:: It ain’t no use putting up your umbrella till it rains ~ Alice Caldwell Rice ::

Walking around with an open umbrella when it’s not raining doesn’t make any sense. But how often do we allow the umbrella of worry to block the sunshine of delight from warming our hearts?

Trials and tribulations are a part of life. In the extreme view, Soichiro Honda once said, success is 99% failure. We always heard from time to time that: to be successful, you must be brave enough to fail. So i wondered, what it is about failing that can make us a success? How can we use our failure, our struggles to be successful? Yes friends, u know the magic word: BE OPTIMIST!

In the Quran, Allah reminds us: Do people think that they will not be tested once they say they have accepted Allah’s message and committed themselves to it? (29:2). But, with this clear warning of the difficulties in life, Allah also gives hope to his faithful servants. Allah says: Did We not open your breast, and remove from you the burden that [almost] broke your back? Did We not exalt your name far and wide? Indeed, with every hardship there is ease; indeed, with every hardship there is ease. (94:1-6). 

And also, a scientific researh done in Harvard that followed the lives of 99 students from the age of 25 found that those who were initially classified as optimists at that young age were significantly healthier at the ages of 45 and 60. 

So, why worry? Embrace your failures, get back on your feet, learn from it and do it with a conviction that the failures we met are meant for us to be successful!  Seek out the light of optimism and hope. Pack up that umbrella of worry and doubt. Save it for a rainy day!

Source: jemima's journal, motivational-articles, islamic education

Life is like a cup of coffee

I read somewhere that life is like a cup of coffee.. and i loved it!  Here it goes.. 

Life is like a cup of coffee. Coffee is bitter but almost everyone loves it. Life has many suffering but almost everyone loves to have life. People add sugar and milk to coffee to make it less bitter. Everyone adds variety to life to make life less boring and suffering.

Life Is like a cup of coffee. Coffee is so additive. Those who drink coffee everyday cannot live a day without coffee. Life is additive as none of us is willing to give up life.

Life is like a cup of coffee. To enjoy a cup of coffee, you must enjoy every sip. To enjoy life, you must enjoy everyday of your life.

Life is like a cup of coffee. Sometimes you like to drink coffee alone and sometimes in a group. Life is the same. Sometimes you like to be alone and sometimes with your loved ones.

Life is like a cup of coffee. There are many types of coffee just like there are many different types of life.

Life is like a cup of coffee. Coffee tastes best when it is hot. Same for your life. You are enjoying life when you are "hot" in luck, "hot" among your friends and "hot" in your career. Being "hot" is like the afternoon sun, strongest and brightest part of your whole life.

Coffee, anyone?

Faults

Everybody has something that is unique in them : their own faults. Mine... is a lot. 

I am human, i am not perfect. I admit that i have done wrong, i might have hurt people along the way, i have made people cried, i have left people behind, i have hide the truth from people. But, by admitting my mistakes, am i saying that i wont do them again? I can surely try my best, but i can't promise. What i can promise is: i will learn from my mistakes. I will transform the negative experience to a useful learning experience. Yes i will!

After all, Elbert Hubbard said "Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones of genius". I want to be a genius.. how about you? And i promise that i will forgive myself, I wont dwell into my mistakes, i will move on, knowing that should the same situation happens in the future, i will handle it more geniusly. I wont let the guilt from  past mistakes to eat me up.

Above all, i will constantly remind myself that Allah will helps lighten my burden of guilt. "Allah would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak" (4:28). Our Prophet once said  "All of Adam’s descendants constantly err, but the best of those who constantly err are those who constantly repent". Don't this just blow your mind? Indeed he is the Most Generous.. Allah forgives us for all mistakes we do no matter how many there are as long as we asked for the forgiveness! so, dont be too hard on yourself.. dont be too hard on other people.. be generous.. forgive and be forgiven!

Try, try again

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.~ Theodore Roosevelt (1).

This quote is what willpower is all about. To put your convictions into practice, you must first have willpower.  It takes willpower for a person to do something arduous. Likewise, it takes willpower for him to shun temptation. 

For me, the questions to be asked are: how to cultivate willpower and how to strengthen it on a daily basis?  I remembered when I first learn to ride bicycle, I fell down numerous times, get on the pedal countless times over until I finally get it right. That, my friend was willpower at its simplest. Indeed, the greatest exemplar of willpower was our beloved Prophet Muhammad. To live to Prophet’s example may be a bit too hard for me though, but, what we can learn from the great stories of our Prophet is that great triumph can be achieved in the times of adversity-only if we have the willpower to endure the hardships. 

In short, developing and strengthening willpower needs:  positive thinking, confidence of realizing you can do what you set your mind to, consistency and knowing that there will be reward for our effort. After all, Allah promised us that no effort will go wasted. ‘Indeed, this is for you a reward, and your effort has been appreciated.’” (Qur’an, 76:22). SubhanAllah. Isn't it great? Sometimes we deal with Allah as though He doesn’t know about the worry we feel, the stress, the striving. When we fail to see the results of our effort, we think that we failed and that it was a waste of time. But Allah (swt) tells us: “And never is your Lord forgetful…” (Qur’an, 19:64)(2). Thus, the littlest of our effort WILL be rewarded, and it gets me thinking: how about if our effort is a lot? Then, yes! A lot of rewards!!

In view of the above, when one thing in our lives doesnt work out the way we want it to be, it must not make us feel down for an extended period of time because we know that even a single effort we made is rewarded-as long as it is for the betterment of ourselves. Isnt it beautiful? We dont have to be successful at it, we just have to try and put effort! What can be more meaningful than Allah's reward? So, dont let yourself defeated internally! come on friends.. let's strive! 

*sources:(1) quotationspage.com (2)suhaibwebb.com

Let's learn with me!

This blog will light my way up the path of wisdom and confidence. I vowed to be better everyday. I pledged to be a better muslimah.  This is my views on life, the struggles, the success and how i see it. Come on friends.. learn with me and let's be better together!