Life needs PURPOSE, SUPPORT and MOTIVATION

Today I decided to write in 'bahasa rojak' i.e. a combination of BM and English for a change or probably to lighten up a heavy topic.

I am currently reading this book called UNSTOPPABLE by Cynthia Kersey (eh..takkan cakap pasal buku lagi??).


Buku ini memaparkan 45 kisah benar perjuangan dan kejayaan hidup manusia just like me and you. Buku ini seolah-olah menyedarkan saya betapa penting untuk kita hidup to the fullest and do something that we enjoy very much. In a study made by Cornell University, senior citizens were asked if they had any regrets in life. And guess what?? The overwhelming response was that they regretted not doing what they had always wanted to do. It is not the risk that they take, but the risk that they do not take, that haunt them for life.

Buku ini banyak menyentuh pasal unstoppable human spirit, manusia yang sanggup buat apa sahaja asalkan objektif hidupnya tercapai (but bukan kearah benda yang tak elok sampai bunuh membunuh tau..). According to the book, an unstoppable person has the following seven characteristics:-
1. Devote themselves to their purpose.
2. Follow their heart's passion.
3. Believe in themselves and their ideas.
4. Prepare for challenges.
5. Ask for help and build support team.
6. Seek creative solutions.
7. Persevere, not matter what the challenges are.

If u can see, the first three on the list talks about purpose, passion and belief. Actually passion and beliefs are the ones that fuels your energy to keeps on going to reach your purpose in life (or senang cerita goal in life lah..).

What's my goal then? It should be something that I am happy and enjoy doing day in and day out. Being there for my kids? Make sure that the house are kept clean, arranged and tidy all the time to keep hubby smiling (my hubby is very particular about time management and cleanliness, I tell you...)? Being able to earn some fair share of salary at the same time? Being able to socialise and meet people?

One solution to that is to become an executive at my own home, surrounded by my children and being there for hubby as he came back from work. Bestnye kan?! Dulu, I always wonder what I want to do in life. Kalau sesetengah orang is very firm on what their ambition is, mine was a very blurry one. I kept on changing my ambition from time to time. Pursue study in accounting ni pun sebab Abah suruh. Since I am very 'flexible' sebab tak tau nak jadi apa, I ikut jelah. Then grad, dapat kerja kat Bank, that's it?! Then after sometime working, I go like, hey is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?

An egroup formed by a well-known business called UKS has introduced me to the idea of working@home. I never thought it is possible to do that so I attended a seminar co-organized by UKS and Famy last Saturday (actually ni second time pergi..first time was last year). It opens up my eyes and inspired me to follow the footsteps of people who shared the same dream job as I am. If others excel, why can't I?

I know they are risks and challenges for you to face if you chose this path, but bukan ke kat mana-mana pun ada risiko? Cuma from what I gather in the seminar is any path you take in life, you have to try to find ways to mitigate it. And once, you are comfortable enough, than go for it. In this case, my concern is of course two things - MONEY and FRIENDS. Kalau kerja ni dapat fixed salary...mengular macamana pun dapat duit at the end of the month (not that I mengular lah, setakat email ngan blog hopping tu adalah..hehe). But kalau work@home by having your own business, you have to work hard to get money. I'm not a spender, so I don't spend much on clothes, make-ups, handbags and shoes. Ashraff punya baju, books and toys pun sekali-sekala. My great concern is the hutang-piutang and insurans. That's why according to the speakers in the seminar, you have to have at least 6 months salary (the best is one year) in your accounts before you can issue a resignation letter. So errrr...I'm not ready in that sense but I am working towards this. Eventhough boleh nak amik VSS, tapi ciput (faktor yang dibagi hanyalah 1.25 sahaja!) so tak cukup nak kumpul 6 months salary. Lunch nanti nak bukak www.envelope.com, nak tengok macamana sistem envelope digunakan.

