pay 8 bucks for a top that has slightly faded. If they give it to me for 2-3 dollars, I will take it. Sometimes at the checkout cash they can be reasonable by lowering the price, but sometimes they do not which is not good.

I know a lot of people may be afraid to shop at these stores because another person who wears the clothing, and uses things can transmit bacteria and all that, however when you wash and disinfect stuff that you buy, you will be fine. I shop there once in a while and sometimes find good deals, so I buy them, wash them out thoroughly and then wear or use them.

Do you shop at Second time around stores? Have you noticed an increase in prices? What do you think about these thrift stores? Would you ever shop at them or are you curious about what you will see in those stores?