make me smile

This post contains stories relating to Ramadhan that I would like to remember...

 What does this mean? Well, the artist left it as it is, without completing the colouring part; as it is up to us to colour our Ramadhan :)

Story 1

It was during JOM when I was under a lot of stress when Ashraf Zakwan came along, sat next to me and began taking out a piece of paper. He started drawing cartoons and used some coloured pens to make it look cool. I smiled the moment I saw what it was - a self-made Ramadhan greeting card.

This cartoon actually motivates me to have my sahur, ihik2

Plus, I got to keep it! That made me feel less stressful and certainly made my day :)

Story 2

Akhirnya, dapat jugak pergi ke rumah Cik Manggis yang popular. Getting to know my friend's family sure was delightful. Cik Manggis sediakan sangat banyak makanan, tapi sayangnya tak mampu nak makan banyak (memang kurang makan waktu bulan Ramadhan tapi kalau bulan lain, memang banyak. Haha). Sangat sedap! (Sup & ayam especially) Teringat waktu kat Manchester bila Kak Tiqah prepare nasi ayam untuk makan malam. Mesti resipi turun-temurun keluarga. Sebelum balik, dapat pulak hadiah dari Cik Manggis. Rasa sangat excited dan terharu, huhu. I surely won't forget that day :)

Story 3

Tatkala sedang berada dalam kereta, terdengar komen seorang ustaz tentang keadaan fizikal orang yang berpuasa. Menurut ustaz, sudah tentu orang yang berpuasa akan berasa letih. Itu fitrah, badan berasa letih apabila tak makan. Apa yang kuat waktu Ramadhan ialah roh kita. Then, I suddenly remembered a friend who told me that there was once a man who said that fasting reduces productivity. Well, of course. If you define productivity as something merely physical or tangible; that could be true. But, if you define it as the aftermath of Ramadhan, well that's a whole new perspective isn't it? A month of training. A month of patience. A month of enlightenment. If we don't achieve anything by the eve of Syawal, wouldn't that be a waste? Let's reflect ourselves while there's still a few days left. So that when Syawal arrives, we'd be happy for trying our best in the month of Ramadhan :)

These are just a collection of my life stories which I would like to remember as I progress through this temporary world. I share them with you hoping that they would be worthwhile.

But mostly, I share them with you cause they make me smile...

stickwitu

And here comes another post, a personal one. Yeah, what do you expect? After all, this blog is called being me.

In my life, I have always told myself to be strong. Being a single child for the first 5 years probably has given an impact onto my personality. And being the only boy in the family (until Irfan came along) made me grow closer to my brothers.

I tend to become attached with people whom I've grown fond of and it is depressing when the time comes to say goodbye. You could probably tell from the sentimental intensity that was portrayed through the posts that I wrote during the KMB/Nottingham transition and even when I'm in the UK after several months. 

It's difficult really when I had known someone for a very long time and then I wished he could be with me so I can spent more time with him. But of course, this rarely happens.

I kept telling myself that when I become a doctor, I might become attached to my patients which I instantaneously hope that I won't. It's because of who I really am, someone who can really get attached to the people that I encountered in my life. That's why I once made a statement (not sure where) before I fly to the UK that sounds a bit like this:

"Don't think I would ever let you into my life that easy"

I was directing that statement to anyone that I would meet after my departure. Well, that didn't happen right, Adlan? And I'm glad it didn't. Cause now, I have lots of people who care and people I care. And that is sweet!

What I'll tell myself right now is to become firmer next year (3rd year). Regardless of which path they took, it's all destined by Allah and I have to accept it. Sure, I will be lying on my bed when I get upset but I need to get up promptly cause there are more things to be done. Even if I won't be meeting them that much, I just need to remember that in this world, everything is temporary and Allah is there for me, always~

This post is actually featured on my bloglist and I highly recommend that you read it especially if you're like me. Like the author, I too...am attached to emotions, to memories, to people. My attachment was probably heightened with my unexplained capability to reminisce past events in life. Alhamdulillah, I'm really grateful for this gift.

I need to remember that even if I won't be meeting them that much, I can always pray for them and if we were not destined to meet again in this world, then insyaAllah, we would meet in jannah. Isn't that the place we all are hoping to go to eternally?

Attachment. 

It is who I am. 

I will still become attached to some people. 

But the transcendent attachment would be towards none other than Allah...

speak now

Hello, sorry for not updating for a very long time. It's obvious isn't it? My blog remains dormant when I'm busy...and let me tell you, I was busy even until now but one of my jobs is about to end, insyaAllah. So yeah, I'm gonna write more posts now.

This is another flashback ;)

It's interesting really. In my life, I have always considered myself to be an extrovert. But several things in the past (whilst in the UK mostly) had proven me wrong. Deep down inside, I'm an introvert. An introvert trying to be an extrovert.

Yeah, when I was younger, probably in high school, there was one time when we had to go to an open house of my aunt in Shah Alam during Raya. And when we're there, me, my siblings and a cousin of mine went upstairs and stayed there most of the time. My cousin even said to some of the children who went upstaris, "Eh apa naik atas ni? Turun2". I was laughing at that time and told my Mum about it. Her reply:

"Korang ni memang...keturunan antisocial"

LOL

Haha, I guess she was right, huh? And when in the UK, well, when I'm around people, I tend to be quiet. It's hard really and people would judge me as someone who don't mix around with people when in fact I was naturally this way. Of course, during the high school days, I never really knew about this trait of mine. Time after time, I became the president, the committee member of numerous societies, student representatives, project managers...I was even a president of a sports club (yeah, tell me about it :P) and I also became a public speaker, a storyteller, an actor in a musical, a player in a national quiz (with those cool buzzers), never became a debater to represent my school though (a common misconception among my friends, the only debate that I have participated is the one in KMB during Economics and my class rocks! Despite the fact we didn't get 1st place), nasheed, choir, a commandant...well I can continue writing them down but the point is, I surprise myself if I had known all along that I was an introvert.

There were also various occasions in Nottingham where I would hide myself in my room when there would be lots of people in the living room. Well, I hid lots of times actually, heh. I even tweeted sometimes hoping that I would feel better telling my friend that I'm uncomfortable during that time.

I find it hard to talk to people at times. And only after several encounters would I be able to converse normally. My close friends know all along that I'm really shy and quiet. But I would not describe myself that way, haha. It was during one time when I finally figured out who I really am when I blurted out a statement during a secret meeting of the Upper East Siders as a response to how our trip had been in Turkey. I told him to read my blog when I publish the post (but tak publish lagi kan? :P) as "I am more expressive in my writing than in my speech". That hit me. That's who I really am. No wonder I've been struggling this whole time.

And then I got a wall post on FB from Kakak Nana:

Well, that wall post just made me smile. True, I don't really talk much. So, I'm probably not good at generating conversations. But at least, I'm improving. I made my nenek smile :)

And so, that's what I'll continue to do. Please pray that this shy little boy would become more unreserved. Cause he doesn't want people to think he's antisocial. He's just trying to be more open.

Rasulullah himself was a very shy man but he managed to become the most influential man in history as well as becoming the rahmat for the whole universe (Rahmatul Lil Alamin, 21:107). That is coolness!

And I, Adlan Wafi am trying to grow out of my shell...