Happy Eid! It’s Always the Time for Improvement

Honestly, I have no urge to write or do pretty much anything that requires a bit more thinking or elbow grease. On the contrary, I can actually think of many topics I want to write about and I have dozens of tasks pending. I’m just too lazy. The only statement to justify this disposition is: “I’m on holiday, dude. Sue me.”

However, I have mustered just enough willpower and energy to write this post. I have two things to write about. Initially, I wanted to make two posts – one topic per post, obviously. But, again, it just seems too herculean a task right now. Plus, if I did one topic now, the other would end up in the “pending” pile for an immeasurable amount of time. Then my guilt would build more and it would be oh so pleasant, wouldn’t it?

Do I sound sarcastic? I might’ve slept on the wrong side of the bed, but I think I slept well last night. I don’t know why I woke up with an ounce of sarcasm. Or maybe I’m just sarcastic to begin with.

This is getting me nowhere.

Okay, firstly, I want to greet everyone with a huge EID MUBARAK!

Taqaballahu minaa wa minkum shiyamana wa shiyamakum.
Ja’alanallahu minal a’idin wal faidzin.
May Allah accept it (good deeds) from you and us, the fasting from you and us.
May Allah place us among the returnees (to the state of fitrah) and the winners (of the inner struggle against the nafs or base desires).
Please forgive me for my mistakes and wrongdoings.

I had a great Eid, Alhamdulillah. I spent it in Malaysia with my family. I praise Allah that we could spend it here together, all of us complete.

As usual, we had the Eid prayer in the morning. Here, we had it at 9.00 am. Well, everyone went to the big mosque except for me. It was that time of the month again so I couldn’t pray. I just stayed at home and cleaned the house.When everyone came back from the mosque all fresh and pretty, I was still a mess. At least the house was more welcoming (laughs).

In the afternoon, we went to some of our neighbors’ houses for silaturahim. I don’t know about everyone else, but I ate a lot that day. I had chicken curry, rendang, ketupat, sayur nangka, asinan, cookies, cake, and many colorful drinks. Afterwards, we took some pictures (we mostly means my sister, my mother, and I) as our personal memorabilia of the day, like we do every year.

*One of the pics we took after visiting a neighbor. As you can see, we love purple.

Secondly, I want to share a thought that has been stuck in my mind. It is actually something commonplace but I would like to utter it in the following words:

You could spare just a few seconds to make someone happier. Use those few seconds well and you could make such a difference.

No, this is not implying the typical I-want-world-peace wishes of a beauty pageant contestant (although it is perfectly relevant and okay to do so). It is just something I have witnessed at home and I think everyone can relate to it.

Being kids, we must have tormented our parents with our disobedience a few times. Do you remember refusing to do the dishes? Do you recall making up reasons to avoid doing chores? When was the last time you pended a task your parents asked you to do with a classic “later” or “in a minute” remark?

Whether we are aware of it or not, we were royal pains and we might still be so. I don’t have to lecture you about how being a parent or guardian is hard and how much work they have to do and how much time they sacrifice to make our homes worth living and so on, right? We all know. If you aren’t aware of all this, give yourself a dose of corporal punishment (read: smack on your ungrateful backside).

Now, most chores don’t take up a lot of time to do. Taking out the trash, for example, is a task we could do in five minutes, including the decontamination process later (read: thoroughly washing your hands *my OCD alert*). Washing an average amount of dishes takes ten minutes. Sweeping the floor takes about fifteen minutes.

Observe the other seemingly tiny things we frequently overlook:

1. Tidying up your own toys after playing: 5-10 minutes (unless you have like 100,000 Lego pieces and you used it to make a life-sized dinosaur or something, it might take more minutes)
2. Ironing your own shirt before school (or work): 5-10 minutes
3. Making your own bed: 2-5 minutes
4. Washing your own plate after a meal: 1-2 minutes
5. Picking out your clothes carefully, assuming they’re folded neatly in your wardrobe (instead of yanking them out in a hurry, as we do so often, creating an avalanche in the process): 20-15 seconds
6. Throwing your dirty clothes into the laundry basket instead of leaving them to decompose on your bedroom floor until your mother finds it: 5-10 seconds
7. Putting your coat on a hanger after using it: 5-10 seconds
8. Switching off the light in a room you’re not using anymore: 1-2 seconds
9. Putting the toilet seat down after use: 1-2 seconds
10. Saying thank you: 1 second

Of course, you could add so many things to the list above. Most of them don’t take very long to do. Compare them to the other things we do in our free time or in place of the chores we are supposed to do. A conversation with your boyfriend/girlfriend on the phone could take an hour or more. Browsing the internet could take hours (I’m guilty). Checking your social media profiles could make hours breeze by and you would be the least aware of it.

Another thing we tend to forget is how much difference we could make if we spared our time to do those things we frequently overlook. You could save your parents, guardian, roommate, or anyone who has to put up with you every day from muttering words of aggravation under their breath. You could give their patience a huge break. You could reduce their workload quite significantly. You could actually determine how they’d start their day.

Best of all, you would make them exceptionally happier.

Is that so hard?

The tricky part is mastering the willpower to do everything. Most of our faults come from bad habits and habits are hard to change. However, if we don’t change it we’d definitely regret it in the future.

So, how about it? Could we gather the determination to change our habits? It will only cost us a few seconds, but the reward is priceless.

Besides, it’s never too late for improvement. Ramadhan and Eid has already provided us the great momentum for betterment. Carry on.

Have a happy year ahead!