Who is Naomi Campbell? According to AskMen.com, the Jamaican-Chinese, British born Naomi Campbell, had already conquered the fashion world by her early 20s and Naomi was also the first black model to appear on the covers of Time magazine, as well as the French and British Vogue.

Back to the newspaper report that I read over the weekend, the British supermodel Naomi Campbell was released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer at Heathrow Airport. London’s Metropolitan Police said she is out on bail pending further inquiries and told to report to a police station in late May. She was on a flight to Los Angeles when she was informed that one of her checked bags was missing. She just simply ‘lost it.’ According to the police, she was going nuts, spitting, punching and lashing out. She was eventually asked by the BA to leave the flight.

To begin with, 28,000 bags have been separated from their owners ever since the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London and for travelers, the last thing you want is to be informed of your missing luggage. Thus the above incident could basically involve anyone and maybe there were similar incidences but they were never reported in the first place. Naomi happened to be the celebrity to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time. However, Naomi does has records of violence to start with.

I am least interested to discuss who is wrong or who is right. Just to share something that I realized – that celebrities are only human after all. When the lightings on the runway go off, the make up removes and in the privacy of her home, she is just like anyone of us; she has her own strength and weakness, her own likes and dislikes, her own family and friends. The only difference, if you really have to differentiate yourself from her, is that she has the word ‘celebrity‘ tagged to her name. If you want to find people with record of violences, I believe you can probably find at least a dozen people with similar bad records.

There are probably at least an equal number of cases on act of violent not reported. No reporters or media would be interested in these other cases because they do not have any ‘news value’ for them. However, the case of Naomi has ‘news value’ for them as it guarantees readership. And after being reported too often, the whole issue of her violent acts amplifies and may seem much worst than it appears to be.

Helen Keller said, “The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” Isn’t that very true? This one quotation by Helen Keller always reminds me to look at things beyond the surface. In this case, removing aside the tag of ‘celebrity‘, I saw Naomi Campbell as like one of us.

I am not condoning Naomi’s act of violent and violence is an action that I do not approve, especially in using it to resolve conflicts. And that is why to a large extent I look up to Gandhi for his non-violent resistance which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. I remembered what an associate of mine once told me – that we can idolize someone but not to the extent of worshipping him/her. I will say I finally understand what he meant by that.

We can adore a person as long as we do not allow ourselves to be blindly devoted to that person. We can absorb the strengths of others and make it our own strengths. We can even learn from the mistakes and weaknesses of others so that we will not make those mistakes or absorb those weaknesses. This is how we learn and evolve to be a better person.

One thing I do agree with some people is that being a celebrity and a public figure, Naomi and other celebrities do have a social responsibility, to certain extent, to the general public. They have great influence over the younger generation and people who worshipped them blindly. Otherwise as far as I am concern, I respect their privacy and regard them as just people like myself.

End of the day, it doesn’t matter whether one is a celebrity or not. What matter most are the values that one has within oneself. Celebrities are, after all, only Human.

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” — Robert Muller, Assistant Secretary – General of the United States

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi said it well when he said that forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. For most people, to forgive is a difficult thing to do. In fact to forgive, it takes a whole lot of courage to do it. However, why do we find it so hard to forgive someone? Is is because of the need to let the person knows that we are angry with him/her? Or is it because if we forgive that person, it means that the person wins? In the article, it mentioned, “you can forgive and not condone.” This couldn’t be more true. Forgiving someone does not necessary mean that we approve or agree with what that person did.

Most people think that to forgive is all about the other person. The fact is when you forgive someone, you free yourself from anger; anger is a very strong negative feeling and it blocks you from loving.

“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We cannot love unless we have accepted forgiveness, and the deeper our experience of forgiveness is, the greater is our love.” — Paul Tillich

Being angry allowed the person or situation to take over control of you. By forgiving, you are not only freeing yourself but also taking control of the situation and yourself. Being in control will give you the power to choose your reaction. Thus do yourself a favor today and remember that forgiving another person does not set him/her free but it sets you free instead. There is another
point which I agree with the article, that forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself instead of something you give to another person. It is the best gift you can give to yourself and you can benefit greatly from it too.

Something from the article, “Learning to forgive those who have attacked me has been a powerful tool in my life. When I harbor anger and resentment toward another person it only hurts me and I am the one who suffers.” What do you think?

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. The students laughed.

He asked his students again if the jar was full. They agreed that yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed.

The pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on a smaller scale. The pebbles represent things like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, material things, you will never have room for the things that are truly most important.

Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life.

Play with your children.

Take your partner out dancing.

There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter.

Set your priorities. The rest is just pebbles and sand.”

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, “What if I do this?”

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

“Now, who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.

No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.