Acceptance, the Key to a Wonderful Life

"What a wonderful day today is", you thought. The weather is good. Your mood is good. And the traffic is unusually smooth. Your colleagues noticed how happy you are today. Suddenly, your boss called you to his office. A new assignment for you. You went into  his room smiling until you heard what the assignment is all about. Something that you really dread doing. "Oh, No! Not me. Give it to someone else" shouted your inner voice. But what you could only say to your boss is "Okay, I'll do it".

Back at your desk, you are not the same person as you are when you arrived earlier this morning. Unsatisfactory and a little of anger filled up your heart. You can't concentrate. You tried to focus on your work. But it is just too difficult. You felt uncomfortable. You felt like going out somewhere to loosen up and take some fresh air, but you can't. It's office hour and you know how strict the HR department are.

"Face it", suddenly the phrase just come up in your head. You sit back. Then took a deep breath. "Why not? After all I have no choice", you thought. "Okay then, I'll do it the best I can". Next thing, you find yourself listing the objectives of your new assignment. Then the action lists. And finally you got the plan outlined. You felt content and smiled.

You can turn around just about anything that God permits, by accepting whatever comes into your life as it is. Accept them with an open heart. Then work it out from there. Enjoy it as you do it.

The moment you accept, everything will loosen up. Everything seems to fall nicely into its place. Life become easier and more pleasant. On the other hand, when you resist, you create tension. You are not following the flow of your life. You are trying to swim upstream. Life will be difficult, exhausting and full of frustration.

Therefore, be like water, always flowing smoothly and make its way through, even there are obstacles.

Your life is already perfect

Are you happy with your life? Or are you always whining about your life? Actually you are the main contributor, the determiner of how your life is.

God created us with a purpose and give us life. All we have to do is go with the flow. What comes into our life is gifts from God. Do not compare it with others. Do not ask for more. Do not crave for other things. What is there for you is yours. It is the best for you. Accept it with open heart. Be thankful to God.

When we accept whatever God give us we do not resist his gifts. We are being harmony with ourself and God. And when we thank Him for the gifts, we appreciate them and we will get more gifts. Life will be peaceful and abundant.

If we do not know what to do with the gift or doesn't like the gift. The first step is to accept it and be thankful. Something is better than nothing. Then work your way to make use of the gift. There is always a way if you focus and work on it. Trust me God will help you in you endeavor. And when you succeed, be thankful again. You will get more gifts and help from God. Your life will be full of abundance.

Sometimes on your way to success, there are obstacles and disturbances. Accept them peacefully as they come. They are teachers that help us to learn new skills, polish existing skills and learn to be patient. Work your way out smartly and peacefully. If there is nothing you can do about it. Just accept it and leave to God to deal with it. It is not your part. It comes to teach you to be patient. Then let it go and move on.

So my dear friends put a sincere smile in your face today and live your life as it is.

How to manage your time efficiently

Time is fix. You doesn't get more today or lesser tomorrow. What has passed, is gone. And what is coming is beyond your control. All you have is NOW; a space to act in.

You can't control your future 100%, but you can be prepared. Set your priorities. Narrow down your focus. Get a good rest to ensure you have enough energy for the future. Prepare your mind and body for it. Start your day early and fresh. And do not forget to prepare yourself for the unplanned events, in case they come up. In other words, set your target, get yourself equipped mind and body, and have alternative plans or reserve space for the unexpected.

Moments come and go. Therefore do your best in each moment. Single tasked. Do one task at a time, one small step at a time. Focus and concentrate on one thing. Do not multi-tasking, your energy and attention will spread out and will be less effective. Just focus on one thing in each moment and enjoy it.

What happened in the past sometimes weighs you down. Let them go. Extract the lesson from it and use it as your tool. Then let go the past. Move on. What makes you today is not shaped by the past but by what you do now, in this moment. So get up and embrace your moment!

The Pleasure of NOW

Have you ever do a task with the focus fully on your inner-self, doing the task? It's a wonderful experience, believe me! The task becomes more enjoyable. And as your mind is more focused, you become more efficient. Fast and focused. Just like a Kungfu fighter. Accomplishes so many things in a short time. And the sense of contentment at the end of the task, put a smile in your face and energizes you for more fulfilling tasks.

