pursuing happiness

Bismillah.

Sometime ago, I learnt from Twins of Faith that one form of a jihad is to make at least one person happy a day.

They say if we grant others' wishes, Allah will grant ours.

My brother Afiq was constantly borrowing my paintbrushes. Whenever he needed any for his school projects, he would always be asking if I could lend him mine, so one day, I decided to surprise him with a set of paintbrushes in various sizes. God knows how he beamed with happiness and contentment, and it sure was pretty cool to hear him say, "You're the best kakak in the world!" (like duh. Haha.)

When we make someone happy, we're inadvertently making ourselves feel wonderful too. It doesn't have to be something physical like a gift, smiling and saying salaam to kind strangers, giving out a helping hand to those who seem to need one, even if they weren't asking.

Here's a couple more (super fun, I tell you):

1. Telling your teacher/ friend she looks lovely
2. Saying I love you to your parents every time when hanging up 
3. Throwing a surprise party for your friend's birthday 
4. Handing out food for the homeless 
5. Giving people presents out of the blue for no reason
6. Cleaning the surau's wudhu' area
7. Washing surau praying garments (telekungs), making them smell pleasantly homey
8. Making something delicious for the family 
9. Surprising friends with that-one-thing-they-put-on-their-wishlist-since-forever
10. Spending good time with those who live in poverty 

"The reward of goodness is nothing but goodness" 

(Quran, 55: 60)

Magical, eh, to put a smile on another's face, knowing that surely Allah will put one on ours in return.  

Since it's Ramadhan, let us make those who revolve around us happy. That's tremendous, multiple pahala there, simply by making somebody else delighted for the sake of Allah. Sadaqah, too.

Now that you're in the giving mood, I know a person who would appreciate the following... bhahaha. 

yay june!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Goodness. Time flies so fast. It’s already May 2014, and soon it’ll be June (of course you silly, you’d think it’d be January after May???) but anyway, JUUUNE! MY BIRTHDAY.

You see the best thing about birthdays is… you know… sorting out your wish list. And then at one point, sometimes you want a watch, sometimes you think of a Barbie doll (cough cough), sometimes you say you need a new bag, and so on and so forth…

And then if you’re like me, you might end up not having any present from your dad, because you really don’t know what to choose. It’s the only time when your dad is going to buy that ridiculous thing for you, the one he said cannot fifty times, so you'd have to make a wise decision. 

Birthdays are nice, really. You’re literally showered with gifts, man!

But yesterday, on my way to school, I listened to an enlightening tazkirah by an Ustaz on the radio. 

He said something along the lines of;

“Birthdays… you think it’s so cool because people hand you presents. You expect them to spoil you. But if you think about it in detail - you’d realise that YOU are the one who should be giving out presents. To whom? To your mum, for carrying you in her womb until the day you were born. To your dad, who ran around frantically trying to find diapers and making sure the house is nice for you when you’re finally out.”

Wow. May Allah keep us all in remembrance of how much we owe Mum and Dad.

Uh... Ustaz should’ve said that after my birthday la. (Haha just kidding!)

But Ustaz… presents from friends ok or not?? Ok what, friends didn’t have to bear the burden of having me in their tummy, right? So um, Amalin, Ain, Alya, this from you ok??

to swatch or not to swatch

I am so, so, confused.

Every time I see somebody wearing a Swatch (doesn't matter if it's a burgundy New Gent, a stripy Skin, or a checkerboard Irony), aside from feeling an overwhelming irritant, I go all Swatch is too mainstream, I shall now go back to Barbie. No exceptions.

And I'll make some mental note to check out adult-friendly Barbie watches because I am now 16, duh. 

I shall never buy a Swatch ever again, I would say. No mainstream stuff. Oh yeah... Can also save up for college.

I deleted the most recent unread email from Swatch. Ahh, so steadfast this one.

I almost declared myself as Swatch-free. I wore none to school for almost two weeks now.

But today I found myself here and um... my resolutions went down the drain. 

Too cute; too sophisticated; too swatch. Can't handle the pressure.

#thestruggle

piling up

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalammualaikum.

(this post may seem to be a rant on shopping, but trust me, it's not... haha.)

For the past few days, I have been drooling over Swatch online. Those straps are heart-breaking.

Oh, my latest Swatch purchase went lost in the post. I got over it real quick though.

To rub salt into the wound, I was mesmerised by these Converse platform sneakers.

Much to my dismay, most websites don't provide delivery/shipping to Malaysia. And I was too shy to get it delivered to Auntie Zainab.

It surprised me. How girly had I become? Bhahaha. Shopping is not usually my thing, unless it's something that I really love.

A few months ago, I organised my bookmarks. I have this bookmark folder for "Shoppings", to which I saved websites to buy gifts or anything I have the urge to.

After paying a good visit to a number of websites, I decided that to be fair, I shall open other folders as well.

I chose the 'Islam' folder and clicked on one of the articles that I had saved.

I went through the selected one and boy, was I stunned.

The article was on Surah At-Takathur, The Mutual Rivalry.

1. The words alhakum at-takathur of the original are too vast in meaning to be fully explained in a passage. Alhakum is from lahv which originally means heedlessness, but in Arabic this word is used for every occupation which engrosses man so completely that he becomes heedless of the more important things in life.

-My craze for more and more worldly gains (aka Swatch) has made me heedless.

2. That is, you spend your whole life in the same craze and endeavor, until the time comes when you must die and leave the world.

-I spent a lot of time browsing watches online.

3. That is, you are under the delusion that the abundance of the worldly goods and surpassing others in it is real progress and success, whereas the opposite is the case. Soon you will know its evil end and you will realize that it was a stupendous error in which you remained involved throughout your life. Soon may mean the Hereafter.

-I wanted more Swatch even when I had enough... wasting my parent's money.

Right. I stumbled upon this article juuuuust when I was crazy to shop. 

in a toilet

Assalammualaikum.

Having been studying in the same school for the past three years, I have best friends whom I have gotten attached to. We were acquaintances, but as time progressed, they grew under my skin.

It's a kind of funny story, how we met, I mean.

2010

"Eh tu Swatch ke?" said a girl with a fair complexion as I washed my hands in the school toilet.

Surprised with the question, I turned my head towards the gleeful girl whom I have never spoken to before. She gripped my wrist, brought it closer to her, and examined the colourful, striped watch.

"Ni edition bila?" she asked, referring to the year when the Swatch was released. I raised my shoulders and pouted.

The girl twisted my hand very slightly and said "Oh, 2008!" I nodded, I never knew that.

After getting her question answered, by herself, mind you, she politely excused herself.

That was weird.

As the new year began, we became friends. Not close, just friends.

Months passed and we grew close. Me, her, and her best friend whom is my best friend too.

We share the same passion - books, messing around, having fun, cookies. Having the same attraction to Swatch seems a little bit cliche though.

Frankly speaking-or typing, whatever, how can you not love those good-looking straps?

We are in Form Four now, and Swatch-wearers are almost everywhere in school.

And did you know? The person who started it all, was her. The girl who freakily grabbed my wrist and walked away.

So today during BM class, I pointed out to her best friend and my best friend, who owns a Lime Rebel by the way, "Swatch is getting too mainstream."

The young lady nonchalantly replied, "I know. Let's get Tissot."

Ahem.