The Power of Now?

Two years ago, I was given a book called 'The Power of Now' by Pakistan's Member of National Assembly, Marvi Memon. It was on my two-day trip to Islamabad, a reward for winning the Athlete of the School award, which actually seemed like 10 days to me. This was partly due to the amount of work that I did on those two days, and also because it was the first time I had left my home, my parents, and had gone to live, to eat with and practically live Marvi Memon's life. At the end of the journey, I knew I had my home to go to, where the old sofa in the living room, my brother's brilliant paintings on the wall, and my mother's parathas were waiting for me. I had precisely recorded each detail, each conversation to the best of my abilities at the end of each day and could not wait to get home and share my experiences with my long-lasting friends and family.

I got home with my hair smelling of rain, the mud of karachi stuck on my Bata shoes, and my dupatta lurking behind me. I started reading the book "The Power of Now" which basically focused on explaining... well.. the power of Now! Tolle asks us to focus on the moment which is now, and not to dwell much on the future and the past. He emphasises how the moment right now, this very instant can be used to shape the future, so one must always concentrate on the present.

September 4th, 2010: Arrive. Hong Kong Airport. Next stop: Li Po Chun World College of Hong Kong. Thrown into a mixture of cultures, races, ideas, perspectives, cultural evenings, Global Issue Forums, Canteen dinner conversations, the brilliant Orientaton Week. School starts. Subject choices. Quan cai choices. A completely different system: O levels GCSE to a system many of us struggled to spell: Internation Baccalaureate.

Pause.

Family.

The rain. The Pakoras Reading the Sunday newspaper on the couch in the living room while sipping on my mother's chai My four siblings going in and out of the three rooms at my house in Karachi.

You know, no matter how much we try to keep ourselves in the now, the mind does wander. We are made to remember. Remember the memories, the good times I had, to remember the love for the country and to never let anything get in the way of that. I can try very hard to focus on my Theory of Knowledge essay right now, but by writing this blog I think about all the hard work that I did, how much my parents sacrificed, how much my friends taught me, how much my country gave to me. It allows you to put things in perspective. It keeps you focused. It makes you work towards that goal, to not give up just yet.

I love the people at my new school.

I still hope to be reunited with my four siblings, my wet hair from the rain, my couch, and my brother's paintings, my home.