What happens here is you are working in harmony with yourself. Your mind, spirit and every parts of your body, all working together to accomplish only one thing at that moment. How do you do that?

Well, before you start any task, make clear of your sincere intention in your heart. Then move on to the doing with the sincere intention in mind. Feel yourself doing it and enjoy it. See and feel yourself doing it through the eyes of your spirit. Take your time. Stay calm. Though you feel that you are moving in a slow pace, actually you are more efficient as everything goes smooth and mistake are minimize compare to if you do it in a rushing mode.

Rushing is not fast. When you rush you tend to make more mistake. Correcting the mistake or making up to the damage done is more time consuming and an energy waster. You feel you are doing it fast when you rush, but when you rush, you are not focused. You are multitasking. Your mind, spirit and body are not focused to one thing. Instead the energy is spread to more than one thing. A focused energy, like laser beam is more powerful than a spread energy.

All you need is practice. Remember these points. One, sincere intention. Two, Be in harmony with the task at hand. And finally, one small step at a time.

My Ideal Writing Session

There are moments when writing is smooth and fascinating. Everything seems to flow smoothly and beautifully. The urge to put down my ideas in words is so strong, that the words just flow continuously; non-stop. I end the session with a smile in my face right from my heart. A content and full filling feelings in my heart.

I remember that moment clearly in my mind. I was sitting alone peacefully in front of my computer. Sitting up straight, comfortably and feel relax. The room was not completely quiet, but quiet enough to get me in the mood of writing. I have a subject in my mind to write about. I type the title, and begin the journey, point to point as it emerge in my mind. I keep on tapping my fingers on the keyboard without looking back at what I have wrote. Just keep on writing until I have no more point to elaborate. This is when I go back to my first word in the first  paragraph, read what I have wrote, correct the syntax and spelling here and there, fine tune it  until I'm satisfied.

If more ideas come in, I'll repeat the process until all is laid down satisfactorily. Once done I'll read it over and over again, word by word until I'm happy with it. Then I'll just leave it and continue with my other tasks peacefully and happily. Cheers!

Simplify!

When you feel overwhelmed, or life have become complicated, one simple advice would be to simplify. What is simplify anyway? It's like a magic word that can turn your life the other way round: from chaotic to calm, from busy to more free time, from rushing to relax.

Simplify, as it may sound is to make things simpler. How do you do that?

1. Keep or have only the necessary things in life
2. Focus on one small step at a time
3. Take the smallest number of steps to accomplish your task
4. Just make it satisfyingly good enough, because perfection tends to make things complicated
5. Do less in a day but with full conscious and enjoyment
6. Remove the clutter in your mind; the past and the future. Just focus on the present moment and enjoy it

Try it, and may peace be with you.

Let your mind breathe the freshness of the moment

Have you ever catch yourself smiling alone reminiscing the past? Or feeling sad or down due to some event in the past? I'm sure everyone of us has experienced that once in a while. Sometimes you get drifted away from your present, that you missed out what is going on  around you. The story you have just read, the tv program you have just watch before, the chat you had with your friends recently, they just come and go without warning or without you realizing it.

How does these memories and pictures of the past affects your daily life? A playback of a scene in an entertaining comedy you have just watch earlier might change your mood to happier mood, while a sad or a mystery story might leave you feeling sad or confused. But one thing for sure, it took you away from your present moment. One sign is, you suddenly can't remember what you have done and what you have not done. If you are sitting with a group of people, you seem to have lost connection even if you are physically there. Your time just passed by without you realizing it. And worse it eats up your energy, when you keep on repeating doing the same thing without realizing it. You seem to have lost your senses. You're watching the tv in front of you but you did not see it. You are listening  to a conversation but you didn't hear what they are talking about. You're eating your food but you doesn't taste it. You're washing the dishes, but you didn't feel the water flowing or the stickiness or the oily sense on the surface of the plates. You're sitting in a park surrounded by plants and flowers but you just couldn't smell the freshness and fragrance of the flowers and plants around you. What a waste of time and energy!

