.Be Good to Yourself.

Salaam.

Hey 'stranger'. 

It's been a long while hasn't it? And waddya know..? The year's about to end... :)

The below post is something that I've drafted awhile back..was going through my old posts and saw this. Didn't have the energy to write a new post (though I know I've been silent for aeons now..*smile apologetically*), so decided to re-edit the ol' post below and publish it. Didn't change much though..

Hope life's been treating you good, and you've all been blessed with good health, loads of love and happiness and of course bucketful of sunshine! *ameeeeeen*

Enjoy.

*****

Maya Angelou once said,

"If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone to be good to me?"

When I was youngER, I used to be a people pleaser (I think I still have that habit, but not as bad as before..heheh). Not knowing how to say 'No' became a constant battle in my life. I was afraid that had I said 'No' (especially to the people I love) whenever people asked me for help, no one would want to be around me. Much worse, I was scared if no one would like me anymore...

But slowly, as I grew older and became more matured (ye ke? hikhik) and 'experienced' life a little bit more, I realized that those who loved me wouldn't put me into that position in the first place. And that they'd appreciate my honesty if I had to tell them that I can't help them out due to unavoidable reasons.

Lol. Then again, when I really really think about it though, it seriously is not that big of a deal isn't it? Saying 'No'. I was the one who made it hard on myself because I was afraid. Well folks, I'm not anymore cause over the years, I've learned that saying 'No' is not a crime... :)

********

That said, being good to yourself is not just about saying 'No' when it's necessary. It's also about taking good care of yourself - emotionally, mentally and spiritually. All these elements are important so that one can feel 'whole'. It's not enough just knowing the essentials to make you feel good. But it's also important that you practice those essentials so that you can actually FEEL good. :)

Among some of the essentials that I consider necessary in order to feel good and be good to yourself are:
1) You have to accept who you are and who you're not. Mitch Albom said, "Accept who you are, and revel in it!"
We're not all born with superstar looks or supermodel heights, but that doesn't mean we can't have superstar personalities kan? Fair or dark, beautiful or ugly - trust me, beauty fades in the long run but good attitude/personalities insyaAllah would lasts. So try to work on your attitude/personality instead. We're all not perfect human beings, and sometimes we do slip up. The things we said we wouldn't do earlier, might be just the things that we'll end up doing later but everything happens for a reason. So chins up, and move on! Be a better person than you were a day before. In order to be truly happy, you need to accept your flaws and strengths accordingly. When you're able to do that, insyaAllah you'd be more at ease and at peace with life, and yes, yourself too.


A good quote by Steve Maraboli,

"It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.."

2) Kindness is an investment.
Be kind. To yourself, to your parents, to strangers. To EVERYONE! They say when you make others happy, you'd be happier too.

A sincere smile, a generous warm hug and a kind word could just about make someone's day. Sometimes, it really does take that little effort to lift someone's spirit. But most of us are oblivious of that fact cause we're too busy making a living.. *shrugs* sad but true :)

I love a good quote *lol* so here's another one of my favorite quotes by Maya Angelou, 

"I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel..."

Clearly, being kind to others is one of the greatest investment one can make - it's a natural mood booster. The happiness that radiates from the person that you just helped (whether intentionally or not) will make YOU happier, and feel good about yourself. So you see, that's why I said kindness is an investment.

Helping others *sincerely of course* would assist in the betterment process of oneself.It'll teach one to be selfless and not only think about the happiness of themselves, but of others too. 

*****

Well, that's all from me folks! Not too sure if the above post will be of help, but I certainly hope that in some ways it did - if not to all of you, then to some at the very least :)

Oh btw, a loooooooooooooot of things have happened within the past few months:

1) I just came back from my Euro-trip with mi familia and boy, lemme tell you - I didn't wanna come back, but oh well, reality beckons!

Snapshots of us atop the London Eye

View of the London Eye while we were queuing

At Edinburgh Castle

At Musee du Louvre

Before I bid my solemn farewell to thee, please remember this quote by Desmond Tutu,

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.."

