Betulkan niat.

Following is a conversation between a friend and I the other day. Let’s call her, Friend.

Friend: Aku rasa aku pakai tights ni je la. Pendek sikit tapi takpe laa, at least takde orang usrah.

Me: Bukan orang usrah tu pun yang catat amalan kau.

I honestly did not mean to sound so harsh. Those words totally came out involuntarily and so quick that I didn’t even realise that they’ve been uttered. Even though I did say in a joking kind of way, I’m quite sure it didn’t sound good to someone who’s heard it.

My friend didn’t flinch or anything. She didn’t even show that she was hurt by the words. But she did wear longer tights in the end (even though, tights may still not be the best solution but phew! It’s a good start)

I didn’t regret those words though, because it actually is the truth isn’t it?

Sometimes we’re so worried about what other people think that we forget that they’re not the One we’re supposed to please in the first place. Orang ni tengok je, yang determine kita masuk syurga neraka is Allah.

In a way, sometimes I do think that it’s not a bad thing that we consider what other people think because it keeps our behaviour in check. I always think to myself “at least it’s a start” even though niat maybe tak betul lagi, in hopes that one day, we’ll work towards that.

Kena sentiasa check and betulkan niat.

“Aku nak pergi library sebab nak study” (dalam hati nak stalk crush yang study situ)

“Aku nak pergi masjid sebab nak dapat pahala 27 kali ganda” (dalam hati nak nampak alim)

“Aku nak pakai tudung labuh” (kalau tak nanti orang kata apa kan?)

Even though these are all great things to do, we should remind ourselves to look at the bigger picture and think about why or who we are doing it for.

If the reason we’re doing it is because of other people, then no matter how good the deed may be, our will to do it might not last long because people are impermanent, hence the motivation is impermanent.

Allah is.

So let’s take baby steps toward being a better version of ourselves every day.

It’s not going to be easy but we must try, not matter how long it takes.

In shaa Allah.