Berikut adalah cerita yang diungkapkan oleh Arun Gandhi (Cucu Mahatma Gandhi).

Waktu itu Arun masih berusia 16 tahun dan tinggal bersama orang tua disebuah lembaga yang didirikan oleh kakeknya yaitu Mahatma Gandhi, di tengah-tengah kebun tebu, 18 mil di luar kota Durban, Afrika selatan. Mereka tinggal jauh di pedalaman dan tidak memiliki tetangga. Tidak heran bila Arun dan dua saudara perempuannya sangat senang bila ada kesempatan pergi ke kota untuk mengunjungi teman atau menonton bioskop.

Suatu hari ayah Arun meminta Arun untuk mengantarkan ayahnya ke kota untuk menghadiri konferensi sehari penuh. Dan Arun sangat gembira dengan kesempatan ini. Tahu bahwa Arun akan pergi ke kota, ibunya memberikan daftar belanjaan untuk keperluan sehari-hari. Selain itu, ayahnya juga minta untuk mengerjakan pekerjaan yang lama tertunda, seperti memperbaiki mobil di bengkel.

Pagi itu, setiba di tempat konferensi, ayah berkata, “Ayah tunggu kau disini jam 5 sore. Lalu kita akan pulang ke rumah bersama-sama”. Segera Arun menyelesaikan pekerjaan yang diberikan ayahnya.

Kemudian, Arun pergi ke bioskop, dan dia benar-benar terpikat dengan dua permainan John Wayne sehingga lupa akan waktu. Begitu melihat jam menunjukkan pukul 17:30, langsung Arun berlari menuju bengkel mobil dan terburu-buru menjemput ayahnya yang sudah menunggunya sedari tadi. Saat itu sudah hampir pukul 18:00.

Dengan gelisah ayahnya menanyakan Arun “Kenapa kau terlambat?”.

Arun sangat malu untuk mengakui bahwa dia menonton film John Wayne sehingga dia menjawab “Tadi, mobilnya belum siap sehingga saya harus menunggu”. Padahal ternyata tanpa sepengetahuan Arun, ayahnya telah menelepon bengkel mobil itu. Dan kini ayahnya tahu kalau Arun berbohong.

Lalu Ayahnya berkata, “Ada sesuatu yang salah dalam membesarkan kau sehingga kau tidak memiliki keberanian untuk menceritakan kebenaran kepada ayah. Untuk menghukum kesalahan ayah ini, ayah akan pulang ke rumah dengan berjalan kaki sepanjang 18 mil dan memikirkannya baik- baik.”.

Lalu, Ayahnya dengan tetap mengenakan pakaian dan sepatunya mulai berjalan kaki pulang ke rumah. Padahal hari sudah gelap, sedangkan jalanan sama sekali tidak rata. Arun tidak bisa meninggalkan ayahnya, maka selama lima setengah jam, Arun mengendarai mobil pelan-pelan dibelakang beliau, melihat penderitaan yang dialami oleh ayahnya hanya karena kebodohan bodoh yang Arun lakukan.

Sejak itu Arun tidak pernah akan berbohong lagi.

*Pernyataan Arun:*
“Sering kali saya berpikir mengenai episode ini dan merasa heran. Seandainya Ayah menghukum saya sebagaimana kita menghukum anak-anak kita, maka apakah saya akan mendapatkan sebuah pelajaran mengenai tanpa kekerasan? Saya kira tidak. Saya akan menderita atas hukuman itu dan melakukan hal yang sama lagi. Tetapi, hanya dengan satu tindakan tanpa kekerasan yang sangat luar biasa, sehingga saya merasa kejadian itu baru saja terjadi kemarin. Itulah kekuatan tanpa kekerasan.”

Wow! Just when I thought it was all going to go quiet for Christmas, my friend Jonathan Wilson comes up with a powerful piece on leadership in response to a question on our LinkedIn group. Take it away Jonathan:

I have had the pleasure of working closely for airline entrpreneurs Sir Freddie Laker, Sir Michael Bishop and Sir Richard Branson. They were all very different but each shared similar qualities:

1. They learnt to to simplify appropriately so that people knew what they were supposed to do and why it was fun and important to do it.

2. They learned to listened extraordinarily well with genuine interest and respect. Then they (mostly) acted on what they heard, especially if they heard it from a ‘junior’ member of the team.

3. They practised and developed very good memories.

4. They engendered a sustained sense of enthusiasm and made people feel they were very important.

5. They made people trust them enough to believe what they said and that they believed what they said themselves. They had the self-confidence to trust other people. Their confidence enabled them to take accountability and to hold others accountable without interfering with how their people discharged their responsibility. This meant that they delegated very well, which meant that they increased their personal power literally thousands of times over.

6. They were overwhelmingly positive, optimistic and future-focused.

7. They had all been, at least once, within days or hours of losing their businesses to bankers or bureaucrats without any vision beyond the procedure they were myopically, even blindly, following – and they had all learned from the experience

8. They were all motivated by something other than money. The money was merely a way of indicating the value they had created, but short-term profits were never important compared to capital growth, At the same time, they were always cash-conscious because cash is freedom. They did not try to motivate their staff with great financial rewards, but were personally generous.

9. They were much more active than reflective, but when they did pause to reflect, they showed pretty high self-awareness.

10. They were very persistent. Very persistent indeed.

I could go on (and on), but enough! I wish there was a secret code, some insight that people could bottle and have to keep, but I’m afraid that if there is one, I have never been able to find it, except perhaps these two insights:

1. Leadership is not something you have or don’t have. Leading is something that you can choose to do do, or not do – and you make that choice anew every day and every moment of every day.

2. Practice, practice, practice.

Merry Christmas!

was schönes aus dem internetz…
die bilder sind mit der quelle verlinkt.
pictures linked to their source.
eigentlich immer, falls ich sie nicht selbst gemacht habe.

ist euch auch weihnachtlich?
jajaja?

erwähnte ich schon, dass ich total tolle kunden habe?
kreativ und mit wunderbaren ideen.
heute zum beispiel bestellte eine kundin einen meiner orden, maßgefertigt, mit einem schriftzug, anstatt der 1.
superschick!

außerdem brachte eine kundin eine echte preziose, ein geflochtenes armband aus sage und schreibe 42 gramm gold. eine der ketten war gerissen.
ein wunderbares teil. vielleicht kann ich dieses element mal in eine meiner arbeiten aufnehmen….

we should all memorize a poem for the new year.

did you memorize poems when you were younger? for school even?

i memorized three that i can recall.

the first, was a religious poem, entitled “the dying father.” i performed it rather dramatically. i can still recite quite a bit of it to this day, even though I memorized it in the fourth or fifth grade. sometimes at family gatherings i will be asked to recite it just because i can to it quickly enough that is amusing (not kidding).

the second, was “the road not taken” by Robert Frost. i never cared for lines 13-15 and was always forgetting them (Oh, I kept first for another day/Yet knowing how way leads on to way/I doubted if I should ever come back).

the third, i memorized in high school, “fireworks” by Amy Lowell. i picked out this poem in hopes that a certain “someone” would understand it was about them. it was high school…i was full of angst. i still get bits and pieces of this stuck in my head some times (But whenever I see you, I burst apart/And scatter the sky with my blazing heart/ It spits and sparkles in the stars and balls/Buds into roses – and flares, and falls).

still, while i have no memorized a poem in its entirety since (save for a Shakespearean sonnet i “memorized” for an exam during college), there are brief excerpts from many poems that flit around inside my brain incessantly. it really isn’t that hard to commit a poem to memory when you think about it. i think i am going to aim to do so for the new year–find a poem that encapsulates my emotions right now and claim the words as a mantra. maybe i will memorize a new poem for every season? or for every month?

They Said is one of my absolute favorite places to read poems online.

xo, i love you, kittens…

Address by Subroto Bagchi, Chief Operating Officer, MindTree Consulting to the Class of 2006 at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

I was the last child of a small-time government servant, in a family of five brothers. My earliest memory of my father is as that of a District Employment Officer in Koraput, Orissa. It was, and remains as back of beyond as you can imagine. There was no electricity; no primary school nearby and water did not flow out of a tap. As a result, I did not go to school until the age of eight; I was home-schooled. My father used to get transferred every year. The family belongings fit into the back of a jeep – so the family moved from place to place and without any trouble, my Mother would set up an establishment and get us going. Raised by a widow who had come as a refugee from the then East Bengal, she was a matriculate when she married my Father.

My parents set the foundation of my life and the value system, which makes me what I am today and largely, defines what success means to me today.

As District Employment Officer, my father was given a jeep by the government. There was no garage in the Office, so the jeep was parked in our house. My father refused to use it to commute to the office. He told us that the jeep is an expensive resource given by the government- he reiterated to us that it was not ”his jeep” but the government’s jeep. Insisting that he would use it only to tour the interiors, he would walk to his office on normal days. He also made sure that we never sat in the government jeep – we could sit in it only when it was stationary.

That was our early childhood lesson in governance – a lesson that corporate managers learn the hard way, some never do.

The driver of the jeep was treated with respect due to any other member of my Father’s office. As small children, we were taught not to call him by his name. We had to use the suffix ‘dada’ whenever we were to refer to him in public or private. When I grew up to own a car and a driver by the name of Raju was appointed – I repeated the lesson to my two small daughters. They have, as a result, grown up to call Raju, ‘Raju Uncle’ – very different from many of their friends who refer to their family driver, as ‘my driver’. When I hear that term from a school- or college-going person, I cringe.

To me, the lesson was significant – you treat small people with more respect than how you treat big people. It is more important to respect your subordinates than your superiors.

Our day used to start with the family huddling around my Mother’s chulha – an earthen fire place she would build at each place of posting where she would cook for the family. There was neither gas, nor electrical stoves.The morning routine started with tea. As the brew was served, Father would ask us to read aloud the editorial page of The Statesman’s ‘muffosil’ edition – delivered one day late. We did not understand much of what we were reading. But the ritual was meant for us to know that the world was larger than Koraput district and the English I speak today, despite having studied in an Oriya medium school, has to do with that routine. After reading the newspaper aloud, we were told to fold it neatly. Father taught us a simple lesson.

He used to say, “You should leave your newspaper and your toilet, the way you expect to find it”. That lesson was about showing consideration to others. Business begins and ends with that simple precept.

Being small children, we were always enamored with advertisements in the newspaper for transistor radios – we did not have one. We saw other people having radios in their homes and each time there was an advertisement of Philips, Murphy or Bush radios, we would ask Father when we could get one. Each time, my Father would reply that we did not need one because he already had five radios – alluding to his five sons.

We also did not have a house of our own and would occasionally ask Father as to when, like others, we would live in our own house. He would give a similar reply,” We do not need a house of our own. I already own five houses”. His replies did not gladden our hearts in that instant.

Nonetheless, we learnt that it is important not to measure personal success and sense of well being through material possessions.

Government houses seldom came with fences. Mother and I collected twigs and built a small fence. After lunch, my Mother would never sleep. She would take her kitchen utensils and with those she and I would dig the rocky, white ant infested surrounding. We planted flowering bushes. The white ants destroyed them. My mother brought ash from her chulha and mixed it in the earth and we planted the seedlings all over again. This time, they bloomed. At that time, my father’s transfer order came. A few neighbors told my mother why she was taking so much pain to beautify a government house, why she was planting seeds that would only benefit the next occupant. My mother replied that it did not matter to her that she would not see the flowers in full bloom. She said, “I have to create a bloom in a desert and whenever I am given a new place, I must leave it more beautiful than what I had inherited”.