Salaam sayang loves, and good night!

Till we meet again, though I can't actually say when :b

Much love,

.ME.

Valuable Guidelines in a Muslim's Life

Assalamualaikum & Salaam sayang :)

It's Friday today, and Alhamdulillah it also means that the weekend's almost here! *hehee*

A long weekend with my loved ones..no Monday blues, 4 days to sleep in or stay up for as long as I want. Oh, what a joy! *ignore the dramatization pleeease!*

Anywho, I was surfing online when I came across the below tips here, gave it a read and find it useful. They say, 'sharing is caring' right? So that's what I'm doing :)

Valuable Guidelines in a Muslim’s life :

1. Start off each day with ‘adhkaar al-istiyqaadh’ (waking up supplications), thanking Allah for waking up in good shape.

2. Put Allah first in your life.

3. Broaden your horizons- learn 5 New verses from the Quran, travel to pray Fajr in the mosque to brighten your day, take up a booklet having adhkaar-alsabaah (morning supplications) and read them.

4. Pray Salaat Al-dhuhaa (after sunrise)

5. If someone says something mean to you, just shrug it off and dismiss it in a friendly, laidback manner, and pray that Allah shall forgive them.

6. When you get angry, remember Allah, and how short and worthless life is to waste in being Angry.

7. Remember that you can never have too many friends, but you can have few quality friends that help you fulfill the purpose of your creation (i.e live for Allah.)

8. When you’re happy, try to share your happiness with others thank Allah for that, and pray for its continuation.

9. When something bad or embarrassing happens to you, just think that it could always be worse, remember the reward of patience, and thank Allah that it’s not worse than it is.

10. Do something extra of goodness once in a while, like feeding a poor person, or caressing an orphan’s head.

11. Never stop believing that you can win Allah’s love and thus work for it. Then you can win the love of Allah’s slaves.

12. Spend some time thinking of Allah’s amazing creation.

13. Always love those who love Allah unconditionally. This way you will ensure that you live for Him, love for Him.

14. Find the righteous ways to express yourself, and if you think that what you are about to say shall cause no benefit, maintain silence

15. Every now and then, give yourself a break. play sports, give time to your family, friends, but always remember Allah and know that He is watching you.

16. Pray for blessing to come to your enemies, and pray Allah to guide them to the right path.

17. Hug your parents, kiss their hands and heads and always obey but stop at Allah’s orders.

18. Smile to everyone, for your smile makes a big difference to them and you are rewarded.

19. Forgive, forget and smile.

20. Tears are not for women only…tears are for all human beings with feelings remaining in them. Don’t restrain your tears when remembering Allah.

21. When people criticize your actions and effort, revise your actions and see if they please Allah or not. If they do, then ignore and remember how the prophet and the Sahaba were criticized, made fun of and even physically harmed, so have patience.

22. Read the Quran daily and try to have a schedule for completing it every month (or as much as you could) as long as you open the Quran daily, and read with observing not just passing your eyes through the words.

23. Don’t let popularity go to your head, for it never lasts and you may lose from it more than gain.

24. Never look down on anybody, for they may be better than you in Allah’s eyes.

25. And finally pray to Allah alone for the reward.

Hope you find the above tips useful, insyaAllah. May we be blessed with a beautiful and loving weekend, insyaAllah. Have a great weekend loves!

Much love,

ME

Salaam. ♥

More heartbreaks equals to one step closer to your right jar of Nutella

Assalamualaikum & Salaam sayang :)

"Love can't be forced nor planned. It'll happen if it's meant to be, irregardless of the distance, the time or the situation. But what is certain; love can definitely be worked upon. It needs to be 'watered' with patience, faith and lots of prayers..."

Warda S.Jaffar

Lumrah manusia to want someone to love and be loved in return, isn't it? So it's not something out of the norm to 'risk' yourself and 'go out there' to find someone who would 'fit' your idea of 'love'.