If the program you're watching is from a video player you might rewind the player, when suddenly you find you have lost track of the story. If you are listening to the conversation of your friends, you might suddenly popped out a stupid or irrelevant question to them, ending up being laughed at. If the food you're eating was tasty, everyone else praises how tasty the food was, except you because you forgot to taste it. It just went through your throat without you realizing it. You might have completed your dish washing, but to your amazed, there are still food sticking on the dishes here and there. You might end up washing them again.  If the park you were sitting in was beautiful, then it's too bad you didn't have the chance to enjoy and appreciate it.

What has passed, is past and gone. Be aware of what you have in your mind. Stop your thinking if what your have in your mind is the past. Don't let it decays in your mind, even though it is a sweet moment that's refreshing, it will get rotten in your mind if you keep on playing it. Just stop it there and then, when you catch yourself reminiscing. Clear your mind and enjoy your five senses in the presence of your soul. Refresh your mind with moment to moment experience.

Back to your origin

I always longing for that sense of peacefulness and serenity when I perform my prayer. Sometimes I tried hard to  be there, which feels like heaven, but it doesn't seem to be the way I want it to be. Lately, I try to connect with my soul every moment I could. Life is more peaceful. Tasks, workouts or whatever I do seems to be more alive, peaceful, energized and inspired. Then when I do my prayer I try to practice what I have learned; always connect to my soul and it works. I am finally there. The serenity feelings!

Then I started to ponder why life is so chaotic today. With technology, daily routines are more convenient than ever, entertainment is everywhere and yet people tend to be more crazy and crazier every day. Now I know why. The more you are further from your soul, your origin, the more chaotic your life will be. The technology and entertainment, tend to put our focus away from our soul. The internet, blackberry and ipod makes our mind busy wandering away, further from our soul. Sometimes, we are just lost in a different world in our mind that we forget our physical existence and ignore what is around us.  I'm not saying that we should be back to our ancestor primitive life. No! Though it seems a more environment friendly kind of lifestyle.  Just accept what is, go with the flow, but one important thing, wherever or however you go with the flow, tie yourself tightly to your soul. Your life will be more guided and meaningful.

So, whatever you do or whatever condition you  are in, just feel yourself rooted to your soul every moment, and act from that source. Life will be full of peace and serenity. Beautiful!

Be better than I used to be, not better than anyone else

"Be better than I used to be, not better than anyone else". I always say this to myself whenever I feel envious of somebody else's life. God has His own way of being fair and square. Identify you own weaknesses, accept it and do something to improve it. Make yourself better then you used to be. Life is not a race. You cannot be better than someone else, because each of us is different and we live in different circumstances. Believe me! God is being fair to everyone of us. Its how we help ourself  that makes the difference. So be appreciative and help yourself to be a better person.

We do not have the rights to judge others. Their life is what is, accept it. Instead, be aware of you own life as you are subjected to God's judgement. Life is short to be wasted on jealousy, hatred and arrogance. Let God guide you through your soul. Your life will be full of love and gratitude.

Be Like Water

Have you observed a flowing water? May it be the one in your decorative garden, or the one in the fish pond, or maybe in the waterfall you visited somewhere. Have you ever sense the peacefulness of its being? In essence, water by itself is clean, transparent, and tends to flow whenever it can. The water that flows downhill usually come from a source under the ground. It is pure and clean. As it flows, it encounters many obstacles, such as rocks, stones, sand and tree roots. Sometimes the soil, dried leaves and other small particles that come in its way, follows the flow and sometimes get stuck somewhere and just stop its journey there. But the water it still keep on flowing, encountering more and more things. That's the beauty of water! Keep on flowing no matter what comes in its way.

That's how life should be. Life is a journey like a flowing water. As long as you keep on flowing, you will be useful and benefit others. Whatever comes into your life, may it be pleasant, depressing, cheering, irritating, lovely or touching, it colors your life, just like the soil, the leaves, sand or dirt that flows with the water. But a flowing water will soon cleans up itself as it keeps on flowing, and shapes the stones and the rocks gently, as it passes them over time. Whatever the obstacles are, water always find its way through, to keep on flowing.

Flowing water helps cleans up whatever it passes by, may it be clothes, hands, or utensils that people wash in a flowing water. And in turn cleans up itself as it flow through nature.

