Panjatkan kesyukuran di atas segala rahmat Allah s.w.t

25 May 2010, Tuesday

Sebelum kamu melihat mawar yang berduri
hidulah bunga yang mekar mewangi sambil bertasbih

Sebelum kamu mengeluh mengenai keterikan panas matahari
kecapilah pancaran cahayanya

Sebelum kamu merungut tentang kepekatan dan gelapan malam
nikmatilah kesunyian dan kebeningan malam hari
Sebelum kamu mengeluh mengenai curahan hujan
nikmatilah air yang segar dengan rasa kesyukuran

Sebelum kamu merungut tentang ribut taufan

hiruplah udara yang nyaman dengan penuh kegembiraan
Sebelum kamu merungut tentang pasanganmu
cerminkanlah diri mu terlebih dahulu
Elakkan dari menutup pintu kemakbulan doa
dengan melakukan maksiat

WanKinsella@Lubukhatiku

Extra Garnishing You Can Do Without!!!

24 May 2010, Monday

EVERY BITE OF FOOD IS SHEER AND UTTER TERROR

Could you imagine a life where every bite of food you put into your mouth brought with it a feeling of sheer and utter terror? Unfortunately for this girl, Nisha, that was the life she was living.

When Nisha was a teenager, her older sister died from choking – It was believed that she suffered an allergic reaction to something that she ate and, within moments, her throat closed up, she couldn’t breathe and was gone.
 

Although obviously affected by the incident, Nisha managed to pick her life back up and for many years after that, she continued to live her normally productive life without any problems or fears. However, in her 30s (almost two decades later), while going through a particularly tough and stressful time, Nisha seemed to suddenly find herself absolutely terrified of choking with every bite of food she put into her mouth. 

MENTAL PERSPECTIVE

From a mental perspective, what happens is that in the moment of the trauma, your mind (in trying to protect you from the overpowering emotions you are experiencing), actually ignores your overwhelming emotions completely and puts you in a place of “pretending” that you’re okay. For more interesting stories like Nisha's, check out the link on phobiamania. 

PHOBIAMANIA

Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two. Some get nervous at the thought of needles. Others shriek at the sight of a mouse. Still others get woozy when they look down from tall buildings. For most people, these fears are minor. But for some, these fears are so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with normal day-to-day life.When fears are irrational and disabling, they are called phobias.

Many people experience specific phobiasspecific phobias, intense irrational fearsirrational fears of certain things or situations -- dogs, closed-in places, heights, escalatorsescalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, and injuries involving blood are a few of the more common ones.

For the complete list of phobias, please check this link out. And do also visit this interesting Top Ten Most Absurd Phobias. 

AGORAPHOBIA

Phobias occur in several forms. A specific phobia is a fear of a particular object or situation. Social phobiaSocial phobia is a fear of being painfully embarrassed in a social setting. And agoraphobiaagoraphobia, which often accompanies panic disorder panic disorder disorder, is a fear of being in any situation that might provoke a panic attackpanic attack, or from which escape might be difficult if one occurred.

And talking about agoraphobia, this struck a chord in me and  will always haunt me, because I too suffer from it. And in my case, I get this panic attack specifically when I am at shopping complexes. I become claustrophobic when I'm at a crowded shopping complex. Hence I tend to avoid sales. I feel suffocated and breathless when I see the throngs of people.

And even if the complex is not crowded but a shop is (despite me wanting and longing to go in) I tend to avoid it. I prefer a place where it is void of of customers. I like space. I feel safe and happy in a place not overflowing with people. 

PHOBIA OF THE HAIRY KIND

And if you think that's not bad enough, recently I develop another phobia. Unfortunately, I could be one of the very small and negligible percentage out of the billions of people in this world who suffer from this type of phobia where I'm yet to find a name for it. The only other person I knew suffering from this phobia was my late mum.

Both my late mum and I have this fear of finding hair in food. Whenever we discover hair in our food, it would be  a sure way to quell our appetite. We would both stop eating immediately, no matter how delectable and delicious the food is.

I used not to bother too much about it, but lately, I tend to notice numerous instances of hair in my food and it really turns me off eating. I have reached the serious stage of this "hairy" phobia because I tend to scrutinise my food well before eating. Sometimes, I imagine that I've seen hair in food prepared by my maid, even though they are merely strands of onions or even patterns on my plates. 

EXTRA GARNISHING YOU CAN DO WITHOUT

Recently, I went for lunch at a restaurant. Two bites into my chicken I noticed a curly black hair wrapped around one of the pieces of chicken in my rendang. Total bummer. I removed the hot sauce-dappled hair from its nest and dropped it on the floor in disgust.

I contemplated saying something to the girl who took my order, but the place was packed with a large lunchtime crowd, and I was too upset to bother, so I just tossed out my meal.

Despite being very hungry, the disgusting hair has quashed my appetite completely. I walked away and tried to wipe my memory like in that Men In Black movie with the fancy blue flashlight on my key chain. When it didn’t work, I turned off the tear ducts and clutched my rumbling stomach and swear I will not consume the chicken-y concoction again and will not patronise that restaurant ever again. 

CURLY HAIR vs STRAIGHT HAIR???

Which brings me to my point: What wins in the battle of your favorite food vs. hair in your favorite food? Do you continue to eat when you’ve found some potentially gonorrhea-infected pube-looking-thing in your rendang or whatever food you're eating? Or do you love rendang or sambal sotong so much you can look past the hair and enjoy your meal?

