Rose

I had the amazing opportunity to meet a wonderful and dedicated lady today. She is soft yet unshakable, down-to-earth and resilient. To me, she is the epitome of strength.

Earlier today, my family and I had planned to visit by Rose's Old Folk's Home for Women today, just for a while. We thought we'd just stay put in the car while our parents settled what needs to be done. But as always, after my father got out of the car, he stuck his head in and gestured to the building, "Let's show some mark of respect," he said- hinting that we all go in.

And we did.

Upon entering, we saw about 6 beds filled in the living room, each occupied by elderly women. Some glanced at us, some were unable to move and some just smiled. We shook hands with the women, all old enough to be my grandmother and we stood to one side. Taped on the door next to me was a list of all the inhabitants and their cases. There were cases of attempted suicide, their families trying to rob them of their own money, abandoning and even their own husbands harming them.

The saddest story I read was of a lady whose son punched her and hit her with a wooden chair. She asked for money to go to the dentist and he refused. Long story short, instead, he demanded RM700 from her for looking after her and paying her bills.

When you hear such things, it makes you wonder, "How can these people even exist?!" It makes me so angry and so broken-hearted to hear these harsh realities.

We then followed the lady in-charge; Victoria. Her hair tied back, medium height, and carrying a heavy burden on her shoulders, she led us into her small office. Her table was laden with files and boxes of medications. There were shelves on one side, each having a name labelled with tablets, pills and medical aid. She told us the story of how, because of some selfish people, the house would be taken away unless it's settled and bought back. Monthly expenses need to be paid to continue operations. Workers quitting and not enough helping hands to look after the women. She is over-worked but she is still going strong.

And the most amazing part was how, despite all these, she still says she wants to go on because at the end of the day, it brings her satisfaction.

This is first and foremost a reminder to myself, and to others:

Children, please look after your parents when they become old. They have sacrificed and looked after you without asking for anything back.

Parents, please raise your kids right and treat them kindly. So that when you become old, they will do the same to you.

It's a cycle.

After having a depressing day over my own personal problems, listening to these acts of courage immediately lift my spirits high and remind me that: There are problems bigger than yours. Don't let small things bring you down; continuously be involved with the BIG things so that it will keep you going farther.


"Pleasing Allah first and foremost is the most important thing. That way, when humans are displeased with you, it doesn't matter because you already have Allah's pleasure."

The Macbook Battery

So I finally got the RM 300 to replace my nonfunctioning macbook battery. I was so excited! I thought to myself (and being quite proud of myself); I did it! All by myself! I didn't have to ask Ayah for the money and I didn't have to borrow anyone's money!

I accompanied Ayah to Low Yat today to run a few errands. When we dropped by the MacStore, I asked for the battery. The guy at the counter went away for a while and returned after a few minutes with a small box in hand.

"We don't have the white battery for you but we only have the black one left." He continued, "But it's the same price." So I agreed and just went on with it.

As they placed it on the counter, I saw the pricetag: RM 599.

I was stunned. "It's RM 599?" I asked. 

"Yes, this is the original." He answered. And apparently, it did cost RM 600 instead of RM 300.

I looked at my dad and told him softly, "Ayah, I only have RM 300."

He paid the rest and said to me, "Alia, you can pay for it when you're richer than me."

:')

The assumed price of a macbook battery= RM 300.

The real price of a macbook battery= RM 599.

The lesson from buying a macbook battery at that time= Invaluable.

Lessons from Not Eating

Bismillah.

I've met, seen and heard about so many amazing people who seem to have never-ending energy to do everything. I greatly admire these people and I wish to emulate them in every way. In the course of this pursuit, I learnt a very important lesson; which took place yesterday.

It's my mid-sem break and I had planned so many things so that I can accomplish as much as I can. I've been continuously reminded that we have so little time left and there's still so much we have to do. What that principle in mind, I wanted to push myself to the limit and do everything I can. In normal circumstances, I think I could have handled them. But yesterday, Allah wanted to teach me a lesson.

Before that, on Wednesday, after having tightened my braces, of course my teeth were throbbing- consequently causing me to eat, talk and smile less. Each muscle contraction inflicts pain and this continued for a few days. I had no mood to eat because I could hardly munch anything.

On Friday, I had a long list of meetings and sessions that followed with a program which ended the next day followed by another program the next night. Throughout Friday, my head was spinning and I felt like crashing to the ground every few minutes. I don't know why I didn't figure out it was because I didn't eat. I didn't FEEL hungry (maybe I was too hypoglycemic to realize that I was hungry?). It should have been obvious but I figured out that maybe I was in distress because of other things on my mind. By Maghrib, after the meetings, I ended up feeling very irritable and highly stressed.

Still not figuring out my palatal problem, I finally called a friend up and asked her advice on whether I should just go home or still go to the next program. I argued that going home would just mean I do nothing but sleep, and going to the program would feed my soul. She said the one thing which struck me:

"Alia, sleeping is an ibadah too. If you need the rest, don't push yourself to do other things. Whatever you do, whether its sleeping or eating, those are ibadah too."

It took me a few minutes to register that. I thanked her and decided to go home.

And Alhamdulillah, after reaching home, eating dinner, chatting with my brother and my sister-in-law, laughing and finally sleeping; I woke up the next day refreshed and revitalized.

I honestly revere the great people and sometimes wonder how is it that they're able to do it. Maybe they've learnt their lessons too. Maybe they've learnt to manage their time and their energy. InsyaAllah maybe I can do that one day.

This is what I concluded:

1. It's okay to feel tired and take a break. It's part of being a human. We're not invincible and we have limits. Rest when you need to and pick things back up. But never let go of everything all at once.
   
2. From a tafseer class at CUCMS, Ust Hasanuddin said (translated to English and as understood by me) that "Everyone has their own capacity of how much they can do. Maybe to you, what that person did was small but that is according to his capacity and the best that he can do."
   
3. Resting too is an ibadah.