Ho-kayyyyyy... please ignore the spelling.. hahah.. it's kinda difficult to romanized an Arabic word.. so I am spelling it as how I pronounce it.. :)
Well anyway, semalam, there was a solar eclipse apparently.
When Dodi sent us the alert semalam pagi, I was really excited. I mean, as a kid, I read this story about this white guy who traveled to Africa. There, he was captured and this particular tribe wanted to make him as a sacrifice to their Gods.
However, this guy, knowing exactly when the solar eclipse will take place, told the people of the tribe that if they kill him, he will take their Sun away. And then, as if by magic, the eclipse happened and the sun disappeared.
So the people got frightened (because they thought he was a powerful magician) and begged for him to bring back the sun. Naturally, the sun came back (soon after the eclipse was over) and the people were happy again and released him.
Okay.. it's a fable of course.. but since then, I have always wondered if the earth would go in total darkness when the sun disappears during a total eclipse.
Anyway, I pun googled la to find out more about the solar eclipse. Here's what I found out:-
- There are at least two eclipses of the Sun each year, though most are partial.
- There are at least two eclipses of the Moon each year, though a proportion of these are only penumbral, when the Moon is not seen to darken by very much.
- There can be as many as seven eclipses (solar plus lunar) in any one year. In 1935 there were five solar eclipses - four partial and one annular.
On average, there is a total solar eclipse visible somewhere about every 18 months. However, from any one location on Earth, total eclipses take place on average only once in several hundred years
So itu lah.. some stuff on solar eclipse. Here are the pictures from yesterday:
Amazing stuff kan.. Science is amazing. I've been told that I can be such a nerd sometimes..as I like to read and understand trivial stuff.
Anyway, I also saw this post in Huffington Post tadi. An article on marriage by this guy called Seth Adam Smith.
Here's the reproduced article:
Having been married only a year and a half, I've recently come to the conclusion that marriage isn't for me.
Now before you start making assumptions, keep reading.
I met my wife in high school when we were 15 years old. We were friends for 10 years until... until we decided no longer wanted to be just friends. I strongly recommend that best friends fall in love. Good times will be had by all.
Nevertheless, falling in love with my best friend did not prevent me from having certain fears and anxieties about getting married. The nearer Kim and I approached the decision to marry, the more I was filled with a paralyzing fear. Was I ready? Was I making the right choice? Was Kim the right person to marry? Would she make me happy?
Then, one fateful night, I shared these thoughts and concerns with my dad.
Perhaps each of us have moments in our lives when it feels like time slows down or the air becomes still and everything around us seems to draw in, marking that moment as one we will never forget.
My dad giving his response to my concerns was such a moment for me. With a knowing smile he said, "Seth, you're being totally selfish. So I'm going to make this really simple: marriage isn't for you. You don't marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy. More than that, your marriage isn't for yourself, you're marrying for a family. Not just for the in-laws and all of that nonsense, but for your future children. Who do you want to help you raise them? Who do you want to influence them? Marriage isn't for you. It's not about you. Marriage is about the person you married."
It was in that very moment that I knew that Kim was the right person to marry. I realized that I wanted to make her happy; to see her smile every day, to make her laugh every day. I wanted to be a part of her family, and my family wanted her to be a part of ours. And thinking back on all the times I had seen her play with my nieces, I knew that she was the one with whom I wanted to build our own family.
My father's advice was both shocking and revelatory. It went against the grain of today's "Walmart philosophy", which is if it doesn't make you happy, you can take it back and get a new one.
No, a true marriage (and true love) is never about you. It's about the person you love--their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Selfishness demands, "What's in it for me?" while Love asks, "What can I give?"
Some time ago, my wife showed me what it means to love selflessly. For many months, my heart had been hardening with a mixture of fear and resentment. Then, after the pressure had built up to where neither of us could stand it, emotions erupted. I was callous. I was selfish.
But instead of matching my selfishness, Kim did something beyond wonderful -- she showed an outpouring of love. Laying aside all of the pain and anguish I had caused her, she lovingly took me in her arms and soothed my soul.
Marriage is about family.
I realized that I had forgotten my dad's advice. While Kim's side of the marriage had been to love me, my side of the marriage had become all about me. This awful realization brought me to tears, and I promised my wife that I would try to be better.
To all who are reading this article -- married, almost married, single, or even the sworn bachelor or bachelorette -- I want you to know that marriage isn't for you. No true relationship of love is for you.
Love is about the person you love.
And, paradoxically, the more you truly love that person, the more love you receive. And not just from your significant other, but from their friends and their family and thousands of others you never would have met had your love remained self-centered.
Truly, love and marriage isn't for you. It's for others.
Okay lah.Lunchtime is almost over. I better get back to work..
Happy Muharram! *yayyy.. esokcuti!*
ps./ Do you know that at any point of time, there will be about 500,000 people who will be up in the air, flying across oceans and continents? Heh. Now you know..
Well anyway, semalam, there was a solar eclipse apparently.
