Patience, simply a phone call away

Patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.

Patience in Islam is one of the best and most valuable virtues of life. Through patience, a Muslim believes that an individual can get closer to Allah and thus attain true peace. It is also stressed in Islam, that Allah is with those who are patient, more specifically during sufferage.

Patience is the associate of 'yaqeen', or certainty: "And we made of them Imams to guide by Our command when they are patient, and they were certain of Our communications." (Surat al-Sajdah:24) This is why Sufyaan said, "Through patience and certainty the imaamah [leading position] is reached in religion."

09 Apr 2006. NSTP Columns: Patience, simply a phone call away

EACH time I call TMNet to complain about the Streamyx service, I feel important. This is because the voice on the other end never tires of saying: "Your call is important to us, please hold."

I used to think TMNet had singled me out for this honour, but no, the company, I have been assured by fellow subscribers, ensures equal treatment to all its clients.

Why, I wondered, would it repeatedly tell me that I am important. Could it be TMNets way of improving the self-confidence of its clientele?

Can you imagine the ramifications of this life-enhancing policy? As I become more self-confident, my outlook will become more positive, I will become a better family man, I will perform more efficiently at work and I will be able to contribute constructively towards the attainment of Vision 2020.

What a grand vision these service providers have for their clients. We should be grateful they are not charging us for it.

And I have this suspicion that government departments and some service providers in the private sector keep clients waiting on the line for a long time because they want to make this country a great place to live in by teaching us patience.

Picture this: The more patient people there are in the country, the better it will become. There will be less road rage incidents; problems caused by racial or religious differences will be contained; wife abuse will decrease; there will be fewer Loretta Bobbits in the world and the price of scissors will drop.

So, we have to be grateful for these acts that serve to slice our ego.

I used to be frustrated when the voice on the other end of the telephone said: "Our agents are busy at the moment but we will attend to you shortly." But no more.

Putting myself in their shoes, I realise they may be simply inundated with calls. How else do you explain having to wait when you call in the middle of the night or during non-office hours? Who knows how many lunch and tea breaks they have had to forgo just to help solve our problems?

We learn self-confidence, patience, gratefulness and deep reflection not just by making telephone calls. Many people I know have nurtured these attributes by interfacing (to borrow a word oft-used by the bureaucracy and business) with counter clerks.

Certainly they are among the better teachers.

Where else can you get the opportunity to walk from one person to another, and to another and back to the first person you presented your problem to, thus exercising your leg muscles and improving your blood circulation?

What better excuse to be late for work or an appointment than to say: There was a long queue at the department/bank? Where else will you get the impetus to improve your mathematics if not by looking at the counter sign which says the person being attended to is number 27 while you hold a slip of paper which says 331?

But then again, not all service providers understand that part of their social responsibility is to teach clients patience and contribute to economic growth by getting clients to use their cars more often, so that the money spent on petrol and drinks or food will contribute to the gross domestic product.

The people at Maxis, certainly havent heard of this. They dont keep me waiting for long, and after my call I get an SMS asking if I am satisfied with the answer given or service provided.

Such miracles also happen at some counters. Last week I visited the Maybank branch at Taman Kinrara to find out why my ATM card was being rejected by the machine.

A pretty woman by the name of Wan Zalina had obviously not heard that counter officials are supposed to keep people waiting so that they can spend their time fruitfully perusing the many beautiful and educational brochures or listening to other peoples conversations or reflecting on the joy of sitting silently.

She went with me to the ATM machine and identified the problem. She said I would need a replacement card. As my account is at another branch, my signature sample is there. But instead of sending me packing, she went inside to check my account with that branch (either online or via the phone, I presume), returned to get me to fill up a form, took me upstairs to have my fingerprint verified on a fingerprint reader, brought me downstairs, typed something into the computer and handed over a new ATM card. All with a smile.

During the time that I was there, she handled all customers with a cheerful disposition and an attitude that actually meant "You are important to us".

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." ... Rabindranath Tagore

Hikmah di sebalik penderitaan, kesulitan

When days are depressing enough, I would normally browse through those articles that I saved for my reference when I need it. This is a reminder for me and possibly those who read this ...

Hikmah di sebalik penderitaan, kesulitan

UMPAMA pepatah langit tidak selalu cerah begitulah untung nasib manusia. Justeru, dalam meniti detik perjalanan hidup, pasti ada pada masanya kita akan mengalami erti kesengsaraan dan kekecewaan. Bahagia dan ketenangan hati yang dikecap sekian lama umpama lenyap begitu saja.

Tiada siapa yang menyangka, dengan sekelip mata kita mungkin kehilangan orang dikasihi. Ibu bapa atau isteri meninggal dunia akibat kemalangan. Kisah lain mungkin kita dibuang kerja atau perniagaan yang diharap menampung kehidupan keluarga akhirnya muflis.

