Motivation of the Week: Think Good of Others

Dear blog,

I realised something coincidental and funny. It seems like my favourite blogging day is Tuesday! :) It's been awhile that I realised since October that I enjoy or always think or feel like blogging on a Tuesday. And today proves that Tuesday is definitely my blogging day. Maybe because Wednesday is usually a half day, lectures just till 1 pm then I have fun activities like the HUG event, gardening for Volunteering week and gym class and many more fun activities on Wednesday so maybe I feel more relaxed to blog on a Tuesday? I am not sure hehe

So, less of an update from me in this post and aim to write more motivational. But if you fancy reading a quick update>> Well, today is the time of the month so I came home earlier than normal and decided to relax, eat fruits, have hot milk and then took a nap. I rarely take a nap in the day. I can confirm confidently that the number of times I take a nap in the day is less than 10, maybe even less than 5. Because I do not like taking day naps. I prefer sleeping early but only those rare days that I do not feel well that I do. So today I felt like being on the verge of getting ill, throat, nose and the time of the month that I do less physical activities. I feel that the first few days, ladies do not force yourself to do too many physical activities. I was planning to stay for yoga but my body did not feel like being in college once I finished at 4 pm so I went home early. Although my mind was telling me to be productive and stay for gym class at 5 pm or at least yoga at 6 pm, I listened to my body saying no I wanted to go back home and rest. 

Ok so back to motivation, in this article I would like to point out the importance of thinking good of other people, other humans and other creations of God. I read an article today about a girl with mental health on BBC News: The Story I Read Today. It was really touching.. imagine what things she was thinking. She was feeling low of self-worth that even someone's laughter can frighten her because she thought they are laughing at her. She felt very insecure. And she could not even ride her horse because she felt that she was not good enough. 

Dear readers, when I read this, do you know what I gain out of it? Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is the importance of being kind. If I met her on the street or was assigned a project with her and did not know her well, how would I perceive of her actions? From her behaviour, it seems like she would not be very pro-active in group discussions or even take part in any activity or be committed to any task she is given because she cannot wake up and have the motivation for the day. You see, if someone never experienced this, how would they know? They would be immediately annoyed and think negatively of the other person. People seem to be not understanding of the things they do not know. This is not a great fact but it is true. People think that other peoples' lives are all great and perfect and rarely give the benefit of the doubt. If someone is behaving strangely or not how you expect them to be, it might be something difficult that they are facing. They might not be too open to tell you about it because you are not very close to them or they do not feel that they can tell you. So what is the solution to this? Communicate respectfully and be kind. Spreading kindness has its power that nobody can understand or explain. It spreads warmth and creates a connection between people. Sometimes with that kindness, only the other person opens up. Just like me. I do not open up about anything I am facing unless I feel that the other person genuinely cares and can give me good advice or just supportive words. 

Also, speaking of confidence and self-worth, different people have different ways of gaining or developing their self-confidence. And recently I realised that social media is actually a platform that some people use to overcome homesickness, feel confident and to get any attention that they are deprived of. Of course, not everyone who posts on fb posts for these reasons but I know some people that do. I never actually thought of this that social media gives them a positive impact and helps them overcome sadness/depression or negative feelings but to me, if it helps them feel better then do. It is nice to share about your life (not everything of course) but it's nice to write it like how I enjoy writing in a blog and then reading it again after some time. I also have recently enjoyed this FB Memory reminder thing and it makes me so happy to see old pictures. This and the fact that I have been convinced by a few friends that sharing on social media more often brings more good than bad, I have decided to be more social media friendly. I am more open to sharing nowadays and yes it does make me feel happy. As for me, I like the feeling of being genuine and living my little private and happy life doing what I enjoy and do best. I like the feeling that I do not need to impress anyone but Allah and myself and this is something that I  try not to change because I can feel the vibe on social media that many people are trying to impress others. To me, if someone wants to or gives me the opportunity to be their friends or be part of their lives, then I am not a difficult person to be close to. I often need that assurance, otherwise, I would just be casual B) Also if someone's personality (a girl who is positive and kind) attracts me then I will try to be friends hehe. This journey abroad has made me learn so much of myself and built me to be a better person insyaAllah. 

If there is one take-away message from today's blog post: Every human is different, different personality, different likes, different dislikes, different things that offends them, different source of happiness. But if there is one thing you can do to overcome this difference which will make it easier for you is to think good of others. Realise that everyone is going through and fighting their own battle that you do not know of. Allah promised He will test each and every one of us. Nobody is exempted from being tested. Know that each person may be going through something difficult that you have no idea of, and slowly you can build compassion for another being and from compassion comes a kind heart and kind actions insyaAllah. Nobody is perfect, we all need to keep improving and hopefully this articles has motivated you to take that extra step this week/month to being a kinder and more compassionate you :)