Najwa Zebian Quotes

lebanese-Canadian author

Najwa Zebian (born April 26, 1990) is a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, poet, and speaker.

Zebian was born in Bekaa, Lebanon and moved to Ontario, Canada at sixteen during the 2006 Lebanon War. She attended the University of Western Ontario, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2010 and a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies in 2013. She continued her studies and earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership in 2022. She resides in London, Ontario.

From: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

They won’t try to shame or pressure you into doing what you’re not comfortable doing or what doesn’t resemble you. They won’t think of how your actions reflect on them. They meet you where you are, exactly the way you need to be met.

The best way to identify someone who is right for you is to consider, Do they have my best interests in mind? You’ll find that those who do will always honor you where you

This is what I’ve decided for myself. But I need some time to align my mind with my body. So, right now, I’m in between making the decision and executing the decision.

I realize now that a lot of the rush and hustle I adopted in my day-to-day life was merely an escape from the present moment.

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.

Remember when we talked about the pain of realizing that the survival mode ship is finally sinking? And how it takes a while to learn to swim in your authenticity?

I realized that there are people in my life who aren’t good for me. I realized that I no longer have to hold on to people just because of how long they’ve been in my life or because of the potential of what they could be one day or because of who they were.

Often what stops us from moving forward with change, whether it’s learning how to dance or leaving any kind of relationship that no longer serves our authentic selves, is our fear of what exposing our authentic selves to the world would feel like. It’s one of those things that could

Sometimes we try so hard to change ourselves and the way we react to those around us that we forget that it should not be this hard to belong.

I knew and still know that they are good people. They’d never willingly do something like that, but I’d always wonder, How could you not have known that leaving me behind for so long, and that not connecting with me emotionally, was wrong?

I really don’t want to have Crohn’s. But I have it. And that’s a fact I literally cannot change. If it were up to me, I would erase it from my body, but I don’t have that kind of power. What I have power over is figuring out what the best way to nourish my body is given the situation it’s in and do my best to give it what it needs.

One of the beautiful things about getting to know yourself is realizing all the places where you’ve been trying really hard to feel welcomed and the people who don’t truly see or accept you as you are.

Let the sincerity in your heart see the sincere acknowledgement in other people's hearts.

doesn’t matter how much we change ourselves, when we are surrounded by the same people who make us feel that being ourselves is wrong or too much, that change just feels more imprisoning. Because now we know what we are worth.

Maybe the thing that made you special is how you’re always there for everyone and never say no. And when you attempt to start setting boundaries and stating your wants and needs, you are made to feel like you lost that special thing that earned you acceptance and approval before. But is it really acceptance and approval if it leaves no space for you to be yourself? If it leaves no space for you to expect to be treated in a way that reflects the worth you know you have?