Can you put away the phone, please?

Pernah tak nampak keadaan ini? “Satu family makan bersama, duduk semeja, tapi semua ahli keluarga sibuk tengok phone masing-masing”

I have seen it for many times… and it triggers me… I don’t want us my family to be like this..

So I have started my own self-challenge of putting the phone away when I am home. Baru start last week. Check on the phone only when daughter or husband is not around. Or only use the phone when I have to call people or pick up calls.

Basically the idea is to reduce the amount of time holding or gluing myself to the phone screen when I am at home or when I am around family members.

Personally, this challenge is not easy. I need to be really really emotionally strong. Especially since the last 10 years da terbiasa asyik nak check whatsapp messages, whatsapp status, check facebook timeline, check instagram, tgk youtube or bermacam short movie videos bagai. Astaghfirullah.

So these records are based on my own experience since I started this challenge…

1-  Felt sad when u already detox yourself from the smartphone but other beloved people still holds on to it. To me, the unspoken message to me is "scrolling the timeline is more important than spending quality time with you".

Remedy: Ajak ahli keluarga tersayang untuk join this challenge. If they insist to be glued to their phone, let them be until they learnt the lesson of “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone…”

I have learnt my lesson when I lose late Hanafee.. up to this day.. I still remember his words.. “Sayang, cukup-cukuplah twitter tu”. The next morning, he was gone… At that time, I did listen to him and stop twittering when he said that. I just wished he did not need to remind me at all.. I just wished that I would put the phone away when he’s around.

2- The stressfulness of having to consistently say "NO" when your daughter crying out loud begging for phone. Sampai keluar ayat “Mommy, you don’t love me…” Sampai kita terpaksa bebel walaupun kita tak nak bebel. Sampai bebelan kita termasuk orang lain.. “Handphone handphone handphone. Orang sana main phone, orang sini main phone, bla bla bla”

Remedy: Cuba lagi untuk slow-talk dengan anak and ajak dia buat aktiviti fun yang lain.

3- Some people generously utter "Tak baca whatsapp ke?", "Baik tak payah ade phone", “Anti-social”

Remedy: Tell the people about this challenge. Tell them to call if it’s really urgent. And tell them that your existence is this world bukan lah untuk check the phone every second of the day. Duh!

I hope I will stay strong and improve the quality of time with my family.

I hope people around me will support me and it would be best if they also do the same. Less time with phone around family members. 

Catatan Januari

Januari sudah semakin sampai ke penghujung, minggu depan hari Jumaat dah masuk 1 Februari.

Cepat sungguh masa berlalu.

Tadi pagi sesi hadis di office, dapat ilmu baru. Aku baru tahu rupanya tidak elok untuk kita cakap "biarlah masa yang menentukan..." . Masa itu adalah ciptaan Allah; makhluk Allah. So masa tidak boleh menentukan apa-apa, hanya Allah yang dapat menentukan segala-galanya.

Orang-orang zaman jahiliyiah pada zaman nabi-nabi terdahulu, mereka suka menisbahkan sesuatu yang tidak baik dengan masa. So bila dia salahkan masa, ibarat dia menyalahkan Allah, sedangkan Allah itu Maha Sempurna. Jadi kita tidak boleh dan ditegah sama sekali untuk ikut amalan orang jahiliyiah.

Yes, office saya bekerja ni, kami akan buat bacaan yassin setiap bulan, ini sudah lama sejak 7-8 tahun yang lalu. Start bulan 11 tahun lepas, sesi perkongsian 1hari-1hadis pula.

Bagus juga macam ini, tidaklah kita lalai dari akhirat, inshaaAllah.

Sudah banyak agaknya pahala berantai yang boss S dapat, sebab idea cetusan sesi-sesi begini datang dari beliau. MashaAllah.

Mudah sebenarnya kita nak buat ladang pahala, 'berbisness' dengan Allah. 'Perniagaan' dengan Allah tidak pernah rugi. Untung semuanya.

Anyway, apa yang dah kita capai bulan ini? Adakah lebih baik dari bulan lepas?

Bab pekerjaan. Aku rasa bulan ni Alhamdulillah kedatangan aku ke tempat kerja 'excellent', takde selepas pukul 8 pagi dah. Haha. Obviously, better than last year. Harap berterusan lah sampai akhir tahun, inshaaAllah. Alhamdulillah, inilah kebaikan Orked masuk pra-sekolah. Hantar dia pi sekolah dulu, and then terus pi kerja.

