"Shell's World" shelnlin's Profile

Hey everyone!

Yes to all of those who know me I have been away from here for a very long time now. I simply have not had the time due to the fact I am halfway through a degree in Social Science and two papers short of a Diploma in Records Management. Life has been pretty full on but that's fine by me and I hope that I will be able to come back here to this site which started me off writing and contribute more to the webpage.

As far as travel goes, I have not had alot of opportunities paritally due to the fact I am a student now. I also work too but most of my money gets swallowed up with bills and things that require my attention. I do however travel within NZ a bit and have recently finished writing my thoughts for a market research company on travel but overseas travel has been put to the background for a bit, that said I still hope to get to Vietnam, China and India in the near future. Once my studies are over I will possibly stick around here in New Zealand for awhile and then start travelling again. I do miss getting out and about and I do miss the thrill of seeing something new. I wouldn't mind popping back to places that I have been before too and look at how much things have changed.

Since the movie and book Eat, Pray, Love came out I realised that a part of me is very similar to Elizabeth Gilbert, the author and lead character of the story. I am in a transistion phase in my life and are currently residing back in Cambridge here in New Zealand. I live alone and although I am busy I always welcome visitors from near and far and I love to catch up with friends, family, my loved one when he is home. Life has been a real rollercoaster but I am sure that when I graduate things will really start to fall into place for me. I just know that I am blessed in many ways and I rely on my compassionate nature to be there for others. My parents both have been unwell and I spent each Wednesday last year up in the Oncology ward of our Waikato Hospital being there for my Mum Mary as she battled a very aggresive form of breast cancer. I would massage her arms, legs and back and it worked wonders draining away excess fluid and she recovered well. Its those little things I will never forget and I hope you dear reader will excuse me if I am not on here that often.

Happy reading and safe travels to you all.
Shell

He who knows...

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students
in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of
their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment and, as
the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a
separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had
said about that individual.
On Monday, she gave each student his or her list.
Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered.
"I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others
liked me so much." were some of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again.
She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents,
but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The
students were happy with themselves and one another.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, one of the students was
killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.
She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He
looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by
one, those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the
last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers, who acted
as pallbearer, came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked.
She nodded: "Yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a
luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to
speak with his teacher.
"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his
pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might
recognize it." Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of
notepaper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many
times. The teacher knew, without looking, that the papers were the ones on which she
had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
All of Mark's former classmates started to gatheraround.
Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list.
It's in the top drawer of my desk at home."
Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album."
"I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary."
Then Vickie, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took
out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to
the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vickie said, and without
batting an eyelash, she continued:
"I think we all saved our lists."
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and
for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will
end one day, and we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are
special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

Salam (Peace)

It has come to my attention that there have been very insulting emails being sent out to various Virtual Tourist members about their homepages and travel pages. I would like to stress to everyone who comes into my Homepage that this is a Travel website not a Political one and that it should be treated as such not one that is going to stir up a Political debate on who is right and who is wrong in this world. Each member is entitled to their own opinion and we should be sensitive enough to understand that no two opinions are going to be excatly the same. This website is designed to be unbiased and can be used as a guide when travellers want to go out and see the world. If, for whatever reason something really does hurt someone in the webpage they are viewing, the best thing is to look at another site and understand that this is that members opinion. I do not want to ruffle anyones feathers so to speak, I want everyone to understand that we are here to help one another not hinder one another. If you don't like it, get out of it and find another website that allows you to stress your frustrations.

This website of mine is protected by copyright. You may print out individual articles or pages for your private use but no form of distribution or making avaliable to the public (whether in print or electronic form) of any of this website's content is permitted without my permission and consent first.

Take care everyone and remember to respect and tolerate one another.

Sweets from Saudia

I love Poetry and Quotes so I have include some of the nicest ones that I have enjoyed and have been inspired by. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I have, I like the way the can motivate or move a person and these are just some of my favourite ones...

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want".

~Margaret Young

Long long ago....

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life."

~Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994.

The Souk

"Ful wys is he that can himselven knowe!"
(Very wise is he that can know himself).

~Chaucer


Friendship

Each of us has a hidden place
Somewhere deep within ourselves;
A place where we go to get away,
To think things through,
To be alone, to be ourselves.

This unique place, where we confront our deepest feelings,
Becomes a storehouse of all our hopes,
All our needs, all our dreams,
And even our unspoken fears.
It encompasses the essence of who we are and what we want to be.

But now and then, whether by chance or design,
Someone discovers a way into that place we thought was ours alone.
And we allow that person to see, to feel and to share
All the reason, all the uncertainty
And all the emotion we've stored up there.

That person adds new perspective to our hidden realm,
Then quietly settles down in his own corner of our special place,
Where a bit of himself will stay forever.

And we call that person a friend.

-Poem by Carol Elaine Faivre-Scott

"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to".

Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese Poet, philosopher, and artist
1883-1931

Pretty Spring Freshias

"We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood. To hate a man because he was born in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view on this subject or that, is a great folly. Desist, I implore you, for we are equally human... Let us but one in end in view, the welfare of humanity"
~Johann Amos Comenius

Ahhhh pretty...

"Don't seek to live someone elses life;it's just not you... You have no right to put on a false face, to pretend what you are not, unless you want to rob others. Say to yourself: I am going to bring something new into this person's life, because he has never met anyone like me nor will he meet anyone like me, for the mind of God, I am unique and irreplaceable.

~Anonymous