Two of my Favorite A to Zen Principles

It is hard to pick two A to Zen principles that are most important, so I picked the two that I feel can be most applicable to daily life.

1) L-love yourself

Loving ourselves seems to be such a common problem in the world today. In my opinion, it is not possible to love others if you don't love yourself. Loving yourself is the best thing you can do for your life in order to be happy and successful with others, especially in relationships.

2) W-when you lose, don't lose the lesson

Many times, people make mistakes and do not take anything away from it. Mistakes are in our life for a reason-to learn from them. Mistakes are okay to make, as long as you learn your lesson...don't lose it.

If you could travel through time and talk with a prominent figure in art, politics, religion, or science, whom would you chose?

If I were to talk to a prominent person in MY life, I would talk to Laila, a character from my favorite book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. This novel goes into detail on what life would be like living as a woman in Afghanistan in the 1980's. Laila lived with an abusive husband, his first wife Mariam, and mothered two children. Laila's character is the strongest person in the world, in my opinion. She ended up getting out of her abusive and torturous marriage, and fleeing Pakistan with the love of her life, and father of her first child. Reading about Laila's perseverance, courage, and bravery made a huge impact on my life. She would not stop for anything, or anyone. Laila had a heart of gold, and more love for her children and Mariam than I could ever fathom. Laila is a true example of following your heart and dreams, and never stopping for anything.

"Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope."