Bismillah...
2016 marks the 8th year of my blog. I haven't been writing as much as I did in the past but I will keep this blog for as long as I could. I don't know who would read this blog these days but the traffic still reach by the hundreds every month. This blog started off as a mean for me to connect with friends and update them about the events in my life before there was fb. But now, some are even surprised that my blog is still active and I still continue writing for the love of writing itself. And most of all, this is my opened legacy..
Again, 2015 was so fast~ Honestly, it wasn't a bad year after all.
I actually went to 10 new countries this year!!!!!!! Let me name them
1. Laos 2. Turkey 3. Greece 4. Albania 5. Montenegro 6. Bosnia 7. Croatia 8. Philippines
9. Japan 10. Maldives
And I noticed that, the way we travel changed a lot for the past two years. Nowadays, we are more laid back, very minimal in planning, choosing destinations based on sudden whims and rather than trying to go to as many places that we could during our trip, we prefer to pick the ones that really match our liking and stay there and really enjoy what the place has to offer.
And, one thing that I learn this year about traveling is that, we actually should travel with people who seek for the same thing. The curious should travel with the curious, and those who travel for the sake of picture taking and for the sake of "been there and done that" should really stick to their clan. I should make it clearer to those who claim they want to join me, that I'm a NERD; who loves to go to museums, read about history and people, who should've studied anthropology and not pharmacy, who finds joy in talking with strangers, who has to know how a geological phenomenon that's in front of her came to be and who wants to come back from a foreign place with a raw experience, an experience that's not just based on assumptions and observations but also based on real interactions with people who are of different culture and beliefs.
So, lets look forward to more adventures this year now that I've successfully accomplished 30 before 30! Yeay! \(^^)/ Should I raise my target to 100 countries before 50? Hurm.. Why not!?
I think I have a lot of things to be grateful for in 2015. Although, my family was tested with 2 loss last year, I saw that the loss has strengthened our bonds. And I think that such loss has always taught me to cherish each and every moment that I have with the rest of my family that are still with me and also it reminds me to make use of my time on earth wisely since I don't know when is my turn to return to the Almighty.
I haven't been making more money, in fact I have been turning a huge amount of money into priceless experience. There are times when I feel suffocated with my financial situation but I think Allah has granted me what is enough for me and what I've always asked for in my daily prayers since I was very young. Like a happy, supportive and extremely positive family. Recently during Maal Hijrah, the whole family was reciting surah Yassin together while waiting for Maghrib. When we finished, I just sat there in silence while the rest of them went to renew their ablution and continue reading some other verses. I was recalling that there was one point in our life when I was the only one who can read the Al-Quran and I felt that evening was such a great blessing. I remember when I was in form 3, I got jealous with one of my good friend who I found was taught to read the Al-Quran by his own mother. I didn't blame my parents of course for not knowing how to read the Al-Quran and only memorized some verses to recite during solat but that was the starting point when I start to ask Allah to guide us towards Him. I was more sincere during those days, and to be honest I just repeat the same doa because I got used to it after all these years. But then, this is it now.. The answer to my prayers after all these years..
It showed me that, the timing is Allah's; all we have to do is be patient and trust that Allah will answer our prayers because He promised He will if we turn to Him. And being a good Muslim is a continuous process of becoming and it doesn't mean if one is astray, he or she will be lost forever. They might become even closer to Allah in the future.
And thus for this year's resolution, I just want to be a better Muslimah than I was last year.. I want to try to be more kind, more patient, more tolerant, improve my ibadah, improve in my career and less crap~
And actually I got my eyes on someone last year but I haven't been too obsessed about him to an extend that I'm inspired to write fictions hahaha But I guess I did really well in hiding my true feelings and I think it was for the best that I kept it well hidden for as long as I could. Even when he asked, I didn't have the guts to be 100% honest because I was not sure if he was earnest himself. Again, when I like someone so much, I don't want it to become something that's delusive like pointless flirtations that he eventually become just another person that I used to know. That kind of relationship is just too risky to my relationship with the Creator. I'm looking for my Imam, the one Allah has created for me, written for me millions and millions of years ago. I don't know if he is him... But I do know, that my story has already been written by The Best author Who owns this Universe...
Hoping for a great year ahead Happy New Year (^^)