Below I lists lessons that we can learn from a flowing water:

• Be gentle to whatever comes into your life.
• Always find your way out, not by struggling or fighting, but by accepting the present of the obstacles and find alternatives to keep on going
• Be open to whatever that comes in your way and let it be as it is
• Be valuable, by benefiting others gently as you pass by their life
• When you are feeling down, sad, depressed or anxious, move on with your life from moment to moment gently, and you will soon be back to your pure soul; peaceful and clean. Don't be like a stagnant water; living in your past, letting those negatives feelings colors your life forever.

Happy flowing!

What life is all about

We are born into this world, fresh and innocent. The first person we know is our care taker, may it be our parents, grandparents, foster parents, whoever take care and love us as who we are. From them we learn to be a human being just like others. We learn to communicate properly, eat properly, walk properly and behave properly.  In short we learn the basic of humanity from them.

As we grow older, we learn more. We interact with more people and begin to learn something from them too. We begin to form habits, establish what we like and what we don't. And when we grow up into adult, we try to establish who we are. What career we want to hold, what kind of lifestyle we want to have, what kind of status, entitlement we want to have, what are the things we want to posses. That's how we were brought up. Be somebody. Earn all the luxury in life while you are here in this world. Life is short. Be the best among the best.

As a consequence, all our life, we fight, we struggle, we do whatever we can to reach at the top. As we meet people and learn about their life, their success and failure, we envy their success, we tried hard to avoid failure. Our life become a race. When we win, we are happy, when we lose, we feel frustrated. Life becomes a struggle.  We sometimes exhausted, depressed, pressured. But what can we do, that's the purpose of our life. The purpose that we set, our parents set, our communities set.

Looking at life in different perspective can change your life. It is ok to be different as long as your are making the best out of your life. When we were in our mother's womb, we are well taken care of. Everything we need is there for us. We need not to worry. We let it be as it is. But when we were born nine months later, our life changes, there's a lot of intervention from out care taker whoever they are. Our life is shaped and colored by them. And when we grow up, and old enough to be independent, we take over our life thinking our future is all in our hands. What a big mistake!

We were well taken care of by God when we were in our mother's womb, but when we were born, our care taker interferes a lot in our life, then when we are adult, we ourselves trying hard to take control of our life. Little do we realize, that we have edge God out. We think we have the power to shape our destiny. We fight, we race to make it happen. In the struggle, some of us lose our mind, we even lose ourselves. We do whatever it takes to be at the top. Some of us manage to be there. Others failed. We become depressed when we fail. Some of us suffer mental problem, others involve in social problems. For the one who succeeded to be at the top,  the pleasure and fame does not last. They feel pressured to maintain their status, their title, their wealth, etc. They fight and struggle to maintain who they think they are. Eventually, life is not as beautiful as they thought it would be. The race never ends.

Have we ever ask ourself, why we want to be in this race? Is it worth it? No! Your life may look good to others who are on their way to the top, but you the one who is living it, do you feel peace, do you enjoy almost every moment of your life? Fear of being tumbled down, fear of losing your possession, fear of loosing your title and status. Hardship in facing your rivals. It's beautiful outside, but not inside. This what happen when we are living in ego. We think our possession, our status is who we are. And when we lose one of them, we feel like we are losing ourself.

On the other hand, let go ego and let God do the rest. We started as a sacred soul, doing nothing and letting God guide our path. We have no worries, no pain, when we were in our mothers's womb because we let God be there in our life. But when we are out in this world, we let ego take over our life. We edge God out. Instead of listening to God, we listen to our ego. Ego leads us to false happiness, while God leads us to a true ever lasting happiness.

Every person in this world has a purpose. God created each one of us with a purpose. To pursue our purpose, we have to let God guide us. Live our life with virtues and listen to our inner self all along the way to get guidance from God. Respect everyone you meet, no matter who they are. Everyone deserve respect from others because each of us is a divine spirit, no matter what we accumulate in this world. Be sincere in whatever you do. Nothing is more beautiful than a task done with a true pure heart. No intention to gain or to lose, but to just do it the best we can and to be valuable to others. No cheating, just be true to yourself and others, because God is always there every second watching you. Be kind to everyone who enters your life. A simple and sweet act such as a smile can spread peacefulness to others and in turn shape smile in theirs faces. Be supportive and ready to serve others. Surrender yourself to God, and focus on how you can help others. Whatever goes out will come back to us. So if we respect others, sincere, be kind to others and always serving others, God will make sure that you will get it back, usually in unexpected manner. The point here is to put yourself in the hands of God, and live life peacefully, by doing good deeds for others.

