• Beauty
    • Favorite Products
    • Product Reviews
    • Hair Care
    • Skin Care
    • In my Makeup Bag
    • In my Travel Bag
    • Beauty Haul
    • Trending Makeup Look
    • Product Recommendations
    • Makeup for a Working Woman
  • Fashion
    • Fashion Hauls
    • Latest Fashion Trends
    • Trends for a Working Woman
    • Zehra Farooq Couture
  • Movies and Shows
    • Current Watchlist
    • Movie Reviews
    • Show Reviews
  • Miss Nerd-a-Lot
    • PhD Life
    • Current Booklist
    • Book Reviews
    • Planner Love
      • Hauls
      • Reviews
      • Setup
    • Scholarships
      • The Fulbright Scholarship
      • The Chevening Scholarship
    • Fellowships
      • The Eisenhower Fellowship
      • My Eisenhower Journey
    • GRE
    • CSS
    • TOEFL
    • IELTS
  • Passions
    • Photography
      • Travelogue
      • Fashion Photography
      • General
    • Interior Decoration
      • Projects
      • Trending Themes
      • Ask for Advice
      • Hire Me
  • My Opinion
    • Hope and Happiness
    • Politics
    • Relationships
      • About Mars and Venus
      • Ask me a Question
      • General Advice
    • Religion
    • Societal Norms
    • The World
    • Women
  • A Helping Hand
    • Gift Economy
    • The Giving Hand Trust
Search here...
Life in a Blog
TOP

Category: The World

FEATURED
Experience Inspiration Lifestyle My Opinion PhD Life The World

10 Ways to get out of a Slump

by Zehra Farooq on February 1, 2020
FEATURED

  The mind is its own place and in itself,  Can make a heaven of hell,…

Read More
Contemplation Quest Life in a Blog
FEATURED
Religion Societal Norms The World Uncategorized

Contemplation and the Quest for Knowledge

by Zehra Farooq on December 19, 2018
FEATURED

“Rumi tasawuf ka badshah tha!”, one of my professors remarked during a particularly insightful lecture on…

Read More
Tax Machinery Life in a Blog
FEATURED
Economy and Taxes My Opinion Passions The World

Tax Machinery in Hot Spot – A Rebuttal

by Zehra Farooq on August 27, 2018
FEATURED

An article was published in the “Business and Finance Weekly” section of DAWN newspaper on 27th…

Read More
Philanthroconomy Life in a Blog
FEATURED
My Opinion The World

Philanthroconomy: Making a Difference in Pakistan

by Zehra Farooq on January 20, 2016
FEATURED

Volunteerism and philanthropy, if looked at in combination, would signify the purest form of human desire…

Read More
My Cat Story Life in a Blog
FEATURED
My Opinion The World

The Story of my Cats

by Zehra Farooq on October 3, 2015
FEATURED

Who doesn’t love pet’s right? While I know that some people might have certain phobias relating…

Read More
CSA Secrets Life in a Blog
FEATURED
My Opinion The World

Things People will not Tell you about CSA

by Zehra Farooq on August 11, 2015
FEATURED

CSA- Civil Services Academy, the dreamland for so many of the nation- certainly lives up to…

Read More

Hello, There!

Hello, There! Hello, There!

Deputy Commissioner by Profession! A renaissance person by design! An Eisenhower Fellow! Oh and I am from the house of Gryffindor! :D

SAY HI!

