“
To the heart in you, don’t be afraid to feel. To the sun in you, don’t be afraid to shine. To the love in you, don’t be afraid to heal. To the ocean in you, don’t be afraid to rage. To the silence in you, don’t be afraid to break.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Mind Platter)
“
For the to see you shine, you must stay far way, for you are like the sun; when you’re too close, your light make them blind. And when you’re too far, they seek you. So let them seek you. They’re getting your light regardless, but appreciating your presence is different from recognizing your existence. If they don’t appreciate your presence, they may never recognize your absence.
”
”
Najwa Zebian
“
You love too hard,"
he said.
"It's the only way to love,"
I replied.
I am tired of
every person coming my way
telling me that I am too
needy for love.
I am not needy
for love.
I just love.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
Broken Wings Don't break a bird's wings and then tell it to fly. Don't break a heart and then tell it to love. Don't break a soul and then tell it to be happy. Don't see the worst in a person and expect them to see the best in you. Don't judge people and expect them to stand by your side. Don't play with fire and expect to stay perfectly safe. Life is about giving and taking. You cannot expect to give bad and receive good. You cannot expect to give good and receive bad. Does it happen? Yes, but don't make that an excuse for you to keep doing what you know is wrong. Don't blame life for what you do. That is so selfish and ignorant on your behalf.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Mind Platter)
“
I spent more time getting
over you
than I spent
falling in love with you.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
Here's the thing about people with good hearts:
They give you excuses when you don't explain yourself.
They accept the apologies you don't give.
They see the best in you.
They always lift you up, even if that means putting their own priorities aside.
They will never be too "busy" for you.
They make time, even when you don't.
And you wonder why they're the most sensitive people, the most caring people, why they are willing to give so much of themselves with no expectation in return.
You wonder why their existence is not so essential to your well-being. It's because they don't make you work hard for the attention they give you. They accept the love they think they deserve
- and you accepted the love you think you're entitled to.
Don't take them for granted.
Fear the day when a good heart gives up on you.
Our skies don't become grey out of nowhere, our sunshine does not allow the darkness to take over for no reason.
A heart does turn cold unless it's been treated with coldness for a while
”
”
Najwa Zebian
“
I fell in love with you
the day you showed me your soul.
And I spent days,
months,
and a year and
part of a year
realizing that you covered
your soul again
because you could not handle
the love
that I was touching you
with.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
Self-love is loving yourself exactly as you’d love the person you love the most. And that love actually feels like love and looks like meeting your own needs.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul)
“
We had a moment once when I felt that we were one, in the same feeling, in the same soul. But I've come to learn that these moments can imprison us for years when they were only moments followed by many more that were not the same.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
If you gave them
once
the love that they did not
deserve,
they will come back for more.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
Keep your heart beautiful.
The world needs that.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
You stayed a short while,
but
you made me want to write
about love,
not heartbreak,
again.
Thank you.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Sparks of Phoenix)
“
The biggest mistake we make is that we build our homes in other people. We build those homes and we decorate them with the love and care and respect that makes us feel safe at the end of the day. We invest in other people, and we evaluate our self-worth based on how much those homes welcome us. But what many don’t realize is that when you build your home in other people, you give them the power to make you homeless. When those people walk away, those homes walk away with them, and all of a sudden, we feel empty because everything that we had within us, we put into them. We trusted someone else with pieces of us. The emptiness we feel doesn’t mean we have nothing to give, or that we have nothing within us. It’s just that we built our home in the wrong place.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul)
“
See yourself through the eyes of those who love you. They see all of the goodness in you when you fail to see it. They see the best in you when you see the worst. They are always ready to lift you up even before you fall down. They see every reason why you deserve happiness, love, and joy when you may feel that you're the furthest thing from deserving all of that goodness. Learn to care about those who care about you before you try to make those who don't even notice you turn your way. If you can't see happiness in what you already have, you're fooling yourself if you think that getting what you want will make you happy. If you can't see happiness in the simplest of things, you won't be able to see happiness in what's bigger. If you can't see the beauty of the stars, you may never appreciate the beauty of the moon.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Mind Platter)
“
He never loved you, but he loved
the reflection of the man he saw in your
eyes.