That was my first lesson in success. It is not about what you create for yourself, it is what you leave behind that defines success.

My mother began developing a cataract in her eyes when I was very small. At that time, the eldest among my brothers got a teaching job at the University in Bhubaneswar and had to prepare for the civil services examination. So, it was decided that my Mother would move to cook for him and, as her appendage, I had to move too. For the first time in my life I saw electricity in homes and water coming out of a tap. It was around 1965 and the country was going to war with Pakistan. My mother was having problems reading and in any case, being Bengali, she did not know the Oriya script. So, in addition to my daily chores, my job was to read her the local newspaper – end to end. That created in me a sense of connectedness with a larger world. I began taking interest in many different things. While reading out news about the war, I felt that I was fighting the war myself. She and I discussed the daily news and built a bond with the larger universe. In it, we became part of a larger reality. Till date, I measure my success in terms of that sense of larger connectedness. Meanwhile, the war raged and India was fighting on both fronts. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minster, coined the term “Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan” and galvanized the nation in to patriotic fervor. Other than reading out the newspaper to my mother, I had no clue about how I could be part of the action. So, after reading her the newspaper, every day I would land up near the University’s water tank, which served the community. I would spend hours under it, imagining that there could be spies who would come to poison the water and I had to watch for them. I would daydream about catching one and how the next day, I would be featured in the newspaper. Unfortunately for me, the spies at war ignored the sleepy town of Bhubaneswar and I never got a chance to catch one in action. Yet, that act unlocked my imagination.

Imagination is everything. If we can imagine a future, we can create it, if we can create that future, others will live in it. That is the essence of success.

Over the next few years, my mother’s eyesight dimmed but in me she created a larger vision, a vision with which I continue to see the world and, I sense, through my eyes, she was seeing too. As the next few years unfolded, her vision deteriorated and she was operated for cataract. I remember, when she returned after her operation and she saw my face clearly for the first time, she was astonished. She said, “Oh my God, I did not know you were so fair”. I remain mighty pleased with that adulation even till date. Within weeks of getting her sight back, she developed a corneal ulcer and, overnight, became blind in both eyes. That was 1969. She died in 2002. In all those 32 years of living with blindness, she never complained about her fate even once. Curious to know what she saw with blind eyes, I asked her once if she sees darkness. She replied, “No, I do not see darkness. I only see light even with my eyes closed”. Until she was eighty years of age, she did her morning yoga everyday, swept her own room and washed her own clothes.

To me, success is about the sense of independence; it is about not seeing the world but seeing the light.

Over the many intervening years, I grew up, studied, joined the industry and began to carve my life’s own journey. I began my life as a clerk in a government office, went on to become a Management Trainee with the DCM group and eventually found my life’s calling with the IT industry when fourth generation computers came to India in 1981. Life took me places – I worked with outstanding people, challenging assignments and traveled all over the world.

In 1992, while I was posted in the US, I learnt that my father, living a retired life with my eldest brother, had suffered a third degree burn injury and was admitted in the Safderjung Hospital in Delhi. I flew back to attend to him – he remained for a few days in critical stage, bandaged from neck to toe. The Safderjung Hospital is a cockroach infested, dirty, inhuman place. The overworked, under-resourced sisters in the burn ward are both victims and perpetrators of dehumanized life at its worst. One morning, while attending to my Father, I realized that the blood bottle was empty and fearing that air would go into his vein, I asked the attending nurse to change it. She bluntly told me to do it myself. In that horrible theater of death, I was in pain and frustration and anger. Finally when she relented and came, my Father opened his eyes and murmured to her, “Why have you not gone home yet?” Here was a man on his deathbed but more concerned about the overworked nurse than his own state. I was stunned at his stoic self.

There I learnt that there is no limit to how concerned you can be for another human being and what the limit of inclusion is you can create.

My father died the next day. He was a man whose success was defined by his principles, his frugality, his universalism and his sense of inclusion.

Above all, he taught me that success is your ability to rise above your discomfort, whatever may be your current state. You can, if you want, raise your consciousness above your immediate surroundings. Success is not about building material comforts – the transistor that he never could buy or the house that he never owned. His success was about the legacy he left, the mimetic continuity of his ideals that grew beyond the smallness of a ill-paid, unrecognized government servant’s world.

My father was a fervent believer in the British Raj. He sincerely doubted the capability of the post-independence Indian political parties to govern the country. To him, the lowering of the Union Jack was a sad event. My Mother was the exact opposite. When Subhash Bose quit the Indian National Congress and came to Dacca, my mother, then a schoolgirl, garlanded him. She learnt to spin khadi and joined an underground movement that trained her in using daggers and swords. Consequently, our household saw diversity in the political outlook of the two. On major issues concerning the world, the Old Man and the Old Lady had differing opinions.

In them, we learnt the power of disagreements, of dialogue and the essence of living with diversity in thinking.

Success is not about the ability to create a definitive dogmatic end state; it is about the unfolding of thought processes, of dialogue and continuum.

Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had a paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in Bhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said,

“Why are you kissing me, go kiss the world.” Her river was nearing its journey, at the confluence of life and death, this woman who came to India as a refugee, raised by a widowed Mother, no more educated than high school, married to an anonymous government servant whose last salary was Rupees Three Hundred, robbed of her eyesight by fate and crowned by adversity was telling me to go and kiss the world!

Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you take out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success with ordinary lives.

Thank you very much; I wish you good luck and God’s speed. Go! kiss the world.

This is a great short.  People just being authentic, candid, and honest answering the most basic question…What makes you happy?

What makes you happy? – shot on 5DMKII from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

So, what makes you happy?

Being single is tough!

I don’t care what anyone says, some days are just hard and you find it difficult to put on a positive face.  Now I’m not saying a relationship can change it all and produce a fairy tale ending.  I am saying that sometimes not knowing if you will find love can be a real downer.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to find a partner to share your life with and share all the wonderful experiences of this world.

Maura Kelly has a great blog called Living Flirtatiously that chronicles her adventures in dating.  It is a wonderful blog that is brutally honest and inspiring all at once.

It can be very comforting to know that you aren’t the only one out there on the quest for love and taking a few stumbles along the way.

Check out her great blog here http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/dating-blog/

This is how it is.

great inspirational work by jordi ferreiro
i shall make the best out of this!

Gone are the days when people used to write for newspapers, magazines, etc. But now it’s 21st century dude! Now we have the internet. So what we can do for it? We will write a blog! Now after so many years, there are millions of blogs out there – some are active, some are sometimes active and some are completely dead. So how you’ll decide which blog to follow and which one to not? So to help you out in this thing I made a list of top 5 blogs to follow on the internet! Honest.

1. Meditation Rocks!

This blog is dedicated to meditation. There are many other blogs like these, so what makes this special? It doesn’t concentrate on old boring methods of meditation but on modern and fun methods! And this makes it inspiring and at the same time fun! You should check this out man!

http://www.meditationrocks.us

2. The FRiEnDz weBlog

Have you heard of the FRiEnDz magazine? Now they have their own blog! It’s kind of not active these days, but will surely be active in some time! It’s all about teens and you can write in too! That’s inspiring, b’cause you get inspired by your own work!!

http://thefriendz.biz/blog

3. What Do You Call This?

If you like some informal writing that creates a sense of touch and at the same time some fun then this is your destination! Whenever I read any post on this blog, I have a smile! It can make you feel good, really! I like this blog very much!!

http://youcallthiswhat.blogspot.com

4. Let’s Be Optimistic!!!

This is a self-inspired one! But this means a  lot to me. Whenever I read my previous posts, I just love them. But don’t take it as a negative point, but I get inspired by it. It has also not got some new posts but some are on their way! Hope you’ll follow it!!

http://letsbeoptimistic.blogspot.com

5. Paulo Coelho’s Blog

Have you read his books? If you’ve read them you definitely know this person’s skill and if not go read them now! This person has a great fan-following. Like his books, his blog is equally inspiring. So go and read all it’s posts!!

http://paulocoelhoblog.com

Hope you liked this list. If you wanna add your list or some blogs to this list, then use the comments. And do comment!!

CHEERS!

Every year I’m fortunate to experience lots of change. I enjoy it. The mix of excitement, uncertainty, and the helpfulness of so many people I’m fortunate to know make for a thrilling journey.

2009 has been exceptional. My forays into the world of social media exploded as the Stop Doing Dumb Things to Customers blogging experiment went from strength to strength. Thousands of people tuned in and many have contributed and co-created too. This inspired me to try and improve the mix of employee, customer and social engagement offered through the blog, and through LinkedIn and through facebook, and beyond. I found real enjoyment in writing and it helped make some fantastic new connections, of which more in a minute.

In the summer of this year, I resigned from a successful and enjoyable 12.5 year career working for BT which encompassed sales, sustainability, change management and employee engagement. I’ve started a new business (well someone had to). It’s called What Goes Around Limited. I hope it will bring the very best of what I’ve learned and am learning about engagement, sustainability, leadership, trust and autonomy in pursuit of great service to an even wider audience. In the few short months that What Goes Around has been in existence, we’ve enjoyed some success, uncovered lots of opportunities and made plenty of mistakes. Sorry, I mean learned lots of valuable lessons.

Something I learned a few years ago (I think it happened when I became a father) which I want to amplify today is the power of sharing. My experience of large organisations has taught me that sharing is often spoken about, and rarely practiced. The old maxim knowledge is power only feels right to me when the knowledge is shared to create power with others. Yet too often knowledge is selfishly held close in the belief that it can create power over others, where its value is truly limited, and sometimes even dangerous. In the belief that we can co-create more real power and movement in 2010, I want to share just a few of the many people and things which have inspired me in this exceptional year of change.

Have a great Christmas, and an exciting New Year.

Doug Shaw
07736 518066
What Goes Around Limited
Registered in England. Company number 06997727

Inspiring people, places and things

Jonathan Wilson. Jonathan is one of the most fascinating people I know. Though I’ve known him for some years, I include him on this list because the new ideas and opportunities he introduces me to make it feel like I’m often meeting him for the first time. This year he showed me a great way to measure communication and performance within a team, and improve it.

Is Bad Behaviour Killing Big Business. My friend Katherine Wiid encouraged me to start what is now a growing network on LinkedIn full of interesting people sharing, learning and having some fun discussing stuff about behaviour. Click here and if you like what you see, please feel free to join in.

David Zinger. Katherine then introduced me to David Zinger’s employee engagement network. A growing, thriving network of people with a sincere interest in this exciting subject. David also runs davidzinger.com an interesting and useful site full of insight, cartoons, poetry, plans and the Zinger employee engagement model.

Life Without Pants. Through David Zinger’s network I met Shereen Qutob-Cabral. Shereen is an enthusiast and a motivator. She showed me the way to Life Without Pants and its owner Matt Cheuvront. Matt writes and collaborates wonderfully. Amongst the wonderful things you can find at Life Without Pants is a great read called the Inconvenience of Change. 38 bloggers coming together each with their own story and perspective on how to inspire change.

What Matters Now. After enjoying the great work on Life Without Pants, I went seeking more. I found What Matters Now, which is the work of more than 60 people with big ideas and something to say. It will inspire you to make some changes in 2010, and to keep doing work that matters. Please download it and share it with your colleagues.

Other folk who’ve given me a hand in 2009 include Chris Plush, Tony Mason, Walter Hicks, Gary Smailes, Pete Massey, Dan Pink, Kate Davies, Ross Clephane, Lyndon Wright, David MacLeod, David Shanks (who gave me the name What Goes Around Limited), Dave and Maggie Wheeler, Huw Williams, Joseph Bridgstock, Tamar Collis, Charlie Duff, my dad Paul and my darling wife Carole and lovely daughter Keira Joe. For every experience I recall there are more I can’t right now so my apologies if I’ve forgotten to acknowledge your help and co-creation this time, I hope to do better in the future.

Copas dari teman.
Semoga bermanfaat..
Dari Sahabatku yg istiqamah di jalan dakwah: Kang Alfan

Sebelumnya ane minta maaf kepada para pembaca, ini adalah kisah nyata dari Saudaraku. Semoga kita (terutama Akhwat) bisa mengambil faedah dan ibrah-nya, amiin yaa Robbal ‘alamiin. Ini kisah untuk orang yang sabar, hobby membaca, dan selalu mencari kebenaran dan ridho Ilahi.. Bagi yang ingin baca, ya bacalah dengan ikhlas tanpa melihat teks keseluruhan.. Tapi kita chatline essensi dari cerita ini. Bagi yang malas membaca… Jangan dipaksa dari pada umur anda berkurang nantinya.

Beliau bercerita . . . . .

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*** Ini ceritaku tentang adikku Nur Annisa, gadis yang baru beranjak dewasa namun agak bengal dan tomboy. Pada saat umur adikku menginjak 17 tahun, perkembangan dari tingkah lakunya agak mengkhawatirkan ibuku, banyak teman cowoknya yang datang kerumah dan itu tidak mengenakkan ibuku sebagai seorang guru ngaji. Untuk mengantisipasi hal itu ibuku menyuruh adikku memakai jilbab, namun selalu ditolaknya hingga timbul pertengkaran-pertengkaran kecil diantara mereka. Pernah satu kali adikku berkata dengan suara yang agak keras “Mama coba lihat deh, tetangga sebelah anaknya pakai jilbab namun kelakuannya nggak beda ama kita, malah teman-teman Ani yang disekolah pake jilbab dibawa om-om, sering jalan-jalan, masih mending Ani, walaupun begini gini Ani nggak pernah mo kaya gituan” bila sudah seperti itu ibuku hanya mengelus dada, kadangkala di akhir malam kulihat ibuku menangis, lirih terdengar doanya “Ya Allah, kenalkan Ani dengan hukum Engkau”.

Pada satu hari didekat rumahku, ada tetangga baru yang baru pindah. Satu keluarga dimana mempunyai enam anak yang masih kecil-kecil. Suaminya bernama Abu Khoiri, (entah nama aslinya siapa) aku kenal dengannya waktu di masjid.

Setelah beberapa lama mereka pindah timbul desas-desus mengenai istri dari Abu khoiri yang tidak pernah keluar rumah, hingga dijuluki si buta, bisu dan tuli. Hal ini terdengar pula oleh Adikku, dan dia bertanya sama aku “kak, memang yang baru pindah itu istrinya buta, bisu dan tuli?”. Terus aku jawab sambil lalu” kalau kamu mau tau, datangi aja langsung rumahnya”. Eehhh… tuh anak benar-benar datang kerumahnya. Sekembalinya dari rumah tetanggaku, kulihat perubahan yang drastis pada wajahnya, wajahnya yang biasa cerah nggak pernah muram atau lesu mejadi pucat pasi.. Entah apa yang terjadi…?

Namun tidak kusangka selang dua hari kemudian dia meminta pada ibuku untuk di buatkan jilbab, yang panjang lagi.. Rok panjang, baju lengan panjang… Aku sendiri jadi bingung… Aku tambah bingung campur syukur kepada Allah SWT karena kulihat perubahan yang ajaib… Yah kubilang ajaib karena dia berubah total… Tidak banyak lagi anak cowok yang datang kerumah atau teman-teman wanitanya untuk sekedar bicara yang nggak karuan… Kulihat dia banyak merenung, banyak baca-baca majalah islam yang biasanya dia suka beli majalah anak muda kayak gadis atau femina ganti jadi majalah-majalah islam, dan kulihat ibadahnya pun melebihi aku… Tak ketinggalan tahajudnya, baca Qur’annya, sholat sunahnya… Dan yang lebih menakjubkan lagi… Bila teman ku datang dia menundukkan pandangan… Segala puji bagi Engkau ya Allah SWT jerit hatiku…

Tidak berapa lama aku dapat panggilan kerja di kalimantan, kerja di satu perusahaan minyak KALTEX. Dua bulan aku bekerja disana aku dapat kabar bahwa adikku sakit keras hingga ibuku memanggilku untuk pulang ke rumah (rumahku di madiun). Di pesawat tak henti-hentinya aku berdoa kepada Allah SWT agar Adikku diberi kesembuhan, namun aku hanya berusaha… Ketika aku tiba di rumah… Di depan pintu sudah banyak orang.. Tak dapat kutahan aku lari masuk kedalam rumah… Kulihat ibuku menangis.. Aku langsung menghampiri dan memeluk ibuku… Sambil tersendat-sendat ibuku bilang sama aku “Dhi, adikkmu bisa ucapkan kalimat Syahadah diakhir hidupnya…”, tak dapat kutahan air mata ini…

Setelah selesai acara penguburan dan lainnya, iseng aku masuk kamar adikku dan kulihat diary diatas mejanya… Diary yang selalu dia tulis, diary tempat dia menghabiskan waktunya sebelum tidur kala kulihat sewaktu almarhumah adikku masih hidup, kemudian kubuka selembar demi selembar… Hingga tertuju pada satu halaman yang menguak misteri dan pertanyaan yang selalu timbul dihatiku… Perubahan yang terjadi ketika adikku baru pulang dari rumah Abu Khoiri… Disitu kulihat tanya jawab antara adikku dan istri dari tetanggaku…

Isinya seperti ini :
-Tanya jawab (kulihat dilembaran itu banyak bekas airmata)-
Annisa: aku berguman (wajah wanita ini cerah dan bersinar layaknya bidadari)… ibu… wajah ibu sangat muda dan cantik.

Istri tetanggaku: Alhamdulillah …sesungguhnya kecantikan itu datang dari lubuk hati.

Annisa: tapi ibu kan udah punya anak enam …tapi masih kelihatan cantik.

Istri tetanggaku: Subhanallah… sesungguhnya keindahan itu milik Allah SWT dan bila Allah SWT berkehendak… siapakah yang bisa menolaknya..

Annisa: Ibu… selama ini aku selalu disuruh memakai jilbab oleh ibuku… namun aku selalu menolak karena aku pikir nggak masalah aku nggak pakai jilbab asal aku tidak macam-macam dan kulihat banyak wanita memakai jilbab namun kelakuannya melebihi kami yang tidak memakai jilbab… hingga aku nggak pernah mau untuk pakai jilbab… menurut ibu bagaimana?!?

Istri tetanggaku: duhai Annisa, sesungguhnya Allah SWT menjadikan seluruh tubuh wanita ini perhiasan dari ujung rambut hingga ujung kaki,segala sesuatu dari tubuh kita yang terlihat oleh bukan muhrim kita semuanya akan dipertanggung jawabkan dihadapan Allah SWT nanti, jilbab adalah hijab untuk wanita…

Annisa: tapi yang kulihat banyak wanita jilbab yang kelakuannya nggak enak…

Istri Tetanggaku: Jilbab hanyalah kain, namun hakekat atau arti dari jilbab itu sendiri yang harus kita pahami.

Annisa: apa itu hakekat jilbab ?

Istri Tetanggaku: Hakekat jilbab adalah hijab lahir batin, hijab mata kamu dari memandang lelaki yang bukan muhrim kamu, hijab lidah kamu dari berghibah dan kesia-siaan… usahakan selalu berdzikir kepada Allah SWT, hijab telinga kamu dari mendengar perkara yang mengundang mudharat baik untuk dirimu maupun masyarakat, hijab hidungmu dari mencium-cium segala yang berbau busuk, hijab tangan-tangan kamu dari berbuat yang tidak senonoh,hijab kaki kamu dari melangkah menuju maksiat, hijab pikiran kamu dari berpikir yang mengundang syetan untuk memperdayai nafsu kamu, hijab hati kamu dari sesuatu selain Allah SWT, bila kamu sudah bisa maka jilbab yang kamu pakai akan menyinari hati kamu… itulah hakekat jilbab.

Annisa: ibu… aku jadi jelas sekarang dari arti jilbab… mudah-mudahan aku bisa pakai jilbab… namun bagaimana aku bisa melaksanakan semuanya???

Istri tetanggaku: Duhai Nisa, bila kamu memakai jilbab itu lah karunia dan rahmat yang datang dari Allah SWT yang Maha Pemberi Rahmat, bila kamu mensyukuri rahmat itu kamu akan diberi kekuatan untuk melaksanakan amalan-amalan jilbab hingga mencapai kesempurnaan yang diinginkan Allah SWT… Duhai nisa,,, ingatlah akan satu hari dimana seluruh manusia akan dibangkitkan.. ketika ditiup terompet yang kedua kali… pada saat roh-roh manusia seperti anai-anai yang bertebaran dan dikumpulkan dalam satu padang yang tiada batas, yang tanahnya dari logam yang panas, tidak ada rumput maupun tumbuhan, ketika tujuh matahari didekatkan di atas kepala kita namun keadaan gelap gulita, ketika seluruh nabi ketakutan, ketika ibu tidak memperdulikan anaknya, anak tidak memperdulikan ibunya, sanak saudara tidak kenal satu sama lain lagi, kadang satu sama lain bisa menjadi musuh, satu kebaikan lebih berharga dari segala sesuatu yang ada dialam ini, ketika manusia berbaris dengan barisan yang panjang dan masing-masing hanya memperdulikan nasib dirinya,dan pada saat itu ada yang berkeringat karena rasa takut yang luar biasa hingga menenggelamkan dirinya, dan rupa-rupa bentuk manusia bermacam-macam tergantung dari amalannya, ada yang melihat ketika hidupnya namun buta ketika dibangkitkan,bada yang berbentuk seperti hewan, ada yang berbentuk seperti syetan, semuanya menangis… menangis karena hari itu Allah SWT murka… belum pernah Allah SWT murka sebelum dan sesudah hari itu… hingga ribuan tahun manusia didiamkan Allah SWT dipadang mahsyar yang panas membara hingga Timbangan Mizan digelar itulah hari Hisab… Duhai Annisa,,, bila kita tidak berusaha untuk beramal dihari ini, entah dengan apa nanti kita menjawab bila kita di sidang oleh Yang Maha Perkasa, Yang Maha Besar, Yang Maha Kuat, Yang Maha Agung. Allah SWT…

Sampai disini aku baca diarynya karena kulihat berhenti dan banyak tetesan airmata yang jatuh dari pelupuk matanya… Subhanallah … kubalik lembar berikutnya dan kulihat tulisan : kemudian kulihat tulisan kecil di bawahnya buta, tuli dan bisu… wanita yang tidak pernah melihat lelaki selain muhrimnya, wanita yang tidak pernah mau mendengar perkara yang dapat mengundang murka Allah SWT, wanita tidak pernah berbicara ghibah dan segala sesuatu yang mengundang dosa dan sia sia.

Tak tahan airmata ini pun jatuh… semoga Allah SWT menerima Adikku disisinya… Amiin Subhanallah … aku harap cerita ini bisa menjadi ikhtibar bagi kita semua…

Dari:

Kakak yang mencintai

“Circumstances do not determine your state of being. Your state of being determines your circumstances.”

