Meeting datelines again...

Peace be to all... Last week had been an active week. Alhamdulillah ... I am now reflecting and looking at it from a 3rd person view. While waiting in a dark at my daughter's sch carpark. During my previous life abt a few months ago I wld be upset and angered w my daughter for not informing me that she will b later than usual.-  it is 9:30pm now and the school carpark do not have street lights.

However, I m ever in gratitude now that Allah has provided me a peaceful mind that has helped me find an alternative instead of getting angry. Alhamdulillah I was able to take the challenges; eventhough I m no longer working 9 to 5. I have the liberty to take projects that I love and feel will benefit me in my own development and so I had a dateline to meet last week and my laptop went dead twice! Yes after I sent it for service took it and it failed on me again. So I had to send it for repair again. Did I panicked - I need it to finish my project. Aaargh!!!

Alhamdulillah - I was grateful still cos I had another laptop to work on and was able to take my hard disk out of my laptop to continue my work. What I did was to ask the technician about my files in the laptop, whether I can retrieve it? She then helped me to take my hard disk out. To me that was the price for not getting angry-a clear mind to think and a solution to my predicament :)) Along the way, I learned many things that I had wanted to learn and worked things out to complete my project;

1. Challenges usually arised for you to pause and check what u r doing is right
2. To evaluate your work and seek His guidance so that u will not go astray
3. To provide you time to do your other 'responsibility' that u might have neglect bcos u r too engrossed
4. VERY IMPORTANT - do not rush - u tend to make lots of unnecessary mistakes when u rush
5. To look for altenatives to enjoy the break instead of feeling frustrated for not being able to continue with the task
6. Allah is Al-Wajid (The Resourceful) - how much time u have in your hand will not allow u to complete the task lest He provides u the resources and the ability to complete your task.

When my computer came back - the company home delivered it to me because it still under warranty - the delivery man asked me if I wished to fill up their complain form (because I had to send it for service twice). I declined, to me complaining is like a disease, it will stick to you and repeat it self. Whatever I write will be like a dua, a self-prophecy which I don't want to repeat, And so i thanked him and took my laptop just grateful that I got it back.

In retrospective, previously when I was an executive I wld just get angry and be at lost as how to continue w my work (at least for a while until - i was calm enuf to find a solution) and continously complain but do whatever i can still, until I got it back. So very unproductive and a waste of energy and time. The challenges kept coming back because i complained a lot instead of using the time to evaluate myself.

If there is such a thing as "stress is good" well it is not so for me - pushing away the choleric I once was. I m comfortable at being peacefully phlegmatic at this stage of my life. Rush will angered me and the devil will take opportunity to pounch on me and make me look out for faults. Adrenaline is only good for me when I am exercising ... it helps burn fats...hehehe... but it does not serve me well when I m doing work or maybe it does when the energy is used positively.

Complaining, is another devil that I don't wish to get involved with. Once you like it - it will stick to you like a leech and will keep sucking up until you kill it or remove it. I don't want to waste my time and energy in it so i don't indulge in it.

So what actually help me meet my dateline as usual is the thought that Allah will ease my journey, if what I am doing is meant for me to be successful in it. If not...then there are reasons that I know not and only He knows...All praise be to Allah - Alhamdulillah - may Allah provide me the wisdom to resolve my challenges rather than complaining. Ameeen.

Japanese boy teaches lesson in sacrifice

Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=467066&type=Opinion

Japanese boy teaches lesson in sacrifice
Created: 2011-3-24 0:17:31

EDITOR'S note:
THIS letter, written by Vietnamese immigrant Ha Minh Thanh working in Fukushima as a policeman to a friend in Vietnam, was posted on New America Media on March 19. It is a testimonial to the strength of the Japanese spirit, and an interesting slice of life near the epicenter of Japan's crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. It was translated by NAM editor Andrew Lam, author of "East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres." Shanghai Daily condensed it.

Brother,
How are you and your family? These last few days, everything was in chaos. When I close my eyes, I see dead bodies. When I open my eyes, I also see dead bodies.

Each one of us must work 20 hours a day, yet I wish there were 48 hours in the day, so that we could continue helping and rescuing folks.

We are without water and electricity, and food rations are near zero. We barely manage to move refugees before there are new orders to move them elsewhere.

I am currently in Fukushima, about 25 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant. I have so much to tell you that if I could write it all down, it would surely turn into a novel about human relationships and behaviors during times of crisis.

