The One with the First post in 2008

Two Thousand and Eight. 2008. Yes it is 2008. But don't worry, I am not going to talk about reflections and future planning in this post. I am sure all of you who are reading are mature enough to do all that. I just want to give my views about living. Yes living.

Humans have been living in this world since Prophet Adam and since then we have been adapting, using the earth resources for our survival. As time goes by, technology advances and standard of living improves. Now we have LCD HDTVs, superspeed broadband connection not only to the laptops but also to the mobile phones, GPS system and what have you. I couldn't remember those time where there are no mobile phones. Although my generation is the evolving generation. We have no mobile phone to pagers then alphanumeric pagers then the super duper old type phones to modern time fully coloured phones. I still remember those days were we use to have codes for messaging on the alphanumeric pagers. Those days having a pager was the coolest thing. Now it seems unthinkable not to have a mobile phone.

Have we become a materialistic nation? Where we define happiness by looking at how much gadgets and new items we have in our possession? Are working our asses off just to afford a brand new car or the brand new Full-HD LCD TV? Is that really happiness? The objectives in life for most well-minded people is to find happiness but I don't think most of us know what happiness is all about.

For me, happiness is about having the time to spend it with your loved ones. It might sound cliche but I truly believe in it. Loved ones can be my parents, my brothers and sisters in Islam, my future wife, my future kids etc. These are the elements of my happiness. I don't mind having a small house as long as I have these people to spend time with. I once visited a house of my senior and was amazed by it. He is a well respected person and has a probably high ranking job which will most probably associated with a high salary but I was amazed by the way he led his life. His house is simple but yet homely. He doesn't have a big TV, no home theatre system, no fancy curtains or sofa set. Even some of his furniture are giveaways from his families or friends. MasyaAllah I truly admire him. It is not that he can't afford all the luxuries in life but he choose not to. He choose to lead a simple life for himself and his family. Nevertheless though, his house has a lot of books in fact more books than the other furnitures. I think he can open his own library.

I am not saying that it is the correct way to lead a life. I myself sometime have the urge to get my hands on all the latest gadget(I am a man, I like gadgets!) but i think it is all about what you define as your objectives in life. How you define your happiness in life and how you want to allocate your resources. At the end of the day, it is all about Mardhatillah(the pleasure of Allah). So to all those getting married or are married, something for you to think about.