“Circumstances, therefore, do not matter. Only your state of being matters.”

“Circumstances do not M-A-T-T-E-R. Do not MATERIALIZE things. Only your state of being MATTERS. Brings energy into MATTER. Materializes things.”

“So it’s not the circumstances in your life. It’s how you respond to them that makes the difference in your life.”

“It’s not whether the outside world has changed in response to your spiritual growth that matters, it’s whether your spiritual growth allows you to respond differently to the circumstances even if they stay the same. That means you have actually grown.”

“Do not rely on the outer world as your measuring stick for your own spiritual growth, rely on your response to the outer world to determine how much you have grown.”

“If you still react the same way to an old circumstance, you haven’t grown. It has nothing to do with whether or not that circumstance should be in your life anymore.”

~ Bashar (channeled by Daryl Anka), From Youtube video Creating Your Reality

Who is Bashar?

A multidimensional being called by Daryl Anka…

“Bashar is a being of extraterrestrial origin, a friend from the future who has spoken for the past 21 years through channel, Darryl Anka, bringing through a wave of new information that clearly explains in detail how the universe works and how each person creates the reality they experience. Over the years, thousands of individuals have had the opportunity to apply these principles and see if they really work to change their lives and create the reality that they desire.”

Anka, Daryl (Bashar). Who is Bashar.The Official Homepage Of Bashar. Accessed December 20, 2009. http://bashar.org/HOMEMAIN.html

Who is Daryl Anka?

• In 1973 Witnessed  UFO’s on two occasions and became interested in UFO’s, “paranormal subjects”, psychic powers, spirits and channeling
• 1983 introduced to channeling as a practice
• Joined channel class, but not to become a channel
• After practicing guided meditation and mental exercises meant to shift consciousness he received a telepathic message from BASHAR
• Started channeling BASHAR because he knew he had made an agreement to do so
• Has channeled Bashar ever since 1983
• Travels and gives channeled talks with Q and A
• Has inspired many people all over the world

Books By Bashar as channeled through Daryl Anka:

Blueprint for change: A message from our future

Books by Daryl Anka:

Quest for Truth: A 100 insights that could change your life

Here is the video that I acquired the above quote from:

Here is a video of Daryl Anka while he is channeling Bashar. He is talking about the four laws of creation in this video…definitely food for thought:

What does this quote mean?:

“Circumstances do not determine your state of being. Your state of being determines your circumstances.”

Basically this means that our attitudes, our perceptions play a very direct and important role in our experience with our circumstances. Through our attitudes sand beliefs we experience are circumstances as a reflection of those attitudes and beliefs.

“Circumstances, therefore, do not matter. Only your state of being matters.”

It is critically important for us to understand how insignificant our circumstances really are and how much  we are truly responsible for our perception and experience during those situations…especially the ones that make us uncomfortable.

An example might be if you were standing at a bus stop and someone approached you and was rude to you. You have the choice to respond by setting boundaries, walking a way, telling them what you think and through your response to the situation you will have a certain kind experience. Based on what you think, percieve and believe about the experience, you will act accordingly, which will result in exactly what you expect.

“Circumstances do not M-A-T-T-E-R. Do not MATERIALIZE things. Only your state of being MATTERS. Brings energy into MATTER. Materializes things.”

Since, on a very basic level we are made up of energy, anything that we experience is a material manifestation of that energetic process. Therefore, our energy plays a role in the overall interactions we experience. Therefore, we are really in control of how we influence things around us, percieve things around us, and experience things.

“So it’s not the circumstances in your life. It’s how you respond to them that makes the difference in your life.”

Learning how to respond is essential to effecting change in our environment, our experiences and ultimately the circumstances surrounding us.

“It’s not whether the outside world has changed in response to your spiritual growth that matters, it’s whether your spiritual growth allows you to respond differently to the circumstances even if they stay the same. That means you have actually grown.”

There is no bad response, only a different kind of response to the same situation. If in the past you were more likely to not tell someone that you didn’t like something they did, then a sign of growth would be if you were able to tell them…even if it is in the form of yelling. Eventually, that will adjust as you learn to adjust your response and find the best way to act to get the results that you ultimately prefer.

“Do not rely on the outer world as your measuring stick for your own spiritual growth, rely on your response to the outer world to determine how much you have grown.”

Even if you keep having the same experiences come up, that doesn’t mean you haven’t grown. It is how you respond that determines your growth and through your internal change, eventually your outer environment will change as well. It takes time.

“If you still react the same way to an old circumstance, you haven’t grown. It has nothing to do with whether or not that circumstance should be in your life anymore.”

Use your responses to a situation to measure the lessons you have learned and then apply the lessons next time it comes up. We always get plenty of opportunities to try again.

How much do you think you are responsible for what you experience and why?

Sources:

Anka, Daryl (Bashar). Who is Bashar.The Official Homepage Of Bashar. Accessed December 20, 2009. http://bashar.org/HOMEMAIN.html

Anka, Daryl (Bashar).The Official Homepage Of Bashar. Accessed December 20, 2009. http://bashar.org/HOMEMAIN.html

I would like your imput on my book cover choice. In your opinion, does the cover match the title :Your Life Teaches You To Live? What are some additions or changes I could make to have a cover that represented the title?

Thanks!

A very cool video showing the extent of the known universe.