Kebanyakan kita mungkin kecewa, sedih dan tertekan pada mulanya, fikiran buntu mengenangkan kehidupan diri dan keluarga selepas itu.

Lebih ditakuti apabila akhirnya menyalahkan takdir, malah sudah ada cerita dan kes di negara ini atau di negara lain, si polan membunuh diri atau melakukan perkara yang tidak waras akibat tekanan hidup.

Ramai yang mudah berputus asa daripada memikirkan cara menangani masalah dan ujian itu. Masalah sebegini walaupun tidak dapat diatasi, mereka harus menerimanya dengan reda dan yakin pasti ada hikmah di sebalik peristiwa pahit itu.

Mungkin hikmah itu terselindung di sebalik kebendaan duniawi, tetapi tidak di sisi Allah kerana manusia beruntung adalah yang mendapat keredaan-Nya. Jika kita menjadikan akhirat dan reda Allah itu sebagai matlamat, maka segala ujian bersifat keduniaan dianggap remeh saja.

Allah adalah pencipta manusia, maka Dia mengetahui bahawa pasti ada hamba-Nya yang akan bersedih akibat mengalami 'zaman kejatuhan'. Malah, Rasulullah SAW sendiri pernah bersedih antaranya apabila diusir dan dikasari penduduk Taif sehingga kepalanya berdarah, ketika cuba berdakwah selepas kematian isteri, Siti Khadijah dan bapa saudaranya Abu Talib.

Imam al-Ghazali dalam kitabnya, Mukashafah al-Qulb menerangkan barang siapa ingin selamat daripada azab Allah, dapat pahala dan rahmat-Nya serta masuk syurga, hendaklah dia menahan nafsu terhadap keinginan dunia, selain sabar menghadapi kesulitan dan musibahnya.

Sebagai insan yang mengaku bahawa tiada tuhan melainkan Allah dan Nabi Muhammad itu pesuruh-Nya, yakinlah bahawa segala kesulitan yang dihadapi dengan sabar tidak membawa sebarang kerugian. Ia sebenarnya peluang untuk mendekatkan diri dengan pintu syurga.

Sedarlah, kita mungkin ditimpa kesulitan, tetapi bersyukurlah kerana masih hidup dan memiliki kudrat untuk merubah kesulitan itu berbanding insan lain yang lebih berat tekanan dan dugaannya.

Adakah kesulitan kita itu lebih pedih daripada kesulitan ditanggung nabi dan wali Allah? Adakah sakit kita itu lebih teruk daripada penyakit Nabi Ayub? Adakah susah kita itu lebih teruk daripada cabaran dihadapi Rasulullah?

Yakinlah di sebalik kesusahan yang dihadapi, pasti ada insan lain yang lebih sukar kehidupannya. Ketika sedih. Fikirlah mengenai kebahagiaan yang sudah lama diperoleh, tetapi kesenangan itu mungkin membuatkan kita terlalai.

Justeru, adulah segala kegelisahan yang menjelma, kesulitan yang membuntukan dan kesedihan yang tidak terzahir kepada Allah. Pohonlah dengan penuh tawaduk dan berharap kepada-Nya di samping berusaha mengubah keadaan, nescaya Dia perkenankan. Hal ini kerana itulah janji Allah menerusi firman-Nya bermaksud: "Berdoalah kamu kepada-Ku, nescaya akan Aku perkenankan bagimu." (Surah al-Mukminun, ayat 60.)

Colorful Friends

Friends come in many colors

"Green color Friends"

One who sees the positive

and put hopes in everything

"Blue color Friend"

Color of the sea and sky...

Friend who brings Peace and serenity

"Yellow color Friend"

Color of the Sun...

Friend who made us laugh,

and shows us a star when we are sad

"Red color Friend"

One who reminds us of the rules in life,

but encourages us to change,

with warm loving words

Ha! the "Orange color Friend"

Enhances our spirit with new energy,

with loving vitamins to help us grow

The "Grey color Friend?"

One who teaches us Silence:

to reflect and internalized

helping to know ourselves and others better

The "Purple color Friend"

Color of the noble ones;

will help us learn true authority

and wisdom of heart

The "Brown color Friend"

Might help us to set down of false illusions,

and come down to Earth,

to the reality of daily simple true living

And our "White color Friend"

One who will help us discover

the wisdom hidden to be learnt

within any of our experiences

If we gather

All our Friends in

A BIG MEETING

We will discover

A rainbow

of LOVE !

Thank You for Being such a Colorful Friend

Life is Beautiful

Let everyday

be

a dream

you can touch

Let everyday

be

a love

you can feel

Let everyday

be

a reason

to live ... because life is

indeed BEAUTIFUL ....

HAVE A GREAT DAY MY COLORFUL FRIENDS....