Life is not a bed of roses... or is it?

Wouldn't it be nice to have a bed of roses at your house? Sweet-looking, sweet-smelling roses of various colours? Must be beautiful.

Now go jump onto the bed of roses.

OUCH!! Thorny isn't it?

So life IS like a bed of roses after all. Sweet... but thorny and can be painful nevertheless.

You're probably thinking that I must be crazy to even suggest jumping onto a bed of roses... but I was just trying to give an example of how even the sweetest things have setbacks. And that's how life is.

When you're poor you wish you're rich. You think your problems will be over when you become rich. Then you become rich... and eventually you'll learn that there are other things you have to worry about when you're rich. And that not everything can be solved by being rich.

When you only have a motorcycle you wish you have a car. You think once you buy a car it will solve your family's travelling problems. Then you get yourself a car... and eventually you find out that buying a car is not all there is to it. Now you have to think about maintenance of the car... you need to adjust your budget... you may have to cut down on other aspects of your family's expenses. Oh dear... now you have more problems to think about.

When you're a full-time housewife sometimes you wish you're already climbing up the corporate ladder. You think to yourself... if only you're a somebody. When you're already somewhere at the top of the ladder, sometimes you wish you could just stay at home and not think of all the problems you have to face by being there at the top. You think to yourself... if only you're just a nobody.

Ah yes... there are times when I wish I am what I was when I wished I was what I am now... (am I making sense?:-))

Sometimes you wish you could just breeze through life without any obstacles. But really, a life without obstacles is like going to school without learning anything. What a waste....

When things don't turn out the way you wished they did, sometimes you get upset. Sometimes you get disappointed. Sometimes you get angry. And when you're upset and angry, you tend to do things, which you think, is the best course of action at that point of time. You don't think of the after-effects of your action. You don't think of the blessing behind your disappointment. You just do what you THINK is best at that point... and then at another point of your life (may be just after... may be much later...) you have regrets and wish you had dealt with it in a different manner.

Yes, things can go wrong even on the brightest of all days. You can wake up on a bright and sunny day, feeling energetic and all ready to go to work. Things can still go wrong. On a very small scale, you may get stuck in a terrible traffic jam or you may get stuck in the lift on your way up to your office. On a slightly bigger scale, you may get involved in a road accident no matter how careful you are. Or on an even bigger scale, when you least expect it, a plane may crash into the building you're in, causing the whole building to collapse...

It is only natural that whenever disaster strikes, big or small, we begin with a negative response to the whole situation. We tend to start pointing fingers. We tend to do and say the wrong things, thinking that is the right thing to do. And if someone else adds more fire to it, things get even worse.

It takes time before we can cool our heads and think rationally. Which is why it is helpful to have someone around to cool us down. Then we can begin to think of all the lessons and blessings, no matter how devastating the happenings are.

That's how life is. Full of lessons. Full of blessings.

No matter what happens to you, there are lessons to be learnt. Concentrate on the lessons, NOT on the disappointments. Easier said than done, I know... but what is past is over and done with, and no matter what science fictions tell us, there is no way we can step into a time machine to go back in time to correct things. Such being the case, we might as well try to learn something out of it.

So whenever you're stuck in a frustrating situation, don't despair. Think of the blessings behind it. And even if you can't find the blessing there and then, convince yourself that there has to be a blessing to it one way or another... a blessing which you may only be able to see much later in your life.

We are not able to tell our future. We can only plan. We need sunshine, we need rain... but only God can give us all those. Only God knows what's best for us. So while we must still try to plan our life to the very best, let's just be thankful with our destiny.

No, I'm not trying to give you lessons on life. I'm merely reminding myself there must be reasons behind all the setbacks in my life. After all, I am sure I am much more fortunate than many other people around the world.

Don't worry, be happy!

To all fellow Muslims... Selamat Berpuasa and may you have a blessed Ramadhan.

And to all fellow Malaysians... SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI KEBANGSAN KE 51!!