Unfortunately, love is not something that you can wished for and immediately get. If it was that easy, my, then everyone would not suffer and Facebook won't be 'flooded' with statuses/quotes on heartbreaks and how 'love hurts'. *shrugs*

Sometimes, I really do wished love was simple though. I wished sometimes men would really put themselves in our shoes before 'pursuing' us women. That they would first think, "Okay, I would not want other men to treat my sister/daughter 'that' way - so I shouldn't treat 'her' (the person he's dating/seeing) that way too.."

But as always, it's easier said than done...right?

And for the men's benefit, it's not fair to put all the blame on them too. As far as *some of them* they are concerned, they're putting themselves 'out there' too, they're risking their 'hearts' to find someone to love too.

Plus, as I've mentioned above - 'love can't be forced nor planned..it'll happen if it's meant to be...'

Heartbreaks sucks. It does. But as hard as it may be, everytime you go through a difficult situation especially one that involves feelings you've to be strong and know there MUST be a bigger and better plan for you.

Abah shared 'this' with me the other day, that no one in this world would escape their own share of heartbreaks and hardships - each and everyone of us would have to face their obstacles in their own way, and in their own time. Everyone would be tested with different challenges, but point is - none of us would go through a purely simple life. The 'winner' of these tests would be the one who doesn't lose faith in GOD, always persevered and never lose hope. :)

I know sometimes it's difficult for you (and me both) to really accept the fact that you have to be strong when undergoing a difficult obstacle, especially when it involves matters of the heart. But surely, GOD didn't put you on earth to only let you suffer. Surely all those tests that HE 'gave' you would ultimately lead to a happy ending, one that even you might have not expected. I'm certain that HE has a better plan for you. Everyone have their own purpose in life. I'm sure you do too...but as they say, 'patience is a virtue'...so patient you must be.

And when you're hurt and suffering, don't forget to treasure those that love and cares for you. Just because one person doesn't love you, that doesn't mean you should forget those who do. "Don't let those who hurt you tear you down. Let those who loves you fix you up!" :))

To those of you who are hurting, below is an excerpt or a statement that I've been meaning to share with you for a very long time but never got a chance to. I found it off the net, in tumblr to be exact. Hope it'll cheer you up! :))

"Look at it this way. You want a big ol' perfect jar of Nutella, right? Every guy that comes along that captures your heart and sadly breaks it, well he's just one tiny ingredient. I'm sure it took the Nutella guy a bunch of times until he finally got it just perfect. Each slob that breaks your heart is adding to your bowl of what you don't need/want and it gives you a better view of what you do want/need. More heartbreaks equals to one step closer to your right jar of Nutella. Take that one thing you liked about those guys and throw it in your bowl of your "Mr. Right Nutella". You'll know when it's time to mix it all up and pack it and spread it on a cracker!"

:) of course life doesn't work that way, that you can just select one thing that you liked and then try to find a guy/girl who fits your description of 'love'. But as mentioned above, "..more heartbreaks equals to one step closer to your right jar of Nutella.." so hopefully, once you've gone through all the 'wrongs', you'll be one step closer to your "Mr. Right"..

What doesn't kill you make you stronger, right? :) I hope in some way, this post has helped motivated/cheered you up. And I pray that GOD would ease your path in finding someone who loves you and appreciates you the way you should be loved & be appreciated, insyaAllah. Ameen.


Much love,
ME


Salaam ♥

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings. ♥

Life has never been easy, and it never will be I'm afraid... :)

Some people are luckier than most. They get everything they want and hoped for, and everything comes easy for them. But the things that they achieved, and the happiness that they portrayed might be deceiving. Some people have all the wealth in the world, yet they can't seem to stop looking for more. They are never satisfied and is always on the search for something that would make them 'whole'. How sad is that...?

