To All the [influential?] people i've encountered before

Hello. Long time no post? Yes, I know, I am sorry. In my last post, I resolved to post more often than I had been. And then I proceeded to not post anything for two years. I have nothing to say to explain my neglect except for maybe COVID happened, but it's still no excuse. Please just forgive me?

Anyways, I recently watched the super sappy movie 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' and started reflecting on my own life after that. So, perhaps, we can say that this post has been inspired from that movie and is in fact, a spin-off from it. I actually got to thinking about love and who all falls within the category of being a loved one in my heart, personally. And honestly, that is a lot of people. And I don't mean to make that sound like "wow, I have so many people in my life that I love and give my heart out to," so just hear me out for a second.

Love doesn't have to be about intimacy. Love doesn't even have to be towards people you like or get along with. I may be an odd one out in this particular notion of mine but I love even those who have brought harm to me. I'll say that again: I love even those people who have affected my life in the worst way possible. Why, you ask? Bear with me a bit and I'll tell you.

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You may have heard the common adage, "Hating people takes too much energy." I cannot argue with this statement at all, it holds a lot of truth, I also believe hatred takes more energy than just breaking ties. However, in the short-term, it takes A LOT more energy and effort to love people. 

I say this after 27 years of a life full of giving and giving and sometimes being walked all over on. Personally, I am a very loving person. I see the good in people, even when they have wronged me in the past. I choose to see the positives in them rather than honing in on the negative things they have done to me. Thus, even when I get upset at someone and feel a strong need to hate them, I force myself to stop feeling hatred and send over prayers and blessings their way instead. And to me, that does save me from being a sinner by hating someone. But at the same time, they then have a place in my heart. I think most people would agree that prayers come from the heart and if you are sending blessings and praying for someone, then that means they have at least a little bit of real estate in your heart. Thus, while hating someone does burn a lot of your energy, I feel that it is much, much tougher and energy-consuming to love someone since they then have a piece of your heart and to an extent, they hold some sort of power over you.

However, regardless of this belief of mine that there is more energy consumed with love, I still have love to give. And it's not because I am keen on losing all my energy. It's because all of what I just said is small picture and short-term. There is still that caveat—in the short-term, there is more energy consumed with love than there is with hatred. So what is it that we should do when someone brings so much harm to us that we, in all logical senses, should hate them? Well, as a start, we probably should forgive them and move on. Not because they deserve to be forgiven or anything, because, frankly, they don't deserve it. However, we forgive and move on because it is better for our own physical and mental sanity to do so. By doing so, not only do we place ourselves on a higher level than them, but we also allow ourselves more brain space to focus on becoming the best versions of ourselves rather than using that space to formulate plans of revenge or what-have-you. 

So join me today in resolving to become the best versions of ourselves. Instead of hating, let us send prayers and blessings their way. Instead of hating, let us send love their way. Let us kill them with kindness rather than kill both of us with hatred. After all, while hatred and love both take energy in the short-term, in the long-term, love is the only one of those that has a return on investment. Because love is the only one of those two that also gives energy. By being creatures of love, we re-energize ourselves. And such rejuvenation is worth sacrificing the short-term gain, if any, we could get from hating someone. 

The last thing I want to end today's post with is by announcing a new series of posts that I am planning as a spin-off from the movie I mentioned at the start of this blogpost. I will be spreading my love to all that I have encountered in my life that have influenced my life, whether it be in a positive or negative way. This will keep me accountable as well, since I will now be posting more often rather than posting and then taking a break for one or two years. Each post in this series will focus on each person or group of people. It will hit all the major time periods of my life. 

Time periods:
A: Ages 0-8 years old (Living in Pakistan)
B: Ages 8-14 years old (In the United States until middle school)
C: Ages 14-17 years old (high school)
D: Ages 17-21 (undergraduate)
E: Ages 21-24 (career-building)
F: Ages 24-present (marriage and current time)

I will be going from the beginning of my life until present-time. For example, the next post will be person A1: the first person who was influential during time period A. It will continue with person A2, A3, and so on and so forth until I reach time period B. Then B1 will start followed by B2, B3, and so on. I won't take any names, just to protect the privacy of those who I will be referring to. All I will do is send blessings and prayers for being a part of my life, regardless of how long said person or people were in my life for. I will send my love to them for shaping my life into what it is now. Because, truth be told, I am very grateful for the life I am living. I wouldn't ask God for it to be any other way. Stay tuned for the series!

Until then.
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Hakuna Matata ✌️➕❤️
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