Close to 40

Just one more sleep and it's my birth month! How time flies quickly, with another decade to end, another chapter in my life to be written. Looking back, the most significant things in my life happened in my third chapter... fell so hard out of and in love... found my match... got pregnant... gave birth... got married... got in and out of the hospital because of some health problems... established sisterhoods... got recognized somehow professionally... the chapter when Fatima can say she finally grew up - and grew bigger - the chapter when she began to see things and the world around her differently.

This is the chapter when...

I came to understand that life hands you big blows but you have to be thankful for them for they make you a stronger person...

I began to appreciate the inner fulfillment of having to think of another's good first instead of my own...

I learned that sometimes you have to keep your mouth shut and keep your thoughts to yourself so as not to hurt other people and hurt yourself too in the process...

I came to realize that there is more to life than getting yourself bored to death doing the same thing over and over again...

I learned that when you forgive somebody who has wronged or hurt you, forgetting may not be easy but it won't hurt if you at least give it a try...

I recognized the wisdom that you don't necessarily have to force yourself to like somebody to be able to co-exist harmoniously with that person in the workplace...

I verified the veracity of the truth that stress can make you look older, give you gray hair, and worst of all give you unwanted pounds (this is what i hated the most!)...

I learned that saying sorry does not make you weak...

I knew that true friendships - like true love - would always survive... and

I realized it is your dreams - not your ambition - that will get you safely and happily where you are.