Ready, Get Set, GOAL!

“Have some strips of longing. There are enough for everyone.”

Beth Yahp passed the packet of pickled fruit around for us to savour, grinning to see the puzzled looks on our faces.

Strips of Longing.

What a clever way to name pickled fruit. It’s a great name. Although, the same can’t be said about the taste of the pickles. The name lingered on and I thought, what an interesting way to inspire people:

“Here, have some strips of longing. It should do you good.”

“Bored? Grab some strips of longing and you’ll feel a burst of energy.”


“These strips of longing should help you find your muse. And they are sold in supermarkets! How convenient.”

But honestly, is it all that easy? Whenever life seems dull, just get an extra boost and you'll be out from your bed and on the way to your dreams!

Actually, the answer is yes. We need internal and external factors to move forward in life. It's how we feel inside, that makes us want to get that promotion at work. It feels great because we can have a room of our own, earn a fat salary and no more tinkering with the broken cappuccino machine on the first floor.

The brain reacts to how the heart feels. So when the heart is all smiles, the brain charges forward too. But guess what? We can't do it on our own. Sure, we want that promotion, but wanting it alone isn't enough. We need encouragement, the gentle nudge from someone (a friend, family) to remind us that we have it there in us. It is the outside factor too that helps us reach our goals and this story that I'm going to share with you, proves it all:

Mona Ramouni has everything life has to offer. When the sun is out and the birds sing, the young girl heads off to work, eager to seek the challenges of the day. This has been her routine all her life in Detroit where she lives. Mona has a passion for knowledge. She aims to pursue her doctorate in child psychology and to travel to as many places as possible.

Not too difficult to achieve you might think.

True. Except Mona doesn’t know what the world looks like. She hears the birds but doesn’t see their colours. She knows when it’s sunny but doesn’t see the sun’s golden rays. Mona Ramouni is visually impaired. She lost her eyesight since birth. For 28 years she had relied on her family to guide her around. But Mona wanted something more; she wanted Independence to move around.

So, she was introduced to Mexicali Rose, a miniature horse who is a substitute for a guide dog. Cali, as she is known takes the bus with Mona to work where she proofreads textbooks in Braille.

With so much of dedication of caring and training her new companion, Mona has every bit of a chance of achieving her dreams in her life, Insha Allah; God Willing.

Touching. Inspiring. But what Mona said about Cali made me realize the importance of having external motivators in life. Here’s her wake up call,

“Before Cali, I had basically given up. I mean, I had been to the point where I thought, I'm going to get nothing out of my life. Having Cali showed me that I had forgotten about all the optimism I had as a kid. When I was a kid, I thought I could do anything. I thought everything was possible."

Take a cue from this remarkable girl. A girl who has shown that it’s not what you see but what you feel that matters when you are aiming for your goals. And Cali? Yes, that's her little pony, her hero in life.

As for the pickled fruits, if you're wondering if the strips of longing really exist, the answer is yes, they do. Keep looking for them. Chances are, you'll find them in places you'll never expect. And that, I can assure you!