But listen to me, my friend.
You never loved him either.
You just loved being the queen.
You loved being the sun.
You loved being the woman behind a
great man.
You never loved him.
You loved having something to give.
Someone to fix. Someone to please.
You see, in love, you don't get what you
want.
You get what you think you get.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
You see, in love, you don’t get what you want.
You get what you think you get.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
The moments that you choose to be
silent
when someone's soul is
screaming at you,
begging you to say,
"My heart is with you,"
those moments leave
scars on our souls
that no amount of excuses can
erase.
If you love someone,
you love them.
You don't allow your pride to
stop you from expressing your love
to them.
If you expect them to understand
your love through silence,
don't be surprised when their soul
slips out of your hands in silence.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
Fall asleep tonight with nothing but love and forgiveness in your heart. What’s meant for you will be for you tomorrow or the day after. Trust your journey. Rest your soul.
”
”
Najwa Zebian
“
My heart crumbles
into my aching soul
because I know that
I will never get the answer,
but all I want to ask you is:
Why did you ask me to love you
when you had no intention
of loving me?
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Sparks of Phoenix)
“
Take responsibility.
Just as you can't deny that you can feel love and hate, happiness and sadness, anger and ease of mind, or tiredness and relaxation, you can't deny that you have a fate that, sometimes, you can't control. That doesn't mean that it takes control over you. You can't deny that you have words that need to be spoken. You can't deny that you have a choice. You can't deny the ability that you can say no. You can't deny the ability that you have the freedom to make a decision and defend it. You can't deny injustice when you see it, unfairness when you feel it, oppression when you witness it. Stop blaming the world around you for wronging you. Take responsibility for the nos you could have said but chose not to, the words you could have said but didn't, instead wrapping your mouth with your own hands and remaining silent against what needed to be addressed. Take responsibility for the choices you could have made but restrained yourself from making.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Mind Platter)
“
Stop waiting for something to happen. Stop waiting for someone to save you. Stop waiting for answers. Stop waiting for love. Stop waiting for the right moment, for the right situation. Stop waiting for relief. Stop waiting for clarity. To bring this to a practical level, how many times do you find yourself scrolling through your phone aimlessly, waiting for something to happen? Or spending every moment you’re not working, studying, or doing whatever it is that you do, in texting, calling others, watching a show, and so forth? And it all feels like the feeling you get when you’re continuously eating but not getting nourished. You’re ingesting so much that it overwhelms you, but you still feel empty. This happens when you’re subconsciously waiting for something to happen that will take you out of the situation you’re in, whatever that situation is.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul)
“
To all the people I pushed away while I was healing: Forgive me for not being able to welcome you when I really wanted to. I was scared. I was scared you’d judge me. I was scared you wouldn’t understand. I was scared you’d ask me how I couldn’t have known better. I was scared you’d push me away and remind me of all the reasons I don’t deserve to be loved. I was scared. Everyone I welcomed before you either lied or left or took more than what I had to give. Everyone I welcomed before you only stayed as long as I was who they wanted me to be instead of who I actually am. I’m sorry I made you feel I couldn’t trust you when the truth was I couldn’t even trust myself.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul)
“
You came to me with
broken wings.
I helped you heal your
wounds
by pouring love into the
broken pieces of
your soul.
You flew away
when your wings were healed.
You left me here,
chained to the ground,
trying to remove the shards
that got stuck in my own wings
as I took them out of yours.
Where did gratefulness
go?
I will not let your deception
make me not want to help more
broken wings out there.
Your lack of gratitude
will not make me
not give.
I do not give just to
be thanked.
