Category Archives: Life or Something Like it

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It’s All About Little Victories


There is an exercise I read about somewhere (forgot where, I’m not taking credit for this) where, every night, you write down one thing that made you smile that day. Just one little thing. It could even be something that reeks of utter awesomesauce but it could also be something as simple as “I found matching socks.” Yes, that is a battle I fight every morning. Don’t judge me. 


“The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things,” said Henry Ward Beecher – and he’s right. 


You can find joy in the smallest things and if you go over the stuff you’ve written down over the span of just a week, you’d be surprised at the nice little victories and moments that you take for granted because you’re too busy thinking about how you paid a dollar for a cookie that wasn’t even squishy in the center. That’s just wrong but there’s bound to be something that’s gone right. 


Write it down.

A beautiful day walking on the boardwalk.
A stray flower.
Snagging a good couch at a coffee shop.
A friend’s returned home.
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Be Better Than the GAP.

Scene taken from “Crazy Stupid Love” – which is a good romcom that’s actually not really a romcom because it’s ridiculous and funny. And not in the Will Farrell way, it’s actually funny. PLUS, Emma Stone (my imaginary best friend) is in it. I was never a fan of Ryan Gosling’s The Notebook-ness but after this movie, he’s got my vote.

So for those of you suffering these last few weeks of the pseudo-Spring season, unable to go to the pool, suntan or just be absent minded and carefree because you have these weird things called “responsibilities”, this is for you.

Don’t get slumpy and lazy.
Don’t get boring and safe.
Don’t wear mom jeans.
Don’t become the GAP.
Why? Because you’re better than the GAP.
Be better than the GAP.

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What’s Your Punch Phrase?

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So in the hectic moments when you have so much on your mind, what is the one sentence that pops up? What are the words that help you figure out what to do? What is your punch phrase? 
It’s probably a cliche, isn’t it…no judgment. 

When I’m feeling just down right confused about which road to take, there is a little something I do to put my “problems” into perspective. Ask this question:
What’s the worst that could happen?
And you know what you find out? You realize that a majority of the stuff you’re fretting about isn’t worth the headache. Granted, I am not saying this phrase applies to serious situations. I am referring to the typical worries and issues we obsess over. When you realize that [insert event here] is NOT the end of the world, that there are more important things to spend brain power on, that there are bigger concerns, you will instantly feel more relaxed. 
It really is all about perspective.
I think we have a tendency to make things more dramatic than they really are. We forget that the biggest problem we are faced with could actually be a blessing in itself. In other words, there is someone out there that is happier with less than what you have. If the biggest problem you have right now is finishing finals or getting that weekly report over and done with – you should think about how lucky you are at this moment. Things can always get worse so when you’re feeling down, don’t forget to remember what you do have rather than what is missing. Count your blessings.
There are things in life that need attention and will take up a lot of space in that noggin’. But there are others that don’t. The sooner you figure out which is what, the sooner you will feel at ease. You will be more productive. You’re energy will go into things that really matter to you and that’s exactly how it should be. Because after all, what’s the worst that could happen?
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7 Dilemmas of 20-Somethings

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1. You want to be independent. You want to be able to pay for everything on your own without your parents’ help. You want to sleep till 1pm and watch cartoons all Saturday afternoon with a bowl of Cheerios on your lap. Wait, what?

2. You want to be in a meaningful relationship with someone of substance. While in this age range of unstable uncertainty, you want to have your person, the one who gives you something concrete to hold on to. But you’re too young for that Grey’s Anatomy crap. You’re not going to officially commit to anyone or anything now, why risk getting hurt? 
3. You want to have a job and a bank account that has more than enough money to buy 6 meals at Burger King. You want to be able to abolish Mondays, vegetate through Tuesdays, see live band performances on Wednesdays, sleep off the hangover on Thursdays and go to the beach on any non-Sunday*. Your boss would love that.

4.  You want to graduate with honors/keep your scholarship/brag about your GPA on your resume. You want to be a beach bum in the middle of your finals because God decided now was a good time for the sun to laugh at your pale ass.

5. You want to get in shape for the rare moment that you might actually make it to the beach…on a Sunday. After all, you’re not a kid with magical metabolism anymore. Puberty isn’t going to make that jiggle disappear because you’re “shedding adolescent baby fat and growing into your body.” Now you have to work at it. You also like cheesecake. And BBQ Pringles. And Oreo Cakesters. Damn them.

6. You want to be taken seriously by parents, professors, and/or other professionals. You want to make “That’s What She Said” jokes until you’re 85.

7. You want to think rationally and have a plan. A 5-year one? A 5-month one? You want to be able to go to the ticketing counter and just go to any destination the bored employee randomly chooses because you’re young and spontaneous and you just CAN. You can’t afford to financially. Maybe in 5 years.

*Sunday is the official day off in Lebanon.

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8 Topics to Discuss When You’re Avoiding One Specific Topic*

*The title may confuse you – there’s usually one topic you don’t want to discuss with someone for whatever reason, yet they insist on bringing it up whenever you see them. Here are 8 topics to throw them off the trail.



