Bismillah....

Convo..

Now, we are on our way to attend Fatin's convocation day at UiTM Seri Iskandar, Perak. We kick off around 5.30 p.m and expected to arrive approximately on 2 or 3 in the morning. So, basically the duration takes about 9 hours from here to there.
Indeed- such a long trip.

Merryn Choong had said in her book; Enriching American Homestay that: " We should expect the unexpected" .
For us, something unexpected really happen this time.
Around 9.30 p.m, our vehicle suddenly 'coughing' (if that's the correct term) and it feel (just OK) at first but gradually this 'coughing' syndrome become obvious until my dad had to park at the side of road to check the condition.
Honestly, every second stretch too long for me and the first tickling to the second felt like a years.

I really worried whenever had to think if we can't reach our destination due to this problem.
Dad begins to scrutinize the engine condition by pulling up the passenger seat beside the driver.
I just watched eagerly and prayed to God by hoping no harm detected.
And yes! No harm ( or actually nothing peculiar showed up) during the internal part check up.
I didn't know whether to feel grateful or depressed by this finding.
But still..,
I kept quiet and let the authority person did their job.

After about 10 mins passed...
My dad ignited the engine and decided to continue our journey right away.
Again..
I shut my mouth and followed his instruction.
Then, someone whom we known as 'egocentric' kid showed off and 'buat- buat tahu' about everything.
He condemning about the engine..,
He blamed the technician.
Etc.

Lesson

Lesson Learnt:
- We must have a knowledge (or at least) the basic information on how 'the things' work which included the basic principle or mechanism.
- Makes really good preparation before our journey.
- Be visionary ( You know, I hope I'm doing my licensed whenever I have that opportunity- After SPM, my mother asked me to do so, but I'm objected because  I want to work and fend myself, I do not like this driving class whatsoever)- And I'm regret.
Now- I'm craving for D- class license....

Until I'm writing this., we are still on our way and pray 4 the best.

Bismillah....

Sebelum Melafaz Akad Sakinah Part 1:

Artikel ini sedikit serius dan lebih berfokus dan terarah kepada golongan muda- mudi zaman kini.
Berkaitan perspektif dan pandangan dalam persediaan ke arah rumah tangga.

Jom Nikah?

Berapa ramai daripada kita yang betul- betul memahami, faham dan mendalami kalimat dan slogan ini.
Saya kira, rata- ratanya mengangguk dan mengiyakan kononnya kita faham.
Persoalan disini, benarkah kita faham ataupun (sebenarnya) buat- buat faham?

Nikah/ Perkahwinan- Bukan Hal Mainan

Semua sedia maklum bahawa ini adalah satu proses transisi daripada bujang kepada bekeluarga, dari single pada berdua dan seterusnya dari satu keluarga menjadi dua keluarga.
Adakah sekadar disitu, atau lebih lagi?
Jawapannya bergantung kepada anda yang melihat perkahwinan itu dari perspektif 'apa' sebenarnya.

Sama ada kita sedari ataupun tidak, masyarakat Melayu (To be specific) sangat excited bila menyentuh isu perkahwinan, Bagi remaja, perkara pertama yang terlintas adalah penyatuan dua jiwa antara 'Aku dan dia' serta menghalalkan ikatan 'couple' yang dijalinkan selama ini.
Sekadar itu.

Lebih Mendalam

Benar apa yang kita fikirkan, perkahwinan umpama tiket yang menghalalkan hubungan antara lelaki dan wanita dimana mereka boleh bahu membahu menjadi support kepada satu sama lain dan seterusnya mengadun kasih semahunya.
Tetapi, disebalik itu semua tersimpan satu lagi perkara yang lebih penting bernama tanggungjawab:

Tanggungjawab kepada diri sendiri:
'Perbaiki diri anda dan ajaklah orang lain', itulah kata- kata yang sering diungkapkan oleh hukama dalam kitab- kitab lama dimana penekanan 'Perbaiki diri anda' itu diletakkan paling hadapan.
Diri sendiri- Apa yang kita benar- benar faham tentang diri sendiri?

Bayangkan analoginya begini:
Anda merupakan pelajar kolej yang hanya menerima wang PTPTN sebanyak RM1500/ RM3000 / semester dan seterunya perlu membayar pelbagai tuntutan termasuk yuran pengajian, bayaran asrama/ rumah sewa etc. 

1. Dalam masa yang sama, prioriti anda terbahagi menjadi 3/ 4 pecahan:
1. Untuk study
2. Untuk diri sendiri
3. Untuk keluarga
4. Untuk rakan- rakan (bersosial)
Antara semua list keutamaan diatas, yang manakah anda letakkan sebagai first choice?

