STOP! Love Is No Poker Game

By Korine Hazan

A set of thirteen little stories telling us how we gamble our lives, our health, our finances and our evolution, with our love stories. Poker is a game of chance and strategy. Yet, a whole world hides behind this game where players reveal their character rather than their ability to wield the rules. Some will hope that their prayers will be answered, while others will be convinced that luck is on their side. There is the ones that calculate thoroughly and the ones that cheat, the defeatists and the dreamers, and so on. Little stories that might reveal who we
are and how we understand the rules of the game. Winners or losers, victims or tormentors? Is it really destiny that throws the bet?

Korine Hazan, a woman, mother, artist, entrepreneur and activist, is animated by an unwavering faith for the greatness of the human being. She uses these different aspects of her personality which coexist and intertwine, her experience of several cultures in which she lived and the practices observed in others to put it all at the service of our time, expressing it in a single voice: hers. She tells stories with the beat of our time, wishing to create a simple reflection, useful for those who believe they have a say in shaping the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Korine Hazan
• Release date: Aug 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781773029917

Book preview

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STOP!

Love Is No Poker Game

Korine Hazan

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Being chosen

Chapter 2

Victims of destiny

Chapter 3

All bets are in!

Chapter 4

The Cinderella syndrome

Chapter 5

The trap

Chapter 6

Being right

Chapter 7

You, me and them

Chapter 8

Trickery

Chapter 9

For ever, my love!

Chapter 10

The way it is!

Chapter 11

Who said so?

Chapter 12

It’s not enough!

Chapter 13

Love hurts!

Acknowledgements

I will start by thanking life, which means acknowledging all the people that I have met. I have had the privilege to meet so many people, and in different ways, each one of them has influenced who I have become.

I am grateful for my parents and my grandparents, and my family. Some more than others left a significant impact on me and on my journey. Most have no clue how much I deeply love them.

My brother, I waited for him for so long.

My two children, without whom I would have never have known my strengths, and most of all, I would never have experienced such profound love. I have learned so much because of them and there is much more to come.

I also wish to thank my husbands... all four of them. There is so much I would not understand and I would not know without them. Am I being sarcastic? Probably a little, but the truth is that if I had not learned, understood and ponder on what they did and did not contribute to my life, and what I gave and did not give, today I would have nothing much to say on the subject.

My friends. Some were there for a moment, others have always been there, but knowing them has been a gift. I am so grateful to them for their encouragement, their support and their guidance… And a special credit for those whom contributed to the fulfilment of this book. Thank you all for being in my life.

My eight stepchildren will always hold a special place in my heart.

My business experiences and my business partners. When we look closer we can see many similarities between what we experience in the matter of the heart and our business.

All those writers, thinkers, philosophers that have inspired me deeply and taught me to think. And, all those paintings, shows, trips, books that helped me learn so much and nourished many of my dreams.

And, a very special acknowledgement to my Love, the man I share my life with. The one who believes in me. The one who always encourages me to reach my dreams, no matter what they are. A generous, honest, real and loyal man who never tries to cut off my wings.

THANK YOU.

About the book

This book features a series of short stories: Love stories. Why publish another book on this subject? Simply because there is much to say and not everything has been said.

There are so many different experiences and so many different outcomes that are always exceptional for each and every one of us, leaving us with much more to understand.

Have you ever had a broken heart? Probably.

How many times? Once? Twice? Ten times?

Never? If that is the case you are an exception...

This book is for those who have had a broken heart, those who broke hearts and those who survived both. The fact is that we are part of a huge community.

The baby-boomer generation, the hippies, changed many things: peace and love, and freedom. This formula was meant to be the end of relationships that did not work. Beautiful idea, but not the magical formula to resolve the challenges of our love stories.

It did not get any better with the following generations. Pity, we were supposed to have a better world. To be able to change the outcome, changes need to be made at the source. The source is us, humans beings, therefore it is the only place to start.

What a captivating subject, and so profoundly important. So many people hope to find a life partner while they endure loneliness. We start looking for our soulmate at a very young age and we do not understand that our hormones are the main driving force of this quest. We go on a crusade, eager to discover the extraordinary world of love, without preparation or knowledge of human behaviour. We are young and we do not know how we function, acting like aliens falling in love with other types of aliens. Our impulses govern our future and we do not understand when things go wrong.

Later, we want a second chance. We know we made mistakes the first time around and we are confident, thinking that we know how to do better the second time. Sometimes, we do.

Time goes by and if sometimes our romantic relationship fails again, we dream of the possibility of one last chance. We rush; there is no time to waste, life moves fast. But where is that soulmate, and what do we need to do to find her or him? It does happen that we finally get what we want since past experiences are beginning to bear fruit.

Some people will not risk being hurt again and prefer solitude, others lie and act like they are not hurting. We also see those who are dying inside because they hurt too much and a few need no one; they are rare but they do exist.