People here remain calm - their sense of dignity and proper behavior are very good - so things aren't as bad as they could be. But given another week, I can't guarantee that things won't get to a point where we can no longer provide proper protection and order.

They are humans after all, and when hunger and thirst override dignity, well, they will do whatever they have to do. The government is trying to provide supplies by air, bringing in food and medicine, but it's like dropping a little salt into the ocean.

Brother, there was a really moving incident. It involves a little Japanese boy who taught an adult like me a lesson on how to behave like a human being.

Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line. I was worried that by the time his turn came there wouldn't be any food left. So I spoke to him. He said he was at school when the earthquake happened. His father worked nearby and was driving to the school. The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father's car away.

I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn't make it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his relatives.
The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him. That's when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it up and gave it to him. "When it comes to your turn, they might run out of food. So here's my portion. I already ate. Why don't you eat it?"

The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn't. He took the bag of food, went up to where the line ended and put it where all the food was waiting to be distributed.
I was shocked. I asked him why he didn't eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered: "Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally."
When I heard that I turned away so that people wouldn't see me cry.

A society that can produce a 9-year-old who understands the concept of sacrifice for the greater good must be a great society, a great people.

Well, a few lines to send you and your family my warm wishes. The hours of my shift have begun again.
Ha Minh Thanh

In sickness or in health is still a blessing...

Peace be to all...the wonder of the technology is amazing...u can wish your friends who are sick to get well soon, birthdays and what nots without even meeting them or calling them. I am all for it - that is why I am so techno-friendly - definitely not a freak cos I can live without it and snuggle with a book instead.

I like it because i don't need to meet ppl or bother them on the phone and yet keep in touch. Hehehe ~ I like - I don't need to visit and bother you when you are sick and yet I can wish you well and ask you how you are doing. To me that is a blessing too bcos personally I dont like to meet ppl when I am sick ...it is so not comfortable.

Well just as the holidays looms it will be followed by the flu bugs...Alhamdullilah my family was able to escape many instances and I can count in one hand the number of times my children got fever or flu last year - once or maybe twice. And this year we were greeted with it in January...I m not complaining but as compared to others we are far more blessed. Added to that it usually dont last more than a week...so we are ever thankful. Especially since we took Mila (chia seeds) and bought it online from http://lifemax.net/saria we have been blessed with healthier food since. Alhamdulillah!
To me getting sick is still a blessing ...just about a month ago I was reading my friends FB updates and wishing them - get well soon...and at the back of my mind I was wondering when was the last time I caught a flu and feeling dreadful like they did...it seems ages and I was feeling bad for not feeling sick. Yeah! Crazy me! Well I remembered a saying that say sickness is for a way for Allah to test you and to bring you closer to Him...guess I was jealous. Hahaha...stupid jealousy...so in a way I was wishing to get sick? Guess what? My wish is His command? I got it...after looking after my feverish son for a day...He got well the day after without coughing or runny nose but my eldest daughter and me got the full blown flu but for a few days...well I guess that goes to show Allah knows we can endure better. It makes you appreciate your good health better, it reminded you of His many blessings giving you a painless body that allows you to move freely and doing your chores easily.

And yet i am ever thankful for all that, i know of someone who's family is suffering one sickness after another and yet they stood steadfast and stay positive throughout their challenges. The only examples I had seen in my family were my own parents and parent-in-law. Alhamdullilah...now that years had passed I could barely remembered the challenges that we faced, I supposed we were able to handle it and carry-on with our lives.

And as the clock turns...it will be soon our turn, insha'Allah I hope we will try our best to keep fit and stay healthy and not be a burden to our children and keep thinking of what to eat! Get a life! I dont really like it when ppl posted pictures of food on FB aren't there any better things to do than eat ... Food is what makes you...aahh... let's not talk about food - we eat to live.

My wish is to meet Him when I m in the best state of Iman (and in Health i.e. I did not cause any misgivings to my body bcos of what I ate or do to it), insha'Allah....Ameen...

May Allah provides us with good health to bring us closer to Him, insha'Allah...Ameeen....

First Posted in Multiply on Jan 21, '11

Resources
Health and Medicine in the Islamic Tradition: Change and Identity (Health/Medicine and the Faith Traditions)

The Magic of Chia: Revival of an Ancient Wonder Food

Link to Chia Seeds and its benefits http://lifemax.net/saria/mila