Bab rohani pulak. Aku target untuk capai mengaji at least 1 hari 1 muka dalam mana-mana waktu selepas solat. So meaning 1 hari mesti ada baca 1 muka. So far alhamdulillah berjaya, sekarang dah masuk juzuk 2. Ada juga hari yang macam tak sempat baca, entah apa yang aku sibukkan. Astaghfirullah. Perlu baiki lagi konsistensi itu. Tahun lepas dapat katam sekali ja setahun. Malu. Sibuk sangat dengan dunia. Tahun ni nak tingkatkan ke 2 kali katam setahun. Allah pasti bantu.

Bab anak pulak. Dapat siapkan bilik for Orked. Robok putih dia, baju-baju and mainan-mainan semua dah dipindahkan ke bilik dia sendiri. Kemain suka dia. Tapi Orked masih belum berani tidur sendiri lagi. Dah cuba teman dia tidur dulu, bukak pintu semua, tapi nanti pukul 1-2 pagi, dia datang semula masuk bilik kami. Haha. Korang ade tips tak macam mana nak beranikan anak untuk tidur sendiri?

Bab ibu bapa. Aku target untuk setiap hari Jumaat transfer online banking ke tabung haji mak abah. So far ade satu hari Jumaat terlupa. Astaghfirullah. Lepas ni nak try set buat 'recurring'. Semoga kami dapat pergi umrah bersama-sama. Haji mak abah dah pergi dah. Tapi sebab aku belum pernah pergi, so aku niat nak pergi umrah sama-sama dengan mak abah and suami and kalau ada rezeki lebih dengan Orked sekali. Ish, termenangis pulak semasa tulis ni. Allah pasti bantu. Allah sebaik-baik pemberi rezeki.

Bab suami. Err... Sambung post akan datang lah ya. Hahaha.

Oklah. Korang semua macam mana? Semoga kita semua berlumba-lumba ke arah jalan-jalan yang diredhai Allah. Amin!

The Books

Since 2014, I kept on receiving books, one after another. It was given without i even asked for it. I knew who the Sender is. I received them with an open heart full of curiosity. The Sender did not leave any messages to me. It was sort of like an unwritten message... like "I am giving you this, learn, and use it wisely".

So I am free to just let it be unread. And if i read them books, i am free to decide whether to read halfway or entirely until the end. If i have finished it, i am free to keep or return it. 

Usually right after I decided to close a book and return it, a next new book would be delivered to my doorstep. The Sender knows everything! He never failed to send me a book to brighten up my days. There are quite a number of reasons why i decided to close a book. It could be because the books are boring, too predictable or just not up to what i imagined it to be. And the Sender was never mad when i closed any book. He knew my reasons and He is okay. 

The earlier books that I received; Civil (2014/2015), Bicycle I (2015) and Coffee (2015/2016), I did not bother to scribble in them. I thought it's not nice to scribble in a book which i knew i would return it later. But after the 4^th book onward; Gas (2016), Cloud (2017), and Bicycle II (2017), I started to scribble, jot some notes or doodled in them. I don’t know why I did it. I wish I could turned back the time and refrained from dirtying the books. Well, it's not literally dirty, hey i use colorful pencils and i am pretty much damn sure my doodles looks beautiful and i think if the books can speak, they would be honored that i doodled in them. Haha. Anyway all the six books are now closed and safely returned. Alhamdulillah. I learnt a lot. *smiles*

For now, I'd like to keep just the 7th book, Paradise (2018). To me the 7th book is so wonderfully charming, it’s a mix of everything that I like from book 1 to book 6. I am so grateful and happy to have found "Paradise" that makes me feel at peace. 

I used to keep this one book for 9 years, my Poetry book (2003) that I loved so much.. i bring him anywhere i go. However it was taken away from me in 2012... In the blink of an eye it was gone... But I believe in whatever that is taken away from us, will be replaced with something better... we don't know but Allah knows. 

I wish to keep Paradise for as long as i could, just like how i did with Poetry... and when the time comes, i wish the Book-Giver would take me first instead of my book cause i am not sure whether i could bear another loss. 

So, with that, I end my story-telling. *smiles* Thank You.