Latest Posts

10 Ways to get out…

10 Ways to get out…

on February 1, 2020
Disruptive, Negative and Damaging Thoughts

Disruptive, Negative and Damaging Thoughts

on January 21, 2020
Fulbright Interview – Success Tips

Fulbright Interview – Success Tips

on September 18, 2019
Ramadan – The Soulful Declutter…

Ramadan – The Soulful Declutter…

on May 9, 2019
Fulbright – Sample Personal Statement

Fulbright – Sample Personal Statement

on May 9, 2019

Donate to Charity

Categories

Follow @zfarooq

Instagram post 2250303983785020030_296048923 “Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine. And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” – Haruki Murakami #inspiration #positivity #resilience #motivation #philosophy #kafka #harukimurakami #words #struggle #library #nerd #tulaneuniversity #photography
Instagram post 2244111567793090164_296048923 Lets fill some pages: “It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.” ― Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Invitation #writersofinstagram #writing #journaling #vintage
Instagram post 2215594524810855221_296048923 Prayers for Australia :( #australia #bushfires #helpaustralia #bushfiresaustralia #donateforaustralia #theearthisburning
Instagram post 2212598380446905293_296048923 For 2019 - I am only grateful, for that year was the rite of passage to take me where I want to go. And because it took me around the world and it found me new friends, another home. 2019 tested me on things I took for granted - it tested my survival skills ( bit dramatic I know), it tested my bonds, my strengthens, it definitely pulled on my weaknesses, it took me vast lands away from the people I love. And and and - it tested my claim of being a nerd. In 2019, I survived and evolved. Stronger, more resilient. Distance made my love stronger. It made me more grateful. More humble. Alhumdolillah for everything. And now, “For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." Happy New Year to all. This year, I vow to be more grateful, more spiritual, more mindful. For this year, I pray that peace prevails throughout the world. That there is more justice, more acceptability and more faith - faith in humanity, faith in ourselves, in our purpose and in the higher power. Here is to a whole new year, a whole new world!!!! #2020 #newyearseve #newyear #resolutions #goals #tobiggerandbetterthings #thebestisyettocome #newyearsresolution #newyears #2020vision #inspiration #gasagasa #mural #muralart #neworleans #nolalife #positivevibes #positivity #photography
Instagram post 2190366880452528229_296048923 Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth. #winter #winterevening #gymmotivation #gymlife #workout #workoutgear #lifestyle #lifestyleblogger #coral #instagood #inspirationalquotes #inspiration #positivevibes #positivity #motivationmonday #mondaymood
Instagram post 2188847218849901918_296048923 To these early mornings..... [BURR] Well, the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man”
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
“Get your education, don’t forget from whence you came, and The world's gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?” ——————— [ALEXANDER HAMILTON] Alexander Hamilton My name is Alexander Hamilton And there's a million things I haven't done But just you wait, just you wait... #earlymorning #hamilton #hamiltonmusical #alexanderhamilton #inspirationalquotes #inspiration #inspirational #grapefruit #studygram #examseason #exams #exammode #motivation #motivationalquotes
Instagram post 2179495581513651331_296048923 To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations - such is pleasure beyond compare. When you have friends that take random pictures of you and never forget to apply cute filters 🙏 #exams #suchislife #studygram #library #librariesrock #libraryseason #onemonthtogo #blessings #alhumdullilah #nerd #geek #selfie #selfiesunday #sundayvibes #monochromatic #monochromephotography #serious #whysoserious #inspirationalquotes #inspiration #motivation #sundaymotivation #studentlife #student
Instagram post 2178485921700421312_296048923 “Shall we put on the fluffies and head out for a run?”, asked my brain? “Indeed we shall!”, said I. A cup of coffee was involved in the process and the following lines: Outside, there was that predawn kind of clarity, where the momentum of living has not quite captured the day. The air was not filled with conversation or thought bubbles or laughter or sidelong glances. Everyone was sleeping, all of their ideas and hopes entangled in the dream world, leaving this world clear and crisp and cold as a bottle of milk in the fridge. So let me ask you this. Have you ever seen the dawn? Not a dawn groggy with lack of sleep or hectic with mindless obligations and you about to rush off on an early adventure or business, but full of deep silence and absolute clarity of perception? A dawning which you truly observe, degree by degree. It is the most amazing moment of birth. And more than anything it can spur you to action. Have a burning day. #7am #earlymorning #morning #morningmotivation #inspirationalquotes #inspiration #motivation #positivevibes #positivity #routine #makeithappen #photography #beats #winteriscoming #winterfashion #winter #music #monochrome #beigeaesthetic
Instagram post 2174947063256037612_296048923 He shook his head pityingly. “This, more than anything else, is what I have never understood about your people. You can roll dice, and understand that the whole game may hinge on one turn of a die. You deal out cards, and say that all a man's fortune for the night may turn upon one hand. But a man's whole life, you sniff at, and say, what, this naught of a human, this fisherman, this carpenter, this thief, this cook, why, what can they do in the great wide world? And so you putter and sputter your lives away, like candles burning in a draft.” “Not all men are destined for greatness,” I reminded him. “Are you sure, Fitz? Are you sure? What good is a life lived as if it made no difference at all to the great life of the world? A sadder thing I cannot imagine. Why should not a mother say to herself, if I raise this child aright, if I love and care for her, she shall live a life that brings joy to those about her, and thus I have changed the world? Why should not the farmer that plants a seed say to his neighbor, this seed I plant today will feed someone, and that is how I change the world today?” “This is philosophy, Fool. I have never had time to study such things.” “No, Fitz, this is life. And no one has time not to think of such things. Each creature in the world should consider this thing, every moment of the heart's beating. Otherwise, what is the point of arising each day? #motivation #motivationalquotes #inspirationalquotes #inspiration #workinprogress #wanderer #writing #writer #positivevibes #philosophy #lifestyle #neworleans #NOLA #mural #muralart #positivity #life #monochrome #monochromatic
Instagram post 2154872445950409537_296048923 Just made my self the yummiest salad on the planet. So so good - if you are looking for a new green to fall in love with - try Arugula 🙌 #healthyfood #healthyrecipes #healthylifestyle #healthyeating #healthysnacks #green #getyourgreens #fruit #fruits #life #lifestyleblogger #fulbrightpakistan #neworleans #inspiration #motivation #positivity

Get articles directly in your inbox as soon as they're live!

Copyright© 2019 Life in a Blog