Study?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

BOHONG

Tidak, saya tidak yakin dengan jawapan tersebut.
Kadangkala kita 'hanya' merasakan yang kita utamakan pelajaran.
Tapi cuba kita sama- sama tanya kepada diri..

Siapa yang study last minute?
Siapa yang buka nota hanya bila perkataan exam keluar dari mulut lecturer?
Siapa yang hanya fokus bila final 2, 3 minggu lagi sebelum menjelma?
Siapa yang saban malam menonton movie hingga pagi?
Siapa sebenarnya?

Jika benar yang kita betul mengutamakan pelajaran...
Rasanya minggu pertama kuliah lagi, ulangkaji dimulakan, minggu pertama lagi kita bersungguh seakan esoklah first paper..
So, how?
Masih lagi menyatakan yang pelajaran didahulukan, pencapaian diutamakan?

2. Perbelanjaan kepada diri sendiri:
We still discussing the same topic which really correlate with the first one.

Bagaimana kita menguruskan perbelanjaan sehari- hari, adakah wang pinjaman pengajian yang didapati benar- benar cukup untuk diri kita?
So, RM1500- Biasanya untuk keluarga yang berpendapatan sederhana- Nilai ini adalah mencukupi untuk menampung perbelanjaan selama sebulan jika mereka punyai anak yang sedikit dan seorang isteri.

Jadi sekarang, kita bertanya kepada diri- Adakah wang pinjaman tadi benar- benar kita 'uruskan' dengan bijak hingga boleh bertahan hingga 2/ 3 bulan lamanya?
(Highlight: Hanya kita seorang)
Adakah budget kita ( at least  ) satu hari RM10 saban hari tercapai?

3. Fe'il/ Akhlak:
Kadangkala disebut sebagai adab ataupun sikap.
Bagaimana layanan kita kepada kedua orang tua?
Adakah kita mampu memenuhi semua permintaan mereka yang asalnya memang mampu kita laksanakan.
Adakah kita masih lagi mudah melenting jika ditegur atau disuruh berkali- kali?
Bagaimana tingkah dan bahasa kita ketika bersosial dengan rakan- rakan diluar?
Solat kita berapa tiang agaknya?

4. Pengurusan Diri:
Pernah tak anda menonton video Mat Luthfi bertajuk Drama- drama sebelum nikah?
Jika belum, saya cadangkan anda singgah sekejap dan bergelaklah sepuasnya.
Okay..
So, Paling mudah, bagaimana keadaan bilik anda ketika dan saat ini?
Adakah kemas?
Dan bagaimana pula dengan kehadiran anda ke kelas?
Baju bergosok atau baju 'bersarung' saja?

5. Matang:
Which one do you prefer?
1. Video Game
2. Marathon Movie
3. Futsal all night long ( 3 consecutive days in a row)
4. Hang out ( All day and all night long) (24/7)

Jika anda mampu untuk tidak terasa dengan mana- mana option di atas, tahiah saya ucapkan!
Anda telah 30% bersedia untuk melangkah ke alam pernikahan.
Aiiik! Thi-rty Per--cent jrk?
Yes It is.

Disebalik semua ini
Tiada apa yang salah sebenarnya jika kita sangat excited bila menyentuh hal- hal yang berkaitan dengan perkahwinan.

Seriously. 
Nothing wrong with it.
In fact, it is a brilliant and ingenious thing to say.
It's a sign- We are looking forward for something good.
Something that our religion really encourage us to do.
So, whats the problem?

Saya mohon maaf jika ada yang beranggapan seolah- olah kita mengejar kesempurnaan.
Tidak sama sekali...
Artikel ini lebih untuk peringatan kepada kita semua bahawa perkahwinan itu bukan hanya satu halatuju saja iaitu untuk sweet- sweet dan menghalalkan hubungan antara 2 insan.
Malah, ianya lebih advance dan terkehadapan lagi dari itu semua.

Pernikahan ini realitinya adalah satu 'pintu' yang membawa kita ke satu lagi bahagian hidup yang penuh dengan cabaran dan dugaan.
- Dugaan yang memerlukan persiapan yang kemas dan kemahiran ala- ala profesional dalam bidang masing- masing.
- Dugaaan yang menuntut kita kuat dan turut menguatkan pasangan kita nanti.
- Dugaan yang memaksa kita menjadi visionary yang boleh mengagak apa yang akan terjadi hasil dari keputusan- yang diputuskan.
- Dugaan yang menuntut kita mejadi qudwah ataupun ikutan kepada legasi kita nanti.
- Dugaan yang akan membotakkan seorang lelaki dari kepala sampai ke buku lalinya.
- Dugaan untuk menerangkan beza antara jahiliyah moden dengan moden sebenar kepada anak- anak kita.
- Dugaan yang mungkin menyebabkan kita tidak mampu tidur malam kerana memikirkannya.
- Dugaan- dugaan lain: Yang kita sendiri boleh fikirkan.

