Up!

It has been a long while since I last watched a movie. Well, not that there were no good movies at the cinema, it's just that work always got in the way. After a long wait to catch this movie Up!, I finally forced myself to spend some time apart from work for it. And I must say that the movie really surprised me... in a very good way :-)

The premise of the movie is quite straightforward. A bitter old man, who was simply losing purpose in his life, decided to fulfill his promise to his dead wife to move their house to Paradise Falls using tens of thousands of helium balloons. Unexpectedly, a young kid was also brought along the journey and together they faced the adventures of their life. As with all animated movies, there are lessons to be learned at the end of the story. And this one strikes close to home for me.

It reminds me not to undervalue my life. Yeah, I might not have enough time or money to live the adventurous life that I always dream of. But the truth is, life is an adventure as it is, despite how boring or monotonous we feel about it most of the times. Between the pile of work on my desk and the hectic commute for meetings here and there, I guess there are always moments to be cherished and remembered. So there should be no regrets on how life panned out to be because at the end of the road when I look back at it, I think I would be happy to realize that I've survived the twists and turns. Even if most of my life is just about work ;-P

*pic from thestranger.com

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A Loaf of Bread

Once upon a time, there was a guy who was very pious. He never stop spending his available time to pray and worship Allah for almost 70 years. Unless he got other agreed upon engagements, he would never leave his place of worship. Unfortunately one day, he fell trapped to the seduction of a lady and committed sins with her for 7 days. After realizing his mistakes, he immediately started his repentance to Allah. With his remorse feelings, he decided to take on a journey.

During his journey, he arrived at a small hut and decided to take a break for a while. There were already 12 poor men living in there but since he was so tired, he fell asleep with them inside the hut. Apparently, someone would come and distribute breads to these poor men every night and everybody would get a loaf each. This donation was their source of food to survive. That night, the guy was mistaken as one of the poor men and was given a loaf of bread. Because of that, one of the poor men ended up not getting his share. He begged for it but there was no more bread to give. Upon realizing the situation, the guy gave his bread to that poor man even though he was left with nothing.

The next day, the guy's life came to an end. In front of Allah, the good deeds from his 70 years of praying and worshiping were put against the sins that he committed in just 7 days. It appeared that the sins outweighed his good deeds. However, when the sins were weighed against the loaf of bread that he gave to the poor man who really needed it, it was clear that the bread was heavier. Hence the guy was sent to heaven.

The morale of the story is that a good deed is not measured by its size. Sometimes, even a small but sincere donation can go a long way. Today, many people often hesitate even to donate RM1 for a good cause. I guess this story is a big reminder to me (and to you guys) that no matter how small the contribution is, it could mean a big thing in the hereafter.

*This story was said to be narrated by Abu Burdah bin Musa Al-Asy'ari.

Footnote: I suddenly remember the bread that is sold in the US. So fresh, soft and delicious compared to the ones sold here in Malaysia. Even when it is just a plain bread ;-P

*pic from edining.ca

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