And then friends. Friends whom you can share stories, jokes, latest gossips, whatever...Kalau dok rumah, you are all alone. Yes, you have your children to attend to but can they really share with you all the latest gossips, parenting tips and what not...Well, this is not so bad as I have UKS e-group to share with. Lots of Work at Home Mothers (WAHM) in the group, which some of them I have met in person. And when u look at the bright side, probability untuk kena menceburkan diri dalam aktiviti mengumpat pun kurang. Kalau kat sini boleh didengar dikiri dan kanan orang mengumpat pasal boss, management, rakan sekerja, si polan bin polan..di rumah, tidak lagi, insyaAllah. Bukankah setiap wang ringgit yang kita perolehi lebih berkat?

I am glad I finally found my dream job at this not-so-young age. Bukan kaya yang saya harapkan, tetapi keberkatan dan kesempurnaan hidup. Sekarang ni hanya perlu bersedia untuk ke arah itu. I need to polish some of my skills especially in PR and marketing. Being the studious accounting student, I am not exposed to those.

But then again, we must remember that kita hanya merancang, Allah yang menentukan. Oleh itu, semasa seminar itu, kami dinasihatkan untuk berserah dan bertawakal kepadaNya.

Oh yeah, in the Unstoppable book, it is mentioned that in meeting your goals, you will encounter discouragement from others, even from the ones close to you. Just close your eyes and proceed. Do buy this inspirational book at RM39.90 if you need something to boost your motivation. Lagi senang, log in to www.mph.com.my, search Unstoppable. All the best in reaching your goal in life!

Me and Books.

I am an avid reader. I love books, fictional ones that is. I can't recall on what method my mother chose to teach me to read, but at the age of 5 years old, I can read superbly...and religiously..in Bahasa Melayu only. I found it a bit hard to read in English back then.

I still remember what type of books I read at that time. It is the RM1 classic fairy tales books, translated to Malay like 'Si Tudung Merah', 'Goldilocks dan Serigala' and 'Snow White dan 7 orang kerdil'. Mak will usually bring back home a dozen of books in various titles and I will spend most of my free time reading those books.

Then I move on to Enid Blyton's collection, also in Malay version like Lima Sekawan and Tujuh Sekawan.

I started reading in English quite late as I have trouble absorbing the reading techniques. For me, Malay is easier as it is concentrates more on syllable like B-A, BA..C-A, CA and so on..I can't really recall what is my first English book's collection, but I do remember that I love reading Enid Blyton's books (this time around in English) like Amelia Jane Series, The Faraway Tree collection and whole bunch of simpler English books written by her.

As my English reading improves, I move on to a higher level of English also written by Blyton like the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, Twins at St Clare's. Those boarding school series have made me wanted to go boarding school really bad!

Then, as I entered high school, I started reading Sweet Valley High and Goosebumps series, before I was introduced to books written by Virginia Andrews. Andrew's manuscripts envolved around a teenage girl's life who is entangled in between family deceptions, love and incestuous act. Her first published books is 'Flower in the Attic', which was later being adapted for the big screen. I actually watched the film first before reading the book. But I found the book is way far more interesting that the film itself (isn't that normally the case?).

I kept track of all Andrew's family saga from Doppelanger series to Castell till I reached form four, where I was forced to read Sidney Sheldon's book out of boredom. The first Sheldon's book that I read was The Naked Face, which drove me to love the book and continue reading almost all his publications. Even till todate, I always on the look out of his newly published book, though I found at times, his story becomes more predictable now that I know his style of writing.

While waiting for Sheldon's, I saw a friend of mine reading Whitney, My Love, a book written by Judith McNaught. She then lent me the book and from there on, I love reading Mcnaught's collection.

In between McNaught and Sheldon, I also love to read Malay novels written by Lamia Aimal like Donia, Tiga Wajah and Waja. Her captivating way of adding true facts and figures to romance is what makes me looking forward to her next book.

So, basically, my life has been envolved around books, so that makes reading my utmost interest or hobby. Hubby noticed a similarity among all the novels that I've read, which I would never have realised should he never pointed out. He mentioned "Eh! Why are all the books you read, the main character is always a female?". Emmmm...I wonder why...

