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Dear Stan, Congratulations for making Gulzar Ahmed headline news in last week's GulfWeekly and I would like to acknowledge Ms Hanan's efforts for initiating the unique campaign on Facebook.

Most of us spot and appreciate things but rarely do we take steps to translate that positive experience on to a full size canvas.

I have been to Bahrain City Centre and was immediately floored by Gulzar's graciousness.

Kindly convey through the appropriate channels my thanks to Ms Hanan, the centre's GM Derek Rossel for the recognition of a prize asset in Mr Gulzar and credit to reporter Shilpa Chandran for the article

Hussein Jariwala,

Bahrain.

Dear Stan,

THE Awali Ladies Hospitality Group is pleased to announce the date for its annual craft fair. It's scheduled to be held on Saturday, November 7, at the Bapco Club in Awali.

The registration forms have already (by the ACF registrars Asma and Nita) been emailed to our previous valuable participants in the first week of September. New participants can obtain the forms from the club.

The Awali Craft Fair is our major fund raising event and the organising committee works extremely hard to organise it. The funds raised are donated to local charities throughout the year.

The charities that have benefited in 2009 so far are Bahrain Mobility International, the Palm Association Bahrain, Sneha, Gaza Women and Children, Hope institute, Helping Hands and BD2,500 worth of shopping vouchers went to needy families during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The Awali Craft Fair has a well earned reputation for offering good quality hand-crafted goods, displayed in a convenient and very pleasantly welcoming environment.

The Bapco Club is extremely accommodating in supplying the increasing number of tables for the craft fair (102 tables were booked last year) and generously provides refreshments to sustain the happy shoppers.

Please make sure you mark your calendars now, as I'm sure readers would be sorry to miss out on this annual and most popular festive shopping event.

Fatima Al Sayed, Awali Ladies Group chairperson, and Musarat Hashmi,

publicity officer.

Dear Stan,

Are you getting ready for this year's charitable and exciting Bahrain Marathon Relay? Then join us every Friday at 4.30pm at the Shaikh Khalifa Causeway (Hidd side) for a free run. The distance (3km) is well marked and timed but you need to bring your own water. The results will be sent through email to every individual/or team captain.

It's a way to monitor your progress until the big race which takes place at 10am on Friday, November 20, from the Bahrain International Circuit. Visit www.brt1.net for more details.

Adnan Al Qassab,

Event director.

Dear Stan,

Authentic success is different for each of us. No single definition fits all because we come in all sizes. I discovered a wonderful definition of authentic success inscribed on the headstone of a woman who died - 'the only pain she ever caused was when she left us'.

Authentic success is having time enough to pursue personal pursuits that bring you pleasure, time enough to care for your home, tend your garden, nurture your soil. Authentic success is knowing that if today were your last day on earth, you could leave without regret.

Authentic success is feeling focused and serene when you work, not fragmented. It knowing that you've done the best that you possibly can, no matter what circumstances you faced; it's knowing in your soul that the best you can do is all you can do, and that the best you can do is always enough.

Authentic success is accepting your limitations, making peace with your past, and reveling in your passions so that your future may unfold according to a Divine Plan. It's discovering and calling forth your gifts and offering them to the world to help heal its ravaged heart. It's making a difference in other lives and believing that if you can do that for just one person each day, through a smile, a shared laugh, a caress, a kind word, or a helping hand, blessed are you among women.

Authentic success is not just money in the bank but a contented heart and peace of mind.

It's earning what you feel you deserve for the work you do and knowing that you're worth it. Authentic success is paying your bills with ease, taking care of all your needs and needs of those you love, indulging some wants and having enough left over to save and share.

Authentic success is not about accumulating but letting go, because all you have is all you truly need. Authentic success is feeling good about who you are, appreciating where you've been celebrating your achievements and honoring the distance you've already come.

Authentic success is reaching the point where being is as important as doing. It's the steady pursuit of a dream. It's realising that no matter how much time it takes for a dream to come true in the physical world, no day is ever wasted.

It's elevating labour to a craft and craft to an art by bestowing love on every task you undertake.

Authentic success is knowing how simply abundant your life is exactly as it is today. Authentic success is being so grateful for the many blessings bestowed on you, and yours that you can share your portion with others.

Authentic success is living each day with a heart overflowing.

Angela Marquis, Bahrain.