What You Have Committed To Your Mind?

The best of all things is to learn.

Money can be lost or stolen,

health and strength may fail,

but what you have committed to your mind

is yours forever.

- Louis L Amour (1908-1988)

Undangan Ke Majlis Perkahwinan

Berita baik yang teramat baik...ehem sebelum itu, ini bukan majlis saya aah tapi majlis adik sepupu saya. Seperti tajuk, entry kali ini memang istimewa dan dikhususkan secara eksklusif untuk mempromosi dan dengan segala hormatnya mengundang tuan2, puan2, saudara2, rakan2 dan sesiapa saja yang dapat dan sudi datang ke majlis perkahwinan Mr Jamal & Ms Norwati (anak kepada Mendiang Cikgu Malijau Gaul) yang akan diadakan di kediaman keluarga pengantin perempuan di Kg. Nolotan, Kota Marudu pada 17 Mac 2009 (Selasa) . Turut mengundang, ibu bapa dan keluarga kedua-dua pihak pengantin. Kedatangan saudara-saudari semua sangat2 diharapkan untuk memeriahkan lagi majlis berbahagia ini.

Aturcara Majlis
10.00 am
Acara Persandingan dan Pemberkatan di Gereja SDA Nolotan
12.30 pm
Majlis resepsi di rumah pengantin perempuan

Cinta itu bukan permintaan dari seseorang tapi datang tanpa terpaksa. Cinta itu bukan buta tapi melihat dan menjadi pendengar. Cinta itu tidak selalunya cantik, tapi hati yang saling berpaut. Cinta itu bukan satu JANJI tapi satu tanda ingatan yang ikhlas. Cinta itu tidak hanya mendengar tapi bergetar tanpa kata. Cinta itu bukan setakat berbicara tapi hati ikhlas. Cinta itu tidak pernah menyiksa tapi menguji rasa. Cinta itu bukan juga paksaan tapi berkongsi arah yang sama...Cinta bukan mengajar kita menjadi lemah tetapi membangkitkan kekuatan. Cinta sejati menyatukan dua jiwa di dalam segala kekurangan juga kekuatan. Semoga cinta ini berkekalan hingga ke hujung nyawa…Amin.

Bah, kawan2 semua, kayow pogi sumu'ung. Asadap mari gisak dot Nolotan ki...haha. Partama om tokow i tokow teti.

Be Optimistic

I just finished reading one of my close friends' entry about things fall apart (which as I've expected should be her genuine reaction after reading my 'Get Back Up' entry...betul ka apa yg sya cakap ni Sheera? hehe). Anyway, what I'm gonna write here is not totally a direct response to her writing but more like a general view of life according to my own experiences and perception of life.

These 3 life-issues that you are about to read are a very part and parcel of our lives. No exception. No compromise. Every living man has to face them.

1. Life is about making choices
Yes indeed. This is one of the many and earliest greatest gifts that God has bestowed upon us. Since the beginning of time, God gives us all the freedom to decide on our own our wants, likes and dislikes. But, having said that doesn't mean that we are left alone without moral guidelines. Following those guidelines is our uttermost obligation and the safest thing we can do in order to keep us detached from misery as a result of our unwise decisions. Some people make choices by relying on the basis of simply "following what their hearts want to do" only to find more confusion and lack of peacefulness in their hearts. Why? because, our hearts alone are deceitful in its nature and is not the most reliable guide to lead us through the decision-making process. We need an 'outside help' - something supernatural - that transcends our human understanding in order for us to make the right choice. And this means we are to have a submissive attitude towards our Creator because He knows our future the best. Our Creator's plan for each one of us is perfect.

2. Human beings always make mistakes
Definitely. No doubt about this. Be it small or big, we are so prone to make mistakes. It's just our undeniable fallen human nature. But one thing we have to keep in mind, JANGAN BIARKAN KETIDAKSEMPURNAAN KITA SEBAGAI ALASAN UNTUK MENJADI LEBIH TIDAK SEMPURNA LAGI...which means our sinful nature is not and NEVER an excuse for us to make more and more mistakes in life. However, if we look at it from a positive angle, I think mistakes and failures are not all that bad anyway. After all, our own trial and error experiences is the greatest and most powerful teacher that can help us to be a better mature person...hopefully.

3. Letting go; forgive and forget
Yup...it's not easy to do this but it's not that hard either. I've experienced this many times in my life. I've been hurt - extremely hurt - by a few persons over and over again. I've every reason and right to say "I hate that person deeply and it's almost appropriate for me to take revenge" but of course I didn't do that because I realize the destructive price of foolishness and selfishness in thinking and doing that. I myself am not perfect, just like my 'adversaries'....so, who am I to seek revenge for heartaches that someone has caused me when nobody could be a justifiable judge but the Almighty? Hence, the best thing for me to do is to find peacefulness through letting go and forgiving the ones who hurt me. Believe me, it's the most satisfying and amazingly rewarding thing we can do to ourselves (and also to the ones that hurt us I think) . But wait a minute....didn't I say forgive and forget? Hmmm...let's be realistic here, tell me frankly, would it be possible for us to forget our past mistakes, failures etc? anyone? How could we ever forget the dark and bitter chapters of our own lives - unless you are suffering from those amnesia or senility? How could I? I would say it would be completely impossible BUT we can choose to and by the grace of God, we will learn something new altogether. As the time goes by we will learn to see that forgetting our past mistake is not an act of deleting the unwanted events/moments or whatsoever from our mental CPUs rather it's an act of accepting our own weaknesses and be thankful that through those 'bad' experiences we become a better mature person...hopefully:) Then only we will be able to forget the pain and the hurt brought by our unwanted experiences but not the experience itself.

Above all, let's face life with an optimistic attitude because pain is inevitable but misery is optional.

Get Back Up!

I'm back after being in silence for a while...hehe

So, what do you think I'm up to? Any idea? A lot of friends have been asking me where did I go for my 'suti-suti Malaysia'...well, the truth is I didn't go anywhere physically. It just a psychology vacation kind of thing that requires me to be in a 'shut down' mode for at least a couple of time to rejuvenate myself and get focused on what I really want to do in my life. It was a time to get still so that I could see and realize that many things in my life have fallen apart and need to be fixed. It was a reflection time to become conscious of my fallen nature and because of that it was also an urgent call for me to get back up lest I fall and die in despair.

Sometimes along the road of life, we fall down and we feel like we don't have the strength to get up. Hindrances, obstacles, unfavorable circumstances, hopelessness make us to think that we are totally trapped in a destined-cage that has no way out. Having those constraints around us , we think that it should be impossible for us to get back up. At such times, do you think you have hope? What should we do then when our case seems hopeless?

When it seems that it should be impossible for us to get back up, remember IT IS ACTUALLY NOT. Try and keep trying to get up. If we try to get up 100 times and we fail, don't give up. Giving up would never bring us on our legs again. If we fail, try again and again and again. It's not the end neither it's not how we start that matters most. It matters how we gonna finish. Are we gonna finish strong? And we will find the strength to get back up like we never know before.

There is always a way because God will make a way where there seems to be no way! Good luck everyone!