Now or Never

Description

About Book

“Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream.” ~ Debby Boone

Dreams change the world, I am sure of it and the reason I am so sure of it is that I have loved a home that was itself made of a vision of some men, and the vision that would in time, come to affect the geography and history of the world and millions of people. I believe that even if you are going for your vision, you are changing the world, and not in the way you “change the world” by “smiling”. I mean to say that you are changing the world’s reality, and all this is possible through having a singular vision, a hope for the future, and the audacity to hope that the person who will lead the vision to its fruition will be you. Why you might ask, would we change the world by our actions and our visions, well simply because:

“The key to all changes is in our inner transformations- a change of our hearts and minds. This is human revolution. We all have the power to change. When we realize this truth, we can bring forth that power anywhere, anytime and in any situation.” ~Daisaku Ikeda.

All that is good and well, but now we might venture to ask “But, do I have what it takes?”, and to that, I answer, yes you do. This book is the very book to show it. The thing is, I believe; “where there’s a will, there’s a way” to an extent that some might even call overly optimistic, but I’m not merely optimistic when I say this. I say this from a bit of experience. I have used all I have, whether it be mean comments, or doubts or a vision to do a lot of things, in fact even get a book written. The fundamental idea of the book is this, everything and anything is a source to help us in our way of life, that we choose to follow, if we know and try to use it for that. This book “Now or Never” is a series of ideologies and concepts that can be implemented in small things (like trying to get an A* in Maths, when you have math anxiety), which I have used myself, and which will further have you interested and perhaps motivated to do what you promised you would do. These concepts vary from the ideology of hope to the very real ‘fear of failure’; all the concepts I have looked at from personal views, as a teenager in these despairing times, and from the experts who have used them (experts here would mean both the people who are known for pursuing their dreams and psychologists wherever anyone is relative)

This would be a reason that I would recommend this book “Now or Never” to my fellow generation, because, 1) I have implemented these things 2) I am also on the beginning of a journey, so I know how it feels, and 3) I have tried to write them plainly and engagingly and 4) we need a chain reaction of change desperately. What I mean by the fourth reason is that, as a youngster, the world doesn’t seem like a very good (or even healthy) place and the things we have seen as a generation in our childhoods, we do not want our next generation to be seeing, and for that, we are the ones who can do something. We are the ones because we know the pain and consequences of continuing in this way, and we are the ones whose lives might be most affected.

Even if we may yet be ‘kids’ we can do something of consequence we must have to work harder at it than anything because as Quaid himself says in my most favorite quote of his;

You will have to make up for the smallness of your size by your courage and selfless devotion to duty, for it is not life that matters, but the courage, fortitude, and determination you bring to it.”

Also, as I look around me, I may see things that need to in need of change, but I also see people who are ready to bring that change, and that matters the most, the drive to do it. Only a driving force will lead you to so desperately create a new image that you use the old ones you have till now. Only a fierce desire to have a better life will lead you to use everything you can wherever it comes from; even if the place is negative.

Look, for all this talk of dreams, I have a story of my own to share too. I remember, distinctly, when I was 12, on the day of my birthday, while traveling in a remote part of KPK, I had the sudden desire to write a book. I promised myself I would be a published author before I turned sixteen, yet I did nothing about it for almost 3 years more. Yes, I had tried to ‘write’ a book on Pakistan aged 12-13 and ended up with a scrapbook. I also tried to write my ‘autobiography’, but I gave up. However, this year in 2020, after almost half the year was gone, I started again, and write this book from about the end of July till November. I know how it feels to have a dream but not do anything and regret it, and this is a huge part of my chapters as well, why it must be ‘Now or never’. Yet, I also know how to accomplish one, and the only reason I can say that is that when I found nothing ‘inside me’, I tried to change the things I had to suit my purpose.

Now, as you come to the end of the introduction, let me tell you how you can use the book. For the most part, the book can be read as single chapters, in any manner you like, but it also has a linear way that will connect themes if you choose to read it back to back. Second, in each chapter that focuses on a particular point of view or concept, there is a narrative added to how you can use it. Last, at the end of the book, will be a list of things where I learned, and you can further learn about some concepts in detail. These include both books, podcasts, and videos you can find on the internet. Check them if you are interested.

I hope you have a good time reading it, and that it inspires you to do something, even if that something is realizing a new way of looking at things. For that might be the single most important thing in this book; the discovery that there is always a way, and you just need to think about it in that way for as Albert Einstein says,

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

About Author

Hey, It’s Hajerah  and well , I should probably  introduce myself, so, here are some things I think you’ll like to know about me;

First, I’m a true army brat, thanks to  which I spent the first 12 years of life moving around the country with my father.  Also helped in this process by my grandfather and father who were my intial and biggest inspirations, this love has thankfully given me a lifetime supply of Patriotism  (So I’m known as the ‘patriot’ among almost all of my friends at school or elsewhere, not that I’m complaining or anything) and a huge dose of dreams and ambitions, one of which was to write a book before I turned 16.

I’m an avid reader, thanks to my grandfather, who though a civil engineer himself, not only read and wrote himself, but passed this gift onto his next generations and many others. So, you’ll almost always find me reading/listening to or about a book, and if not, then thinking of one.  Also, if you’re a bookworm too, why have you not joined Goodreads? Well, if you do, you can find me there and add me as a friend , @HajerahUmar

A self-taught (mostly) student of History (especially the history of Muslim civilizations and Pakistan),  Psychology and literature; I love writing poems (or rather ballads) and essays on just about anything. In fact, you can follow my  Pakistan history page on Instagram @nostalgic_nova.

I would love to hear your feedback or any other things you’d like to say , so why not hit me up on my email?

umarhajerah@gmail.com

Also, hope you liked the book!