Even science explains that we are social beings and we blossom when our surroundings are nurturing. We cannot help it, we will keep looking for the person of our dreams, the one who will love us as we are and will be able to love us enough to allow us to become who we want to be. In return, we will love them passionately.

It might seem we ask a lot, but we deserve a lot. Intuitively, we know that we are exceptional beings. So why not live exceptional lives? This is why we have a huge appetite for obtaining everything we wish for and afterwards enjoy giving back as much as we are able to. What a beautiful prospect! So why are so many of us often frustrated and most of the time disappointed or even angry! We do see happy couples, but the number is small compared to the number of disillusioned ones.

This book is designed for a quick and easy reading. Its mission is to encourage inquiry and generate insights on all the misconceptions we have when we look for love. For centuries, we have been influenced by so many legends, and now is the time to expose them so we can hopefully be free from their grip...

When we observe what leads to all those broken hearts, we can see that there is a thread, a recurring element that surely plays a huge part towards the success or failure of our love stories.

Those stories greatly influence our lives on many levels. Those same stories are being used and exploited by soap operas, movies and novels that fill our brain with sad love stories, for the simple reason that drama sells. Yet, in the real world, our love stories color our lives, our careers, and our health, as well as the lives of those around us and of those following us.

Our failures in love can have strong after effects on us such as failed potential, depression, development of a mental illness, financial ruin, children drifting, physical illness and more. The assessments of all the probable impacts demonstrate the importance of our love stories since they are the center of our lives and the lives of the people close to us. They shape families, society, and even an entire culture.

So what is this thread that binds these broken hearts? The indicator will be obvious by end of this book.

These short stories and their characters are fictional. They are inspired by real facts we can identify with here and there, although their outcome is not out of the ordinary. They are interesting because they are not actors in romantic novels. What those invented heroes go through is very real. They are people of our time, from here or elsewhere. Only a few typical examples since the goal is not to be redundant. In a world where everything moves fast, this book’s goal is to be short, simple and direct.

Note that very little time is spent on the exceptions. The fact is that there are always exceptions, which are very uplifting and comforting. The objective here is to create a pathway to an inquiry that will be beneficial, regardless of what stage we are at in our love life.

We live in extraordinary times. When we pay attention and examine History, it becomes obvious that our world has never been better and there are many statistics proving it. The problems that are not yet resolved are blinding us to the fact that we are living in the best times. We have learned to master and make fire, we eradicated terrible diseases, we can fly around the world and we all carry a pocket computer that is more powerful than anything used to send a man to the Moon. So it is time to take control of our love stories, to reflect and to be open to discovering what could be the source of our difficulties.

Challenges make us grow. So it is not what is to blame. Something else is at play and this is what we intend to discover.

After the thirteenth chapter, you will find a questionnaire. Do not be afraid to be truthful with yourself, since no one will be able to see your answers. By being honest and responsible, your answers will reveal your thinking process. It will then be impossible for you not to see what is to be seen and that is part of the gift of this book.

Judgment is totally useless in this instance. Be kind to yourself without lying and strive to understand who we really are, how we function and how we can move forward. Feeling guilty is also a waste of time. Whatever you will find out, the reward will undoubtedly be in the discovery.

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us

— Socrates

About the author

Korine Hazan is a perfect example of the artist entrepreneur with all the various aspects of such a combination. She invested herself in different professions that were always a response to a need and a calling of the heart.

She first learned discipline, determination and transcendence through ballet and her years of study and teaching at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Then she discovered, to her amazement, a strong interest in the business world. She first got involved in design and sale in the shoes business, and had to reorient herself, after 5 years in Asia. This is when she discovered an interest in construction and interior design. In business for twenty-five years, she enjoys creating interiors that embellish people’s lives and paintings that enhance the interiors.

Meanwhile, since she obtained her College degree (DEC) in psychology, she has continued to advance and discover what personal growth makes available. Years of participation and development have allowed her to use all the tools acquired to face the many surprises of life.

She first danced stories, then watched and translated stories by giving them form and expression in many homes. Afterwards, it is with the brush that she began to describe the emotions created by the stories. Now, she tells stories according to the rhythm of our time, wishing to generate a simple and useful reflection.

Chapter 1

Being chosen

Peter says:

I am in love, totally, completely in love with you. I have been looking for you for so long, where were you hiding all of my life? I’ve never seen a woman as beautiful as you are; you’re such a beautiful sight! We’re the same. We like the same things and we have the same dreams... Oh my darling! I’ve been looking for you for so long.

When I’m with you, I’m a better man and I feel like nothing can stop me. The effect you have on me is so surprising, I don’t recognize myself. Come, finish your drink and let’s go, I want to make love to you, again and again.

Sarah thinks:

He’s so wonderful and he loves me. And I make him better. I can really do that for him? We’ve been looking for each other for so long. At last, at last, someone sees me, he sees me! Oh yes, I’ll finish my drink and I want to be in his arms and feel his love, we will be one.

Peter says:

You know my love, those few hours without you were insanely painful. I’ve never felt this with anyone. I’ve always been someone quite independent. I