Tales of the The Three Trees

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: “I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!” The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. “I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!” The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. “I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

Years passed and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. “Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!” the first tree said. The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, “This tree is strong. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. “Now I shall sail mighty waters!” thought the second tree. “I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!” The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. “Any kind of tree will do for me.” He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter’s shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold or with treasure. She was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty ship was made that day. Instead, the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river. Instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. “What happened?” The once tall tree wondered. “All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God…”

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. “I wish I could make a cradle for him,” her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. “This manger is beautiful,” she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

So the next time you feel down because you didn’t get what you want, just sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.“

I first read this story when I was on my first year of college. I decided to share this because this helped me cope up with everything I have to dealt as I entered into college and I didn’t get what I was hoping for. All my disappointments, frustrations and sorrows started to suffocate that breathing feels like a punishment from the heavens. I held this paper, read this story over and over again just to feel good and for once I could live my life and accept everything as it is as well as forget about my depression. This really helped me a lot and I hope anyone who could read this would feel enlightened too.

Everyone has a story; some more compelling than others. Unfortunately millions of these stories go untold. However, thanks to a new site called MakesMeThink.com people have to ability to share their own amazing stories from life and read others.

Makes Me Think was founded by husband and wife team Marc and Angel. According to their about page MMT is; “…an online community where people share daily life stories that provoke deep thought and inspire positive change.”

They go on to explain their motivation for creating Makes Me Think; “Sometimes the most random everyday encounters force us to stop and rethink the truths and perceptions we have ingrained in our minds. These encounters are educationally priceless. They spawn moments of deep thought and self-reflection that challenge the status quo and help us evolve as sensible individuals.”

I personally can’t get enough of MMT. I check it at least once in the morning and once at night. When reading through the various stories, I find myself not only thinking, but going through a whole range of emotions from happiness to sadness to amazement.

Some of my favorite stories so far are:

“Today, I visited my grandpa at his retirement home. At 87, he always seems so happy. This morning I asked him, “How come I never hear you complain about your age like everyone else here?” He replied, “I have no complaints about growing old. Many folks are not fortunate enough to have the opportunity.” MMT” – by Seven

“Today, while I was driving my grandfather to his doctor’s appointment, I complained about hitting 2 red lights in a row. My grandfather chuckled and said, “You always complain about the red lights, but you never celebrate the green ones.” MMT” – by bange

“Today, I waited on an elderly woman at the local restaurant where I work. She left me a $90 tip on a $10 tab with a handwritten note that said, “I’m 86 and I can’t take this money with me. So please spoil yourself with it.” MMT” – Drew

“Today, my father told me, “Just go for it and give it a try! You don’t have to be a professional to build a successful product. Amateurs started Google and Apple. Professionals built the Titanic.” MMT” – by McGong

“Today, my company employs 130 intelligent individuals and turns a net profit of nearly $500K a year. I started this company 10 years ago after I was laid off by IBM. If they hadn’t laid me off, I might still be working in a cubicle at IBM today. MMT” – by Bill

“Today, I learned that not everything people say behind your back is bad. Actually, some of the nicest things that have ever been said about me were never mentioned to me directly. MMT” – by Dan

I highly urge you check out Makes Me Think and bookmark it.

[via Lyved]

Life change may seem to take years to achieve but there are steps you can walk today and in the next week that perhaps can change your life forever.

Most are little steps, but when combined together they can create big and lasting change.

Here are 7 ways to change your life in the next 7 days.

1. Change your words and phrases

One of the most effective ways to change your life is to change your attitude and mindset. And the best way to change your attitude and mindset is to remove certain words and phrases from your vocabulary and to replace them with others that are more positive.

It might take some time to remove negative phrases and words because you’ve gotten so used to them. But once you start using new words and phrases that are more positive, you’ll be surprised at how almost instantly people around you react differently and how you look at the world around you in a fresh way.

Your entire life changes without you having to change everything.

Here are some words and phrases to stop using:

- “It’s just one of those days.”

- “Same s**t, different day.”

- “Same old, same old.”

- “Pretty good.”

- “What’s the world coming to?”

- “Kids these days.”

- “I can’t.”

- “I don’t know.”

- “The good old days.” (thanks Tyler!)

- Hate – It’s such a powerful word that has become too common in our vocabulary.

- Retarded – I don’t know why people insist on using this word to describe something they don’t like or understand.

- Gay (requested by Max based on the same negative use as “retarded”)

For some ideas on what you can start saying to improve your life and make lasting, positive change, please read our article: 50 things to say before you die.

2. Count your blessings

We all get caught up and forget to reflect on how fortunate we are. So in the next 7 days take an hour and think about:

- What you’re glad to have experienced – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s a bad experience, but it’s shaped who you are. For me, one thing I’m glad I experienced was poverty.

- What you’re fortunate to have – family, food, shelter.

- What you’re fortunate to not have – it could be sickness or debt.

3. Dust off your bucket list

Take out your list of things to do before you die and find something you can do in the next week. Or write something new down and do it.

4. Wake up claiming the Best. Day. Ever.

One day can positively change your entire life. And that one day needs to start with one good morning.

During the next 7 days wake up claiming that it will be the best day ever and try your hardest to maintain that attitude all day.

5. Try something you think you’re bad at

Perhaps you think you’re horrible at singing, writing, basketball, or some other talent. But perhaps you’ve just never really given yourself the time to attempt and if you do, you might find a new talent for yourself.

6. Declare your life’s purpose

It can certainly be done in a week with focus and a bit of work.

To help you, here are two articles you might be interested in reading:

- 5 easy pieces to piecing together your purpose in life

- What do you want on your headstone?

7. Recognize change happens constantly

Every single day your life changes no matter what. Even if you go through the same routine over and over again, no two days are ever the same. Recognize this and even the days of adversity and pain will become bearable because you know that “good new days” lie ahead.

(Number 5 was rephrased. It first read “Try something you’re bad at.” Number 7 was also rephrased. Both were changed to get the points across more clearly.)

[via Lyved]

A very short video of Pakistan Special Services Group undergoing training in Cherat chanting ALLAH’s name as well as Janbaz Janbaz Mun Janbazum … Janbaz (<–a word not a sentence) means one who is willing to put his life on the line. They cap it off by replying Mun Janbazum (<– sentence) i.e. I am a Janbaz.