Kawan- kawan...
Ramai yang melaungkan Baitul Muslim tanpa memahami apakah erti sebenar akan baitul muslim itu sendiri.
Maaf! Saya sendiri mungkin bukan ahli dalam menerangkannya.
Namun,...
Percayalah!
Baitul Muslim telah bermula saat kita belum melafazkan akad sakinah itu lagi.
Ia bermula dengan pembinaan diri kita dalam melampiaskannya kepada generasi muslim seterusnya.

Generasi kita?
Insha Allah

Sekian.

Footnote:
Baitul Muslim

Greeting to all...

Previous: Artificial Happiness

True Happiness

We've learned about the popular misconception of happiness on the previous article.
So now, I introduced you to the true meaning of happiness based on the research conducted by the psychologists & social scientists worldwide.

For people continually trapped in consumerism and materialism, true happiness will forever be an unattainable goal. For what creates lasting happiness has a lot to do with a sense of purpose and meaning in life.

In his book, Authentic Happiness, psychologist Martin Seligman says that engagement (involvement with family, work, hobbies) and meaning (using personal strength to serve some larger end) are more significant factor to happiness than the pursuit of pleasure.

Study after study shows that true happiness is not founded on what is normally considered marks of prestige or pleasure. Money (and all that money can buy) does not contribute to lasting happiness. Neither does a good education or youth.

Resilience, however, can pave the way to happiness. "Happy people are hugely resilient on the whole", says Dan Baker, PhD, a medical psychologist in Arizona, who has written a book titled, What Happy People Know.

That could be why older people (who have probably developed more resilience), seem on the whole to be more satisfied with life than young people are.

Research shows that mild to moderate doses of negative experience are beneficial to growth and development. Studies have shown that animals that were moderately stressed when young fared better as adults in recovering from stress. Difficult situations have made them more resilient by giving them opportunities to practise bouncing back from traumatic events.

Studies of people who are undergone life- altering trauma reveal a similiar resiliency. Those who lose their limbs to devastating accidents tend to bounce bank in due time. One study found that those who were injured in accidents felt severely angry and victimized after the first week. However, after 8 weeks, most revealed that happiness was their strongest emotion- a situation that demonstrate how adaptable the human mind can be.

Ronnie Janoff- Bulman, PhD, a psychologist at the university of Massachusetts, conducted a study comparing the well- being of lottery winners versus person who had become suddenly paralysed. She found that following the initial euphoria of their newfound wealth, the lottery winners were no happier than the accident victims.

The paralysed individual had to adjust to the shock of their new physical limitation, but after this distress had eased, they were much better able to appreciate the small pleasures and victories of life than those who were overnight millionaires and they felt more optimistic about the future.

Such studies prove that happiness is not necessarily tied to circumstance, but to the 'interpretation' we give to that circumstance.

As Baker says, "One thing happy people know is that they don't get to be happy all the time. They can appreciate the moments. little victories, the small miracles and the relationships with one another".

And as Forbes.com article says, "Part of the meaning of life is to have high and lows. A life that was constantly happy was not good life."

Studies also show that those who are spiritually and communally involved tend to be experience more frequently positive emotions and an overall sense of satisfaction with life. What accentuates this satisfaction is the sense of purpose and larger context that religions belief provide.

American billionaire CEO, Thomas Monaghan founder of Domino's Pizza, traded materialism for true happiness when he made his religious faith the centre of his life. Monaghan sold Domino's Pizza for US$ 1 billion in 1998 and now focused on philanthropy and his faith.

Domino's

In a rare interview with USA Today,he revealed that he went through an unfulfilling materialistic phase when he became rich. He bought 'antique' cars, yachts and The Detroit Tigers baseball team'.

When asked which part of his life has been more enjoyable: getting rich or giving it away, he replied: "I enjoyed Domino's, but don't miss it at all. This is much more fulfilling. I had to get rich to see being rich is not important. I always believed that intellectually. I had to experience it. I was brought up poor and I was embarrassed of my threadbare clothes and hole in my shoes.I had to get that out from my system".

