Grazie mille.

Today is one of those beautiful days where I could think nothing but all sorts of goodness. And more importantly, I feel like I owe people and things around me many thank yous. For a reason or without.

So there, I shall thank you all wonderful souls for being part of my life- knowing you is a joy ;-)

Amidst this silence, I am especially thankful to God for letting me savor this moment of gratitude and thus able to spread His message of Love with everyone else. There is so much to be thankful about when you really think about it. For Islam and knowing its beautiful essence, I am truly honoured to be in this religion. It's always been a pleasant journey to learn so many wonderful insight hidden therein. I could only pray that this beauty stay with me for as long as I live. And even beyond that. Truly, Your Companion is forever felt and cherished :-))

Speaking of which, here is how you could perhaps show your gratitude to little things that have happened in your life. You’ll be amazed at the positive impact you’ll be making on your surrounding and yourself:

- Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth

- Repair before you renew

- Pick up local litter

- Walk

- Make something with leftovers

- Switch your lights off

- Take your own bags to the supermarket

- Dispose of chewing gums carefully

- Only fill the kettle with what you need

- Recycle spectacles/ old mobile phones

- Use paper on both sides

- Use a pen until it runs out of ink

- Unplug your mobile phone as soon as it’s charged

- Don’t print it unless you really, really need to

- Turn your computer screen off

- Buy local products

-... and thank those who help make your day better. It's priceless.

The problem with our society is that we tend to care what other people think. Like it or not, we do something because of acceptance. And we don't do something because of the same reason. To be accepted is nice, that's when we feel most welcomed or appreciated. But sometimes, we have to get out from our comfort zone and do something that many of us won't do. Especially when you know you're doing the right thing. You may think that these little things you do don't count, because you're not on a bigger scale to cause that difference. And because that's what you've been told over and over by most people. But don't be most people. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does :)

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks!

r_L

I don’t know what to say.

A lot of unexpected things happened to me as of late. My laptop crashed when I had my life stored in it and that nothing could be retrieved. Okay, so that was a bit dramatic but you know what that means. Things happen when we least expect them. Hmm, hang on. Well I had a feeling that my laptop would soon malfunction, considering it’d been working for more than 5 years now(?) So it was kinda expected indeed. But what I didn’t expect to happen was the fact that it just died on me on one fine day. And I didn’t know what could possibly go wrong. Hargh.

Anyways, I’m doing alright. Things have been pretty crazy lately (with tons of work and programme and seminar… yay!) but I’m catching up so far. A bit worried about how in the world am I going to pull this one off (now that my laptop’s dead) but I’m not letting go. There’s no way I could possibly work things out if I’m too stressed but yeh, a lil bit of stress is good. Just enough to push me forward, to keep me going. As for right now, perhaps you can tell that I’m trying to channel my worries into productive energy. And this page is great for that :)

Well truth is, I was pretty dumbfounded as to where to begin. I mean I’ve begun somewhere but I’m not sure if I’m going towards the right direction. I guess I could care less now that time is running out and that nothing much I could do. All I’ve been doing is getting the materials back i.e find all the relevant sources and try to put them together, see if they fit or not. It’s a head scratch I know, as if I did almost nothing at all but hey, I guess I'll just find ways to get them done properly. I hope this is alright for now :-/

More importantly is that it dawned on me that technology is just a tool to help you; it never really defines who you are as a person nor tells people what kind of personality you have. And that is unsurprisingly true. Come to think of it, I’ve depended my life so much on it that I’ve become less self reliant. I’ve stored so much information in my computer’s micro brain, but not mine. So you can say I remember or understand almost nothing. Perhaps, worse, this brain of mine has never entirely worked on its own nor produced much significant thoughts. So much for the human power. Pfft.

Then again, I’m not here to tell you to go throw your things away now and be a technophobe. There’ s no need to blame technology for the classic mistakes we make. It’s just that while I’m still myself (i.e my actual brain thinking) and in the moment of self reflection, it’s good to know that it’s not the end of the world when something happens. In fact, let’s take this as an opportunity to unleash your real self and bring it forth. Be resourceful and see what happens. Will you make it or break it? :-)

Just think of one thing (not a person)… say a very important tool to you that has been with you for a very long time now gone/lost/broken/fill-in-the-blank. So what will you do without it? Will you lose yourself too? Or will you find ways to keep that little part of you somehow? Or just find something else that is equally good?

I’d like to find that out myself. Hmm.

Have a nice day,

r_L