All this talk about absurd phobias doesn’t discount that some people are afflicted with such fears. The fact that there are names for these only lays testament to this fact. What is important is that such phobias don’t adversely affect a person’s life. If life still continues on, people can fear anything they want.

But, hair in food, oh my, that's TOTALLY REPULSIVE!!! I'd rather be at a crowded shopping mall and endure agoraphobia.....

Reminder to me, reminder to all

23 May 2010, Sunday

Sit and think. And be honest with yourself. Look at the number and the statistics. How many things do you own? How much wealth do you possess? How much blessings do you enjoy? How many things do you have that bring you delight?

Beauty?
Wealth?
Husband?
Wife?
Children?
Shade?
Home?
Cars?
Country?
Light?
Air?
Water?
Nourishment?
Medicine?

Rejoice, and be cheerful. And offer thanks and prayers to The Creator, Allah s.w.t.

i wander, and i meander, and i wonder why

20 May 2010, Thursday

every so often i wander,
i wander here and i wander there

and as i wander, i wonder

why i wander and i wonder
 

then i amble into my fantasy

i meander into my pipe dream

i ramble into a world of unreality

and i build castles in the air

 

i saunter into another planet
my own world

my own flight of imagination
far away from reality

far away from this earth
where nobody exits
and where nothing subsists except me

as i look up into the sky

with a canopy of bright shining and twinkling stars
i marvel and i start to wonder and meander...
i wonder why i love to wander and meander

and i wonder

i wander and meander
away to another space

far away from this place
away from my body
away from my soul
away, and i've gone astray
 

i've vanished into space

petered away into the cosmos

evaporated into this vast universe
 

and i wonder
why do i wander and wonder

i wonder if everyone likes to wonder

and meander and wander the way i do
 

i doubt anyone can understand

why i wander and i wonder
and i wonder if i myself can understand
 

and there i go again

i'm wandering all around
trying to get hold of someone

who can meander

who can wander

and who can wonder along with me......

i wonder if i can find that someone

i wander and i meander

i wonder
 

 

Every single thing we do matters

19 May 2010, Wednesday

Why can’t we as human beings understand that everything we do matters to someone?

Somebody is always watching how we act and what we do when we face everyday situations and even major ones that we have no control over. First thing each morning, ask the CREATOR, Allah, the Exalted to guide us in every step we make.

We may never know the positive effect we can have on people.  We need to remember that we can affect others around us much more than we care to realize.

Something to smile about...

19 May 2010, Wednesday

Sometimes, you asked why people always expected you to smile in photographs.
And I've told you repeatedly that it was because your loved ones, and your friends hoped that in the future, there would be something to smile about....

Life is but a short journey

19 May 2010, Wednesday

Life is but a short journey,

A pause in what is to be,

A resting place along the road,

to sweet eternity.

We all have different journeys,

Different paths along the way,

We all were meant to learn some things,

but never meant to stay...long

Our destination is a place,

Far greater than we know.

For some the journey is quicker,

For others the journey could be slow.

And when the journey finally ends,

We'll claim a great reward,

And find an everlasting peace,

Together with Allah

  Ar-Rahmaan

Ar-Raheem

Al-Malik

Al-Quddoo

our Lord

the CREATOR

WanKinsella@Lubukhatiku

The best teachers are the best story tellers

17 May 2010, Monday

The Joy of Teaching

The teachers who get "burned out" are not the ones who are constantly learning, which can be exhilarating, but those who feel they must stay in control and ahead of the students at all times.  A good teacher is better than a spectacular teacher. Otherwise the teacher outshines the teachings.

And when you talk about teaching, a teacher must be able to spin stories, i.e. in the form of thoughts. Thought flows in terms of stories - stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions and achievements. The best teachers are the best story tellers. We learn in the form of stories.

Happy Teachers' Day!!

Peringatan buat diriku........Ya Allah jauhkanlah aku dari api neraka dan azab kubur

6 May 2010, Thursday

Apakah kamu menyedari bahwa dirimu akan pergi jauh tanpa kembali lagi? Lalu apakah kamu telah mempersiapkan perbekalan untuk perjalanan ini?

Apakah kamu telah membekali diri selama berada di dunia ini dengan amal soleh untuk menemani kesepianmu di dalam kuburmu?

Berapakah umurmu? Berapa lama lagikah kamu akan terus hidup di alam fana ini?

Apakah kamu tidak mengetahui bahawa setiap sesuatu mesti ada permulaan dan akhirnya, dan semua akan berakhir di syurga atau neraka?

Apakah kamu pernah membayangkan ketika malaikat maut turun dari langit untuk mencabut rohmu sementara kamu masih tenggelam dan khayal dalam kelalaianmu?

Apakah kamu pernah membayangkan hari itu, saat terakhir sebelum kamu menghembuskan nafas terakhir, saat kamu berpisah dari keluarga dan anak-anakmu, orang-orang yang dicintai dan sahabat-sahabatmu?

Itulah kematian dengan kepedihan, kesakitan dan keperitan yang amat sangat apabila rohmu berpisah dari jasadmu. Itulah kematian.

Setelah rohmu meninggalkan jasadmu, dirimu akan dibawa mandi, lalu dikafani, kemudian dipapah ke masjid untuk disolatkan, kemudian kamu akan diusung beramai-ramai di atas bahu saudara-saudarmu dan sahabat-sahabatmu… dan ke manakah kamu akan dibawa?

Sesungguhnya kamu akan dibawa masuk ke dalam kubur, yang merupakan gerbang pertama menuju akhirat, yakni alam baqa’. Apakah tempatmu di taman syurga, atau apakah kamu akan dihumbankan ke dalam api neraka?