GETTING RICH MIGHT BE ENJOYABLE BUT GIVING IT AWAY IS FULFILLING.

Credit:
The Happiness Factor
CAP Guide
2006

Bismillah...

Greeting to all..

As you know, I'll sit for my MUET Examination this saturday, so I try to make an essay about "People Are Becoming More Materialistic".

If you find any mistakes including grammar or whatsoever, please correct it in the comment section.

Thankz.

Give me how many starts that I should get (Total 5 starts).

Thus, I can improve my style of writing.

Thankz.

Materialism

"People are becoming more materialistic. They are concerned with making more money and what money can buy. "What is your opinion on being materialistic? You should write at least 350 words.

In a demographic nowadays, we can see many people becoming more materialistic & live their life like money is everything. Some of them says that cash is the king; when you have money, you can conquer the world. Is it true? Did material can give us the truth satisfactory in life?

     When we try to make contemplation & compare today's society with the 90's century community. We'll realise that actually, our people have a crisis of misconception of happiness. Many of them are being persuaded by the hedonism culture from the West. Based on them, your life satisfaction are the priority where you should spent whatever you have to go to the club, drink alcohol or at some extent, taking the Marijuana to reach the peak of euphoria. That's why they keep repeating the same loop which is to make money and spent it to enjoyment.

     Besides, the ads on television also playing a role to shape our people to be more materialistic. If we look scropulously, we'll realise that all of the ads educate our people to be updated by changing their gadget's model to the latest one, albeit it is in a good condition. They try to manipulate people's mindset by spent as many as they can to fulfil this unrelavant dogma. As a result, their cash keep flowing out & they achieve higher quantity of material but no quality of life.

     Malala Yousafzai, one of the young activist of education at Pakistan has said that, " Education is the building block of people's success, if they gain education, they afford to change their life". Unfortunately, we can't deny many Malaysian (Malay especially) really lack of education in financial strategy. They'll spend really hard to almost everything they capable until nothing left for themselves. Whether we realised it or not, this kind of paradigma leads our people astray. They already been categorized as materialistic based on the fact that they possessed too many things that not necessary.

     Last but not least, the plastic money trend makes the circumstance become more worse than before. This point of view really correlate with the previous explanation regarding to education. The plastic money or credit card really potential to train people to be more wise but also materialistic at the same time. For those, who really love to go shopping here and there, their habit of loving thing'll be more chronic and cancerous. This occurs because the principle of plastic money is, "Buy first, pay later". So, when only material can be seen, they'll purchase everything.

     In a nutshell, we must realise that the truth concept of life is to spent a quality time with family & contribute for community. Material is the way to achieve it and not the other way round.

Bismillah...
Greeting to all..

Don't lose your composure?

What we meant by composure?
Composure or self- composure really synonym to calmness, relax or cool.
So, in other word.,
Don't lose your cool.

Self- Composure

Okay.,
Actually this recent two, three days I've talked and discussed a lot of things with my friend regarding with various kind of issues. And in the middle of our conversation, she touched this topic.

If this ever happen to you?
1. You have work very hard to achieve something . You doubled even tripled up your effort to make sure you'll gain what ya really want in life. 
But, at one point- you failed to do so.. 
and to make it worse, your performance resemblance like you've done nothing..
Worse than ever..
Really terrible.

2. You was doing your Power Point Presentation on the laptop and suddenly this suffocated glimpse rush in to you.
"Ohh God! I forgot, I've a test today."
You looked at your watch.
"Damn, just 3 mins left before it begins."
So, you quickly sleep your laptop and just grabbed whatever belonging that you manage to reach then rush to the examination hall.
Then, when you finished answer the test, you realized something.
- Your motorcycle key at the motor's ignition.
- You forgot to lock up your room ( even didn't turn off the iron ).

3. You make a good preparation to give a speech at the public.
Some says that when your rehearsal is perfect, so everything will be 'just okay'.
So, when the emcee encore your name, you walked straightly to the podium.
You start to open your mouth to speak up what you should.
Everything goes perfectly well until someone at the back suddenly yelling and screaming your name like crazy.
You've been provocated and your memory abruptly shut down!
BLANK!
"What supposely I say next?"
You lost your track, albeit you've trained very well.

So, guys do you catch a glimpse of what I wanted to tell you?
Can't you figure out yourself what actually composure means?

So, why this 'losing of composure happen to some but not to all?'
Can we sense it first before it attack us?
What are the ways to overcome and hindrance its effect?

Okay..
Cont. to PART 2..
Composure? It's Okay ...