In this world, not all people are nice and kind. God created all kinds of people to teach us to be patience. When we meet unpleasant people, we accept they are as they are. Do not judge because it is not our right to judge others. But always remember to evaluate ourself as we are subjected to God's judgement. Forgive them and forget about it. And you will be at peace again.

Always start our day with gratitude. Thank God for another beautiful day. It will be a beautiful day if we decide it to be one. Be thankful for whatever comes into your life. Love others without condition. Fill your heart with love. What others do to you does not affect you, what affects you is how you respond to the situation. How you respond depends on what is inside you. If you heart and soul is full of love, then your response will be lovely. But if your heart is full of hatred, bad expectation, and negativity, then your response will be ugly. Think about it.

And finally ends your day with self evaluation, learn from it, and decide how you can improve. Sleep deeply by being your soul.

Focus makes me efficient

I have always wanted to be efficient in whatever I do. I have tried so many methods, and have been doing some readings. From my observations, readings, trial and error, I finally make a conclusion. Focus. That's it. All I need to do is focus on one thing at a time.

One metaphor is kungfu. In this martial art, a seemingly impossible act, can be done smoothly, with little energy. What the kungfu fighter usually do is focus sharply on the object he wants to act upon, and then act upon it in a very fast manner. The result is always perfect for a professional kungfu fighter.

This applies too to whatever you want to accomplish. Let's take washing dishes for an example. When you wash the dishes focus only on the dish washing. Concentrate on the washing. Focusing is to put all energy, effort, and attention into one. In this case, the dish washing. Your eyes, hands, even your hearing should be focused on the dish washing. Enjoy it as you do it. If you really focused, you will be in a flow; 100% focused, zero distraction. And the end result is a sense of full contentment.

Do not multi-task. One thing at a time. Sounds slow, but in reality is faster. Enjoy your doing, take your time to accomplish the one thing your doing in that moment. Don't try to be perfect. Complete the one thing you are doing, and then quickly move to the next.  Focus washing on one plate and then quickly move to the next plate. It is much efficient. Believe me! All you have to do is break your task into small steps. Concentrate on each steps, and move quickly from one to another.

From thought to reality

'Practice makes perfect' a common saying that almost all of us have heard of. But it is so common that we sometimes just ignore it. We want to do something amazingly, but before we can we have to start somewhere. Take baby steps, move on, keep on going, you might fall and slip here and there, but get up, get on your feet again and move on.

Sometimes we have great ideas, but that ideas never come into reality. Why? Because we doesn't have the courage or the drive to begin it. What drive us to do what we want to achieve? What inspire us to take the difficulty, to take the action to move towards our intention. The answer is the thought! When we start thinking about what we intended to realize, thinking about it deeply, visualize it in our mind; having the picture of the end result clearly in our mind, imagining the details, we are practicing it in our head. From there automatically, our physical body will act upon it, day in and day out. And, eventually we will master it.

In harmony inside out

I have been reading about focus for quite sometimes, in my effort to be more focused in life. In one of the articles I read, focusing is to make all parts within you working together towards a goal. Your mind, hands, body, soul all are working towards one thing. And if you are really focused, you will be in the flow; meaning zero distraction. The way I look at it, in order to be focused in whatever you are doing, you have to be in harmony within yourself.

Focus is important to make sure you do your best efficiently in whatever your undertakings. As important as focus, living with purpose or with intention will make your life flow in the right path. Intention here is not something you decide, but something that is destined for you. To live with purpose or intention, you must be in harmony with others around you, undividing love to others, be kind, no judgments, no expectations, accept others as who they are. Love nature, appreciate the beauty of every little thing around us. And most importantly, be in harmony with God. Love, be grateful, help others and be kind to all living thing.

In conclusion, being harmony inside-out is important to live a meaningful, and wonderful life.