But it does not mean that
it does not hurt.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
I loved the person that you once
were,
not the person that you are today.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
Here is an example I’m sure you can relate to on some level. Say you really liked someone who doesn’t like you back. Maybe you were in a relationship with this person and maybe not. The focus of your whole being might be on their unwillingness to give you love. If their love is the only source of love you see, you won’t see the love that might be coming to you from family, friends, colleagues, and even potential love interests. Because you’re not looking for that love. You’re not seeing it as a source of love. So, indirectly, you are blinding yourself to the love around you. You might believe you’re not worthy of love, and you’ve supported that belief with evidence from your past, plus evidence from your current situation. If that’s the case, your mind is going to search for every piece of evidence that further proves the story you believe about yourself, or what you make something that happened mean about you. You might see that story referred to as the “ego,” which is simply the Latin word for “I.” From the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep, your ego is looking for proof that reinforces what you believe about yourself. You walk around constantly trying to make everything mean something about you.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul)
“
All my heart could say then was Why can’t I have that? That wasn’t the gifts. It wasn’t the clothes or the candy. That was the love. The warmth. The connection. The feeling of relevance, worth, and importance. . . . Like I actually belonged somewhere. At such a young age, I wasn’t able to label my feelings with these words. The only word I could put to what I was missing, to what I wanted, was that.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home For Your Soul)
“
Don’t break a bird’s wings and then tell it to fly. Don’t break a heart and then tell it to love. Don’t break a soul and then tell it to be happy. Don’t see the worst in a person and expect them to see the best in you. Don’t judge people and expect them to stand by your side. Don’t play with fire and expect to stay perfectly safe. Life is about giving and taking. You cannot expect to give bad and receive good. You cannot expect to give hate and receive love. So if you’re willing to see positive change in your life, you must be willing to be that change itself.
”
”
Najwa Zebian
“
If life came with a manual, it would be full of blank pages that you would fill out yourself. There would be pages that you wish you could rip out but can't, pages that you wish you could stay on and not turn, pages that you would love ...
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Mind Platter)
“
Home is not a physical place. It is the place where your soul feels it belongs, where you can unapologetically be yourself, where you are loved for your authentic self. Home is the place where you don’t have to work hard just to be loved.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul)
“
Anyone who demands you pretend to be someone you’re not is someone who does not authentically love you. Maybe they think that their control comes out of love, but you have to remember that authentic love sees you clearly and doesn’t aim to chisel you down to a preconceived ideal.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
Now, I love my own space. I love getting to choose how I dress. I love the fruits of the changes I made.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
I want to thank every person who turned their back on me. You taught me that expecting others to treat me with the same loyalty I treat them with is unrealistic. I will always have my own back. I also want to thank every person who stayed. You showed me how beautiful unconditional love is as we change and evolve into our best selves. I want to thank every person who always shared the truth with me. You helped me grow, be creative, and feel safe taking risks.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
Authentic love puts down the chisel and tells you, I love you as you are. I love you as the old you and the you that you are becoming. I love you as you try new things and as you make decisions for yourself.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
Unfortunately, there are people in the world who sense your need for love and take advantage of it to gain medicine for their own pain and to get their wants and needs met.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
The love she had for me was so pure and healing.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
Maybe your partner places conditions on the love they give you based on what they want for you or from you.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Only Constant: A Guide to Embracing Change and Leading an Authentic Life)
“
I love the memory of the person that you
used to be.
I love that you allowed me to feel
the love that my heart can
contain.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
You will be my number-one priority,
not because I'm weak
or because I'm dependent on your love,
but because I'm a woman,
not a girl.
Love is safe.
Love is vulnerable.
If you want someone who will make you
run after her love,
find her elsewhere. That never was
and never will be
me.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (The Nectar of Pain)
“
I've never wanted roses
to resist wilting
more than I do now.
That's how I know
that I want this love
to last.
”
”
Najwa Zebian (Sparks of Phoenix)