Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A Story About A Soulful Pillar

Have you ever experienced days where there are double, triple or more occasions to celebrate in a day? Well, I did. It was my birthday as well as Mother's Day last Sunday.  How cool is that? This does not happen everyday in my life and both occasions coincides one another so, so well.

There is nothing much I want to share about my birthday. Other than meeting up and spending time with the people that I loved, my birthday this time reminds to be more grateful for what I have in life. Another year passed very quickly. I felt like I just celebrated my previous birthday yesterday. I pray for greater things to come to my way, to be happier and full of love. 

I wouldn't be who I am today, where I am today and celebrated my recent birthday without this one special person in my life - my mother or as I fondly call her 'Ibu'. The fact that she is so special it inspired me to come out with my own pen name - Aidashar, which combined some part of my name as well as hers.

Ibu is such a beautiful person, inside and out. I am sure everyone will say the same about their mother but to me, I am saying this not only because she is my mother, but the fact is, she does possess the qualities.

Ibu was an active person when she was in primary and secondary school. She danced, played sports, athletics, you just name it. She's smart but perhaps textbooks were not really her best friend during school days since she was so much into sports and curriculum. To a point which my late grandfather did not approve of her active participation and wanted her focus more on studies. But Ibu was just being herself. Sports is in her blood, so how can you take that away from her?

Ibu did not further her studies to tertiary level when she completed high school, since life was hard back then for her and family. So she opted to work after finishing school. If she continued furthering her studies, I am sure she would be one brilliant student. 

It was when she started working that she met my father, introduced by a mutual friend. Both were not impressed with each other during the first meeting, driven by the ego in them. Standard la, jual mahal kan. But as the saying goes 'if it is meant to be, it will be". Well, let's just say they got hooked in the end and married each other. Dah jodoh kan? I remembered when my dad shared with us a remark by a Chinese aunt in his kampung about how pretty my Ibu was at their wedding 40 years ago."Wahh, manyak cantik wooo! Itu macam ratu cantik punya rupa!" that sweet old aunt claimed in awe. See, told ya. My mum was and still is a beautiful person until today. I bet my dad was extremely pleased with that remark at that time. Sure dia kembang hidung tahap 'honnnsss honnnsss honnsss' masa dengar ayat tu.

Years passed, she gave birth to the four of us and together with my dad, she raised us up till we turned adult. My mum was a working a woman but yet, she fulfilled her responsibility as a mother wonderfully. She cooks, do the chores, cleaning etc. although there was a daily maid to help her out. I don't know how she has the energy to do all that. And I don't know if I can manage like her when I get married and starting to have children. Writing about it does make me feel tired. So can you imagine doing it while juggling with your career, family and passion? You are amazing, Ibu.

I have to admit. When I was young and still in school, I've always wished that Ibu did not work. Ibu would stay at home, greet us when we come back home from school, listen to our daily rants about school and most of all, have fun together. I missed her everyday, although we will see each other after she came back from work. So can you imagine the days where she took leave and stayed at home? I was one happy girl. 

Some children may feel helpless not to have parents to be with them all the time. But I think God gave me and my siblings the strength, maturity and independence to endure our young days without having Ibu at home. We understood that Ibu worked because she wanted the best for us. She wanted to give more for our sake.

To me, Ibu is one calm, patient and relaxed person. I have only seen her angry like, less than five times in my entire life? And when she got angry, it was a scary sight. There was a time when I was young and naughty, I did something not very nice out of immaturity. I was so scared to tell my dad but I knew I could confide in Ibu. I finally confessed to her. She did not get angry. She did not even scold me. But there was a tear flowing down from her left eye when I finished my last words. That was the first time I saw my mum cried because of something I did and it was so heartbreaking. Too heartbreaking that I cried after that and feeling sorry for the rest of my life. 

Instead of leashing her anger at me, she pointed out the right thing that I should have done. From a mother to daughter, she provided me important life lessons in her own steady, elegant way. It remains close to my heart and mind all the time.

Today, Ibu is enjoying her retirement life and happily spends her time at home doing housework, exercising, gardening, cooking an entertaining grandchildren. On the reverse, I am the one now who is working and spending time mostly in the office to catch up with deadlines. 



There are just so many great things to share you, Ibu. Countless. I just want you to know that you are and will always be my life warrior. Why? For your unconditional love and support, no matter what happens. Above all, you are the soulful pillar. Not to me only, but to the whole family which we are thankful for. You filled in the blanks to the meaning of Mother's Day. Above all, the role of a wonderful mother. 

I love you, Ibu. 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

The Happiness Project

The title above sounds familiar to you? Well, if you are into books, yeah you should. The book was written by Gretchen Rubin about her one year happiness project and how she did it. I bought that book long time ago and I have read half way through. However, I figured that it's time to stop reading the book (which I have stopped long ago, muahaha!). Sorry Gretchen, no offence. I just think it's best to turn it into action.

So readers, tell me. To be happy, do you just go with the flow or to make it as the only option? Which works best for you?

I was just curious. But the updates in my Facebook news feed aroused my curiosity even more. "100 happy days? What is that all about? Apakah?" I kept wondering to myself every time I saw my friends' updates.

Day after day, with the hashtag #100happydays, #Day1, 2, 3, bla bla and so forth, I began to pick up bit by bit. It seems to me that it is sharing one happy moment (at least) through the social media channel you choose. It could be about the food you eat, the friends you meet etc. In short, every little things that makes you happy counts. Kisahnya.

Nevertheless, I decided to explore more about this 100 happy days and I discovered the website: www.100happydays.com. It turned out to be a challenge, an interesting challenge but at no prize. What a pity! I read through the website on how do I go about with this project and so on, but what intrigued me most is one of the reasons I should do this project as listed on the website:

"Fall in love during the challenge."

Wow. I mean like, seriously? Jatuh cinta? Kalau jatuh tangga aku percaya, but jatuh cinta? Biar betul kan.

I kinda had a wow moment when reading that line but then again, this could be a general statement. Trying to be more realistic, I think (ehem) it is not necessarily you fall in love with another person. We could fall in love with a...place? Food? Flower? Couch? Dress? Handbag? It could just be anything right? *Sedapkan hati diri sendiri*

Oh well. Fall in love or not, I decided to join this 100 happy days challenge and today is my first day! My Day 1:

Spending time with my bestie, Miss Iera, on my birthday eve!

If you wish to see the rest of my photos during the 100 happy days challenge, just type #aidashar on Instragram :)

Join in the fun!