It's easier said than done, but the trick to 'having more' is to actually always be grateful for everything that you have and everything that you don't.. :)

Mind you, when I talked about being grateful - I am not only referring to the material wealth..things that money can buy, nope. Not only that. But I was also referring to the little things. Things that we sometimes overlook and take for granted, perhaps unintentionally.

Tell me how many of you (me included of course) am always grateful that each day we are given a chance to start afresh, to breathe in the air, or to be able to kiss and hug our loved ones as much as we want to..? 

When we start to appreciate all these little things, insyaAllah only then would we be able to 'receive' more blessings from HIM. :)

So my loves, start being grateful for the little things and pray hard for the bigger ones..but don't be sad if you are not rewarded immediately with whatever it is that you prayed for - GOD is the BEST listener, HE is also the BEST planner. Surely HE would not leave you empty-handed...perhaps the wish that you prayed for is not good for you, and HE is only taking HIS time to reward you with a BETTER 'gift' :)

Don't envy those that have everything, but envy those who has nothing and is still appreciating and enjoying life..try to remember, life isn't only about getting what you want - it's also about loving what you have and appreciating how those things define you..

"He who has none has Allah, and he who has Allah has everything..."

Sh. Navaid Aziz



Below is something I found off the net, and I'd like to share it with you :)

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

When you're sad and feeling low, do spare some time to listen to Guy Sebastian's song; "Don't Worry, Be Happy". We've all experienced situations that are mentioned in this song, but "If you only think of things that you haven't got, You could have it all and still never have enough.."

So loves - stay strong, have faith & always remember that everytime you are facing an obstacle that's too much to bear, "This too shall pass..." :)

Much love,

ME


Salaam ♥

First Man In My Life: You'll never forget your first love ♥

Assalamualaikum & Salaam Sayang :)

It has certainly been a loooooong time since I've last updated this humble blog of mine. As usual, a lot of things have happened from then and now.

Dear beautiful readers, I started this entry not knowing what to write about, but one thought kept coming back to me - that I love my Abah. And that, one day - he's not going to be the only man in my life. In honest truth, that thought somewhat saddens me...

Abah & I, we have a beautiful connection. My Umi, she's the strong one. She's resilient and she's definitely my inspiration. She gives and gives, and even if she has nothing left to give, she'll think of something TO give. A mother's unconditional love, no other such love would prove to be more beautiful than that, aside from HIS love that is :) So always respect and love your mother at all times, okay? She's not perfect but neither are we. In fact, no one is kan? So accept her flaws and forgive her if she ever hurt you *bet it wasn't intentional*, because I'm sure that all she wants is the best for her children...

Anywho..sorry for going off-course, I get distracted sometimes..hee; okay, so back to our topic: my Abah.

Abah never fails to let his daughters know that he loves us. And he's a workaholic, yet, he always finds time for us. While other fathers occasionally take some time off to meet up with their friends and catch up (and there is NOTHING wrong with that, cause everyone needs some time off once in awhile), Abah would instead spend all his time with us. *I'm so blessed to have you as my father, Abah!*

I guessed what I'm trying to say in this post is that, though Abah may not be the main man in my life once I'm married - he'll always be my first love. How can he not be? He's the first man that dedicated all his time for me, the first man who is always there for me - no excuses, the first man who showed me what love is, and the first man who 'showed' me my worth. Apart from that, indirectly - he also showed me that I deserve to be treated right and loved by a man who knows my worth. "Never settle for less", he says.

Growing up, there are times when I didn't understand why he'd say "No" to things/requests that I felt were harmless. But now that I've matured, I understood that what he was trying to do is to protect me. Protect his little girl's worth. :)

Well Abah. I love you. And thank you for putting up with me for the past 25-26 years. I know I'll never be able to repay what you've done for me. What I can instead do, is to try my best to be the daughter that you would always be proud off, and pray to HIM to bless both you and Umi with health, happiness and love always.

They said you'll never forget your first love...I know I certainly won't :')

*Daddy's little girl for life*

Love always,

Your little girl

Much love,
ME


Salaam ♥