When Dodi sent us the alert semalam pagi, I was really excited. I mean, as a kid, I read this story about this white guy who traveled to Africa. There, he was captured and this particular tribe wanted to make him as a sacrifice to their Gods.
However, this guy, knowing exactly when the solar eclipse will take place, told the people of the tribe that if they kill him, he will take their Sun away. And then, as if by magic, the eclipse happened and the sun disappeared.
So the people got frightened (because they thought he was a powerful magician) and begged for him to bring back the sun. Naturally, the sun came back (soon after the eclipse was over) and the people were happy again and released him.
Okay.. it's a fable of course.. but since then, I have always wondered if the earth would go in total darkness when the sun disappears during a total eclipse.
Anyway, I pun googled la to find out more about the solar eclipse. Here's what I found out:-
- There are at least two eclipses of the Sun each year, though most are partial.
- There are at least two eclipses of the Moon each year, though a proportion of these are only penumbral, when the Moon is not seen to darken by very much.
- There can be as many as seven eclipses (solar plus lunar) in any one year. In 1935 there were five solar eclipses - four partial and one annular.
On average, there is a total solar eclipse visible somewhere about every 18 months. However, from any one location on Earth, total eclipses take place on average only once in several hundred years
So itu lah.. some stuff on solar eclipse. Here are the pictures from yesterday:
 |
| This was taken at the airport after sending my parents off at around 5pm (Sudan time) yesterday. The sun was still shining as usual.. |
 |
| Hahah.. Like a scene from a movie.. earthlings wondering if there's gonna be an alien invasion.. hahah.. No lah.. it's just us at the Complex trying to see the eclipse using the x-ray film.. |
 |
| And here's what you see, when you look through the x-ray film.. A moon crescent? Nope. It's a sun crescent, as part of the sun is covered by the moon. (And no, there wasn't total darkness as it was just partial eclipse je kali ni..) |
Anyway, I also saw this post in Huffington Post tadi. An article on marriage by this guy called Seth Adam Smith.
Here's the reproduced article:
Having been married only a year and a half, I've recently come to the conclusion that marriage isn't for me.
Now before you start making assumptions, keep reading.
I met my wife in high school when we were 15 years old. We were friends for 10 years until... until we decided no longer wanted to be just friends. I strongly recommend that best friends fall in love. Good times will be had by all.
Nevertheless, falling in love with my best friend did not prevent me from having certain fears and anxieties about getting married. The nearer Kim and I approached the decision to marry, the more I was filled with a paralyzing fear. Was I ready? Was I making the right choice? Was Kim the right person to marry? Would she make me happy?
Then, one fateful night, I shared these thoughts and concerns with my dad.
Perhaps each of us have moments in our lives when it feels like time slows down or the air becomes still and everything around us seems to draw in, marking that moment as one we will never forget.
My dad giving his response to my concerns was such a moment for me. With a knowing smile he said, "Seth, you're being totally selfish. So I'm going to make this really simple: marriage isn't for you. You don't marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy. More than that, your marriage isn't for yourself, you're marrying for a family. Not just for the in-laws and all of that nonsense, but for your future children. Who do you want to help you raise them? Who do you want to influence them? Marriage isn't for you. It's not about you. Marriage is about the person you married."
It was in that very moment that I knew that Kim was the right person to marry. I realized that I wanted to make her happy; to see her smile every day, to make her laugh every day. I wanted to be a part of her family, and my family wanted her to be a part of ours. And thinking back on all the times I had seen her play with my nieces, I knew that she was the one with whom I wanted to build our own family.
My father's advice was both shocking and revelatory. It went against the grain of today's "Walmart philosophy", which is if it doesn't make you happy, you can take it back and get a new one.
No, a true marriage (and true love) is never about you. It's about the person you love--their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Selfishness demands, "What's in it for me?" while Love asks, "What can I give?"
Some time ago, my wife showed me what it means to love selflessly. For many months, my heart had been hardening with a mixture of fear and resentment. Then, after the pressure had built up to where neither of us could stand it, emotions erupted. I was callous. I was selfish.
But instead of matching my selfishness, Kim did something beyond wonderful -- she showed an outpouring of love. Laying aside all of the pain and anguish I had caused her, she lovingly took me in her arms and soothed my soul.
Marriage is about family.
I realized that I had forgotten my dad's advice. While Kim's side of the marriage had been to love me, my side of the marriage had become all about me. This awful realization brought me to tears, and I promised my wife that I would try to be better.
To all who are reading this article -- married, almost married, single, or even the sworn bachelor or bachelorette -- I want you to know that marriage isn't for you. No true relationship of love is for you.
Love is about the person you love.
And, paradoxically, the more you truly love that person, the more love you receive. And not just from your significant other, but from their friends and their family and thousands of others you never would have met had your love remained self-centered.
Truly, love and marriage isn't for you. It's for others.
 |
| Awwww.... |
Okay lah.Lunchtime is almost over. I better get back to work..
Happy Muharram! *yayyy.. esokcuti!*
ps./ Do you know that at any point of time, there will be about 500,000 people who will be up in the air, flying across oceans and continents? Heh. Now you know..
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