Monday, September 21, 2009

Salam Lebaran






Salam Lebaran, Eid Mubarak, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri....

I'm already missing Ramadhan. School has taken up a SIGNIFICANT portion of my time of late and Ramadhan had made me realize that I can still do more on top of school work - if i put my mind and heart to it.

I was challenged to memorize a new surah from the Quran this past Ramadhan. Seeing how I barely went for the nightly Taraweeh prayers, let alone read the Quran, I was tempted to tell him "Not this Ramadhan. I'm busy." And with barely two weeks left to Eid (and countless quizzes), it was impossible. However, putting school ahead of the things I should be engaging in in the holy month of Ramadhan would not be the right (and wise) thing for me to do. Deep down, I had a feeling there's a reason behind this self-thought of mine. I was in a crossroad and had two paths to take. I had to choose and despite me not being a spontaneous person, I said yes.

And I chose surah Ar-Rahman - a couple of pages, confusing verses but very poetic. I fell in love with this surah when I was younger - when going to the mosque would never affect my grades or projects or assignments. I remember being forced to wake up at 330am to perform the Tahajjud prayers when some would fall asleep while praying - me being one of those embarassed few. It was during this time when kids several years older than me would take turns to be the imam and this surah simply caught my attention. Nine years later, with barely two weeks to Eid, not afraid of "overloading" my schedules, why not?

And alhamdulillah, I managed to accomplish (give and take small confusions) what I thought was impossible. Ramadhan has taught me that one should never use religion as an excuse for one's lack of time in worldly issues. For every 5 minutes of prayers, I would have spent 15 or more minutes writing entries. And for every entry that I write, I would have spent twice the amount of time thinking and typing and backspacing. Let's not forget the time spent on Facebook, Soccernet and highlights after highlights of the match between Manchester United and Manchester City.

I guess all Im trying to say is that there's a million and one thing to blame for one's lack of time - Let it not be religion. And that if you really put your heart and mind to something, you can do it.

There's a lingering question though - Why can I never memorize simple formulas for modules like Soil Mechanics and Fluid Mechanics?? grrr...


2 comments:

Duncan said...

How very true this is. I think we all do it. We make excuses for things we should be doing and say we are too busy. We rationalize putting off those things by downplaying their importance or saying we'll do it "later." I think leisure time is important in order to maintain our sanity but oftentimes we take it too far.

Just remember, you don't want to be that old man on the bench wishing you did the things you put off for tomorrow. Because tomorrow never comes.

Keep writing!

marzuki said...

Perhaps like Amelie, that old man's just too afraid of the what lies ahead. The old man knows that he needs to "step out of my comfort zone and look directly at myself".

I've exactly 555 days to my 8583rd day. But then again, do i? Put it simply, it's hard. haha.

Here's a conversation in the movie Amelie:

Raymond Dufayel: Is she in love with him?

Amélie: Yes.

Raymond Dufayel: The time has come for her to take some real risks.

Amélie: Well yes, she's thinking about it. She's thinking of a stratagem.

Raymond Dufayel: Yes, she likes stratagems, doesn't she?

Amélie: Yes.

Raymond Dufayel: She's a bit of a coward. That's why I have trouble with her eyes.