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Dear Friend,
For this month - the month spring comes into bloom and the Muslim New Year is celebrated - we look on the inner for hope and on the outer for opportunities for restoration.
We embrace all of our experiences in the arms of forgiveness and redemption. The result - peace on earth for us all.
~ Azim N. Khamisa
OTHER LINKS:
For the TKF Campaign to stop youth violence, click HERE.
For TV Show showcasing Azim on March 16, click HERE.
For radio show highlighting Azim on March 25, click HERE.
For the new Tariq Khamisa Foundation site, click HERE.
For Azim's Facebook link to stay connected, click HERE.
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Quote of the Month
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Someone may have stolen your dream when it was young and fresh and you were innocent. Anger is natural. Grief is appropriate. Healing is mandatory. Restoration is possible.
- Jane Rubietta |
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PICTURE OF THE MONTH - IT TAKES A VILLAGE
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| Azim's Monthly Musings |
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Hope Found In Prison Inmates
Hope Found In Everyone
And so we celebrate - on so many levels.
March 21 is the Muslim New Year and the first day of spring. It is a time we celebrate all over the Muslim world a new beginning, a springtime of growth. This is a time to look forward and to anticipate the months of summer. Spring is also about the blooming flowers, the free humming birds and the gifts of a longer day. But to me, spring is about hope.
I celebrated the Muslim New Year by giving a talk at the San Mateo Prison to about 110 inmates, several who had already read my first book and were extremely moved.
My message to them, essentially, was that life is not over and that there is much hope for them. I wanted them to know that I do understand and empathize with them, as I know that in 15 years of my work, I have never met an offender who was not first a victim. Often, the more heinous the crime, the worse the victimization of the "criminal." Most offenders come from a past of shocking and horrific abuse.
I told the inmates that there is much they can do in the name of redemption.
I shared my story of losing my son Tariq to a senseless gang-related murder and let them know how well Tony, the murderer of my son, was doing. And in the end, I told them that it will be OK, we all make mistakes. Some of us make huge, life-altering mistakes. Yet it's important that we all acknowledge and take responsibility for them. I told these inmates that after taking responsibility, they are invited to reach out - in some safe and respectful way - to the victims asking for forgiveness.
It's the RIGHT thing to do, no matter how hard it may be. And forgiveness must also be given from these inmates to anybody in their past who abused or hurt them as children. And the last step in the forgiveness arena... The perpetrator must forgive himself or herself for doing the harmful act.
Once these forgiveness steps are taken, there comes a time for giving back in a powerful step called "restorative justice." In it, we may reach out, create some actions and give in some way, shape or form to help bring restoration.
Most of the inmates I saw will be getting out of prison in the next three years. They will have the chance to do good works, join forces with a non-profit like TKF (Tariq Khamisa Foundation, www.tfk.org) and help others along the path not make the same mistakes they did. These inmates lives aren't over because of their past experiences or choices. Rather, they can make a big difference in the life of a child, and in their own life as they use their experience to help others down the road. Yes, there is hope.
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The last step in the forgiveness arena? The perpetrator must forgive himself or herself for doing the harmful act.
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I'm reminded of a story of a father and son during World War II, when times were so bad that they only had a sliver of butter. From it, the father made a candle. To this, the son was horrified and questioned why he would make a candle out of their only food source. The father replied, "The body can survive weeks without food, but it can't survive a second without hope."
Let us forgive ourselves and inspire hope in another person in our life!
We are in the season of hope and new chances. We needn't be prison inmates to take on the process of redemption. We have all made mistakes, and some of us carry unresolved relationships and guilt or shame.
But we can also know that there is a way out. Look at your path of life - with all its choices that led you to the high ground and the low. For those low points, for those choices which harmed another, cut a friend or devastated a relationship, let us remember the result of forgiveness; let us remember that hope is always alive in our innocent hearts; let us remember the promise of spring that comes along every year.
Many Blessings,
Azim N. Khamisa
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AZIM'S PASSIONATE PERFORMANCE MODEL
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Azim is presenting a brand new performance model used by corporations and non-profit organizations. Reply HERE if interested in having Azim demonstrate for your business how to achieve maximum results.
A unified team will improve the environment of any organization, creating a climate conducive to performances full of passion, teamwork and fulfillme  nt. For non-profit organizations, such an environment will help to create the impact the organizations desire.
Learn from Azim Khamisa, founder of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation, and see how he was able to achieve this with TKF and other organizations with which he has consulted.
In this presentation, Azim will teach you:
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How to create passionate performance in your organization
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How the role of forgiveness fits into high performance leadership
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How to inspire your management team and employees to perform at their zenith
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TRAIN THE TRAINER - ARE YOU READY TO TEACH?
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Destination Peace:
The Journey of Forgiveness
Train the Trainer Certification Program
Taught by International Speaker and Author Azim Khamisa
A 3-day Workshop to Train Teachers of Forgiveness
Using Azim Khamisa's Enlightening 3-Step Process
For therapists, teachers and trainers offering forgiveness work to clients
Space for 16 Students
Cost is $299 (Includes a 3-CD Series and three of Azim's award-winning books)
Friday Evening - All Day Saturday - All Day Sunday
With annual refresher course which certifies you as a trainer for one year.
Interested Parties contact Jennifer Geronimo at jmgeronimo@aol.com
The Journey of Forgiveness: Destination Peace is about living life fully and with joy. The work shows you how to heal broken relationships and bring a deeper, more intimate connection with your existing relationships. It is about living life at a higher frequency - living life with happiness, meaning and exuding love and compassion to all the people in your lives and beyond. Says Azim: "I truly believe through forgiveness we can create peace in our lives, the lives of our families, community, country and the world." |
A POEM FOR YOU AT THIS TIME
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A PRAYER IN SPRING
By Robert Frost
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orcahrd white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
To which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends he will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill. |
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RANDOM HOUSE BOOK - REGULARLY $25 - $19 ONLINE
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Secrets Revealed - the Bulletproof Spirit
Azim Khamisa's third book "The Secrets of the Bulletproof Spirit; How to Bounce Back from Life's Hardest Hits" - published by Random House and coauthored with Jillian Quinn - is a self-help book with practical instruction on how to develop the inner strength to respond powerfully to all of life.
SPECIAL ONLINE SALE - On Azim's Site
Retail $25
Online Price $19 on Azim's Site HERE.
For all Items in Store, click HERE.
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