I want to do something beneficial

I have always wanted to do something beneficial to myself and others on this earth. I have so many things on my list, from writing good blogs to producing extraordinary product that is useful to anybody on this earth. Focus, yes thats my problem. I seem to be unable to focus on one mission, on one niche. All the items in my mission list are interesting,  fun, and enjoyable. I am aware that I have to pick up only one and focus on it... truly focus on it, live with, dream about it. But, which one? I love doing all of them, but when I start doing one of them, there is this urge to do the other thing (it is my resistance). When I start doing the other thing, the urge come again whispering to stop what I am doing....... it is boring, it is not worthwhile doing, look for other better oportunities.

Then, I realized if I keep on doing this, I will end up nowhere. Simplify. Focus on one thing at a time. When I read an article on the Zenhabits blog 'The Reason You’re Stuck (and the one best way to avoid the six ways that will keep you stuck)'  by Seth Godin, I realized that, yes it is the resistance that keep on sticking me to be a mediocre. From the article, I learn that, to escape myself  from the sucking glue, I have to have a very strong intention, that I 'll do whatever it takes to achieve my intention. Bravo! Find one good intention that I really want to manifest. Ignore the execuses. Shut up the negative thoughts. I want to manifest it, I have too, it really matters. I want to be like water. It keeps on flowing, no matter how big, and strong the obstacles....always find my way out.

Now, take only one mission, no turning back, improve as I progress, make adjustments as it happens... strive and keep on progressing as it give me pleasure and a wonderful feeling of contentment.

Happiest people on earth do not have the best of everything, but, they make the best out of everything

Life sometimes can get very complicated. There is always more and more. The more you strive to make your life complete, the more you find it is not complete. It is a common thing in our society today, that living in a luxury life is a dream of almost everyone.We want to be the best of the best. We want to own a luxury and powerful car, live  in a big and sophisticated house... own and have all the best things in life. We work harder and harder, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Instead we get more stressed up. The more we accumulate, the more stress and unsatisfied we are. The race will never ends.

Why? The more we have in life, the prouder we become. When we find someone else have more than we do, we become envious. We worked harder to be on top of others. We dream of the life which do not belong to us. We tend to forget what we have.  We become judgemental ; we feel others are racing against us. They want to be on the top too. Our expectation is high. The people on top will be respectable. We have to be there, we must have all that whatever it takes. Life has become a race, stressful, and tiring. And when we don't get what we want, we become really frustrated.

On the other hand, if we let go all these, and accept whoever we are, be grateful with what we have, appreciate our surroundings, enjoy our life every moment, life can be very beautiful as it is.

Simplify your life, focus on the now, rather than worrying about the future, or living in the past. Be grateful with what you have today and enjoy every bit of it as it is the most beautiful gift you ever received.

Living in the Moment

When I was much younger, my mind likes to wander away from my present moment. My body is physically there but my mind was far away either back to the past or wandering in the future. Sometimes I smile alone. I am always lost. I don't know what is happening around me. Sometimes I can't  remember what I have done and what I have not. As a consequence I find myself keep on repeating whatever I am doing.

As I grow older, I like to read motivational and self help articles on the internet. I also find myself enjoy reading motivational books. One of the first books that captured my attention was 'The Power of Now' by Echart Tolle, which was recommended in Oprah Winfrey Show. The writer stresses that mankind should be living in the moment in order to have a stress-free life. We should enjoy every moment of our life using our five senses. Let go the past and the future; just enjoy the present. Go with your life flow. Accept whatever comes into your life. Do not resist. Just live in the NOW.

As a muslim I find that it is a good practice. A muslim should always accept whatever comes into their life.The word is redha. We should every moment aware that God is watching us; live in the moment by feeling God's presence every moment. Surrender our life to God by trusting Him; go with the flow. The word is tawakal.

Alhamdulillah, the awareness transformed my life. Every moment, I try to remind myself that God is with me; whatever I do He knows. I leave the past and the future to Him, as I trust Him. I am using my five senses more every moment. Life is more calm. Every action is one small step at a time; no rushing and multi-tasking. Sounds slow, but actually is more efficient. I enjoy every step, without feeling overwhelmed and lost. It is really a peace of mind!