After a long break...

Finally, I have regained the energy to write after a long break. As I mentioned before, my Bank is going thru another restructuring and even offered VSS this time around (but of very small quantum, so I'll pass on it).

Me, myself and I maintained in the same room, under the same boss and doing the same work. But two of my fellow KL branchmates, were transferred to Selangor Branch. They were good buddies so I seemed a lil bit sad. However, the good news is two of ex-department mates from Bank Industri i.e. this lady and this guy were transferred here. So, I am thrilled because I missed working with them and having them nearby to share stories and problems. Not that I can't share it with my new collegues here but I am comfortable with them since I know them longer. You know with merger (or takeover for that matter), there is still a virtual divider between the people from the two organizations. And I do not know how long it will take for that 'seperator' to vanish so that we could work as a team. But as at now, the thought of two of my mates are here leaves me motivated to go to work today!

*****************

My cousin, Tina Naeela has just given birth to adorable baby boy by the name AIMARR BIN RAIHAN on 18th February 2006 at good old Assunta Hospital. The name is pretty short, isn't it?! I asked Tina why he decided to give such a short name for his son. She mentioned that she got inspired by looking at Ashraff's single-word name. The shorter the better, she told me. She said she has gone through enough trouble carrying a long name - with UPU forms to fill up, loan form, examination paper etc. Tell me about it. I have a long name too! And that is exactly the reason why we chose a short name for our son, apart from having the priviledge to call him with his full name.

We could not take Aimarr's picture because he was put in an incubator (something to do with lung, the nurse told us) and we were not allowed to see him. Too bad...or else you would get a good view of newborn baby to enlighten your day.

What to Blog On?

"Hey Rafiqah, update your blog!"

Yeah, I heard you loud and clear Izreen.

It's one week since my last entry. I am addicted to blogging, that's for sure. But within the last one week, I'm pretty caught up with work. I have basically no time to blog hopping, what more to spare more time on writing an entry.

I also found life is a bit plain with nothing interesting to blog on. Everyday, my life goes through the same routine. Get up to work and left the house at 7.30 am. Reached the office at 8.15 am with 15 minutes to spare for breakfast before I started my work, which happens to be monotonous as well - prepare disbursement proposal, write some memos, follow-up on payment, some reporting to do - day in and day out.

Left the office at about 6 am, reached home after 30 minutes (on average). Cook, eat dinner and spend quality time with Ashraff until he fell asleep. After Ashraff is fast asleep, I would normally watch TV with hubby but for the past few nights, I've been indulging myself in a newly bought novel by Judith McNaught titled Night Whisperers, before eventually retire to bed.

So, can you find anything interesting for me to blog on here?
Or probably I'm just not in the mood to write..

At first I wanted to write about our trip to Taiping, which I found it to be profoundly interesting. But then, I have not transferred the photos taken to my computer, thus, I could not add up some photos to spice up the story.
But then again, if I do transfer the photo, I do not think I have the energy to write.

Sorry folks, I have somesort of mental block these few days...

Introducing C.M.O.G Kids!

Finally, after going thru lots of scratching head and pulling hair moments, I am proud to introduce CreateMyOwnGift's latest products - PERSONALIZED CHILDREN T-SHIRT!!

This T-Shirt under our own brand, C.M.O.G Kids is made from 100% cotton and anti-bacterial material, which is safe for children. We have three sizes, 1-2 yo, 3-4 yo and 5-6 yo. Do clad you loved ones with a T-Shirt, emblazoned with their own name for just RM25 only. And if u buy 4, you get 1 free. If you buy the T-Shirt + Book, you can get it for the price of RM60 only (usual price is RM64.90).

So, the next time around you got invited to a birthday party, you will know where and how to find a unique and original gift-:) Gift-wrapping service is available too...

Check out the photos of our personalized T-Shirts...




This one has not been personalized yet. The personalization will be in pink.

Bukan selalu nak tulis blog berbentuk iklan...