1. Apple is probably building a super computer that will control our lives, dubbed the Big Mac, and it will run on the preserved tears of Granny Smith, a special fuel also known as AppleSauce. You really think the name “iRobot” was a coincidence? Exactly.

2. How playing NatGeoWild Narrator in real life can be incredibly entertaining. Proceed to play NatGeoWild Narrator. This is a game I invented out of pure boredom: pick out a person or two nearby and start narrating their behavior as if you were a NatGeoWild Narrator and they are wildlife. Name your show and episode. Use an accent. If you’re not into nature, Soap Opera Dialogue works too.

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3. The existence of dry shampoo baffles you. How are you supposed to feel cleaner after sprinkling white powder (yes, I’m imagining Tony Montana and a mountain of coke) on to your scalp? Wait, it doesn’t look like dandruff? What do you mean it’s all in my head? Like, LITERALLY?

4. Whether or not Norman Bates, lead role in Psycho, had some twisted version of the Oedipus Complex. He went all RuPaul on his mother’s memory. Dress up in drag all you want but when you go drag as mommy? That’s some Freudian shit right there.

5. Justin Timberlake is the king of payback songs/videos. Cry me a river because what goes around comes back around and ain’t nobody love you like I love you…Biatch.

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6. Gum is illegal in Singapore. Because bubbles be badass. Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride never looked so fierce.

7. The world before Facebook/Twitter made you an unintentional creeper/legal stalker of people you don’t even remember waving hello to the day before. Or some other person you don’t know because let’s face it: 15% of the Earth’s population is on Facebook and not all have discovered/understand privacy settings. Oh my god, he’s mutual friends with my cousin’s godfather’s brother. THERE IS HOPE.

8. Which combination of seven dwarves you would want to live with in the middle of the forest. A new version on the if-you-could-only-pack-3-things-island-question. You are allowed to make up your own dwarf names but be realistic, they can’t be all the variations found under “happy” in the thesaurus.

Disclaimer: If I have ever used these on you, I may not be avoiding a topic. I just noticed that they are good topics to use because I will genuinely talk about them- which simultaneously make them effective in the above endeavor. 

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10 Things That Instantly Make You Feel Like a 7 Year Old…And You Like It.

Mott’s Applesauce

1. Laughing so hard that coke/milk/ice cream (yes, it can happen) comes out of your nose. You feel quite attractive and the tickling sensation in your nostrils reminds you that you shouldn’t be out in public except on national holidays.

2. Ring pops, candy necklaces, tootsie rolls and applesauce. Nothing like good ole sugary jewelry and Mott’s to do the trick. That and you’re on a sugar rush for about 30 minutes.

3. When mom says she made your favorite tabkha, or home-cooked meal, and your other siblings complain that you’re the favorite. Part of you believes it too. Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh.

4. The smell of crayons.

5. When white glue dries on your hands and you peel it off like your a molting snake. Okay, maybe that one’s just me.

6. McDonald’s Happy Meals. And the toys. Why can’t they make one with a Big Mac?

7. Presents. Basically anything wrapped in paper or in a giftbag. As long as it’s not undies from your grandma or a giftcard. Come on people, if you’re going to do that, just fork over cash. At least then I’m not forced to spend your money in the not-for-sale section of ABC, therefore causing me to pay the difference for my present.

8. People singing “Happy Birthday” to you…in 3 languages because we’re arrogant trilinguals. I actually don’t enjoy this prolonged moment of attention while you watch candle wax get all over the frosting on your cake and all you’re thinking is “wow, they spelled my name wrong again.”

9. CANNONBALL!

10. Stepping on crispy fallen leaves. The loud crunch under your feet makes you feel like you just squashed a village with your powerful godly step. “Beware village to the north, I shall crush thee.”

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10 Things You Learn After Graduating from AUB

  1. You are going to claim that the new children (students) aren’t supposed to be sitting at the spot you and your friends territorially peed all over during your 3-4 years on campus.
  2. You realize you probably didn’t need to leave the stacks/ma2bara for coffee/red bull/chocolate runs every hour and a half.
  3. Real life outside the AUB bubble is much faster and lonelier during that awkward post-grad tadpole-becoming-a-frog period.
  4. You think your AUB degree can take a figurative crap on all other Lebanese university degrees.
  5. You miss the way the smell of Dunkin used to fill the crevices of Main Gate at 7 in the morning.
  6. You will never forget that time you joked about Abu Naji having everything from Panadol to Band-Aids…and found out it was true
  7. No patch of grass will ever be as awesome as that of the Green Oval. Normal grass that is.
  8. Finding a parking spot in Beirut is always going to be a problem…for the rest of your life.
  9. AUB cats are genetically mutated to be cuter than other strays from “the outside”. And they used mind control to steal your Bliss House Spicy Chicken.
  10. You secretly hope that one day there will be a really uncomfortable green bench with your name on the gold plaque.