Unrequited Love

Nearing the end of the year now and quite frankly, I think I have not achieved anything significant. Although there is one important lesson I learned this year about myself and about love.

So I fell in love earlier this year. It was actually nothing, it began when I was looking for a new friend in one chat app I found on Play Store, and we really did become friends. Quite close too, I may say. It's just that because it's a stranger that you're almost certain will never meet in short time, and who doesn't really know you, they tend to be less judgmental about you and you feel like you can tell them anything. So I did. I told him everything, we talked everyday, from mundane things like the weather to the important things like GPA (this is important right?) and family. He was an excellent listener and responder; I always feel better after telling him my stories. Also maybe we flirted a little, but it was just teasing.

As days went by, slowly but surely, he started to fill my mind every time, I could not stop thinking about him; I started to have that kind of anxiety where you check your phone constantly for his message and so on. Long story short, I may have fallen in love with him by then, in a sense that I started to feel giddy when thinking about him, that his voice and message makes me so happy, keeping his picture, and the love songs started to actually make sense. I, for once in my life, have never fell in love harder than that. And it's driving me crazy, because to be honest, what could I possibly do? It's like falling in love with completely fictional character but worse, because the fictional character was, well, fictional, while this is a real-life person that I can actually meet if I fly 9,500 miles away from where I was. The fact that there was a slight chance that we could be together is killing me.

But of course, it's not that simple. The love was simple; it was easy, unconscious, unintended, and natural. The implications of that love were what makes it difficult. There were differences, barriers, that kept my love at bay. And what was exactly the purpose of this love? To unite us together? Was this love strong enough to actually overcome those obstacles? I wouldn't lie, that would be the most wonderful thing if it actually happens, but it was very, very unlikely. I had gone thinking about the possibilities of our future and how we might cross paths in the future, in person, and fall in love properly, and move in together and get married and have babies, but then I forgot the most important question, does he want this too? What does he actually feel about me, does he feel the same or not? I know it might sound stupid because all the things I imagined would have to involve both persons, so I decided to find out.

I plucked up the courage to actually ask him about this. Not in a brutally honest way, as I thought would be uncomfortable to talk about, but carefully slipping it into one of our everyday conversations. It worked. Kinda. And the answer was actually what I had suspected, he didn't feel the same way about me. He simply didn't see us as a couple, but as very great friends who sometimes fool around. Ouch.

Of course I didn't tell him about how I feel. So we stayed friends after that. Only the frequency of our conversations had declined, but this has happened since before I popped the question so I highly doubt that's the cause. I think he may simply be bored with me, just like getting bored of your old friends. We've known too much about each other already, sometimes we ran out about things to talk about. And it was getting old actually, it's been a couple of months of constantly, daily talking about (mainly) unimportant things, so he must have gotten bored or tired of me. And for me, dealing with this situation was very new and I actually got quite depressed over unrequited love for a couple of weeks. There were even times when I would just randomly cry, not minding the people around me. That was literally the worst depression I have ever had my entire life. Maybe I should refer to it as 'The Great Depression' to make it all more dramatic. But seriously, it was that bad.

Took me a couple of months to compose myself and get back to my feet again. I finally moved on. Or so I thought. It's just that I have loved him so deeply, it felt impossible for him to not love me back. Like it's impossible for Mercury to not feel the warmth of the sun. He was Mercury and I was the Sun, that's how I imagined it. But after some deep thinking, I decided maybe he was Pluto, freezing cold in the darkness, so far from the Sun, only staying in its place merely because of the weak gravitational force from the faraway tiny dot of light. However great and warm the Sun's love was, it meant nothing to Pluto.

During the course of our friendship/pseudo-relationship, I have learnt that I am capable of a very great love. The love I felt for him was incomprehensible, not making any sense, yet it was there so unfathomably vast and ruled over my heart. There was nothing I wouldn't do to make him feel the same way, but the fact was, the was nothing I could do that was still within borderline of sanity. I also learnt that rejection of love is very very painful, however civilized it was done. The fact that such great a feeling does not reciprocate was mind boggling to my brain. But that's reality, we can't all be winners, as he once said. So maybe I should just try to cope with the truth that he was one of the things in life that I cannot win. But I should not lose hope, because maybe, there is someone out there who has a love even greater than my sun-love and is willing to share it with me, and I desperately hope that I am able to receive his love with an open arm and with all my heart. Who knows he's probably just around the corner. Who knows.

Quick Catch Up (No Ketchup Inside) *pun intended*

Bismillah.

Well hello there! It's been a whole year since I last posted in this blog. Phew, time sure flies, eh? So maybe quick updates on what have been happening in my life? Ok, let's begin this super quick one year review.

• I have finished my third year in medical school, alhamdulillah, and will be starting my next and last semester *hopefully* (in pre-clinical phase) in 24 August, which is just a little over a month from now.
• About the biochemistry teaching assistant recruitment, well I got in, alhamdulillah. Been a year now, quite a good one, and we had even finished the selection process for the new assistants! Results coming out soon, so keep your fingers crossed :)
• We've moved into a new house, alhamdulillah, Baitul Quds has been relocated to a better place, and with added personnel too (because the house is sooooo big)! While there were only 6 of us, we are now 11 in total. We welcome our new family members: Nikalem, Hilda, Vita, Ami, and Tyani. But sadly, Nikari now no longer live with us cause she is now in PPSDMS dormitory (good for her, not really for us) but she still comes by often so that's good :)
• That write-a-letter-to-your-husband project I started has been..well..put off for a while. I've already written around 11 or 12 letters and haven't continued for a couple of months because of...things.. I might start writing again actually, so no worries! :D (who's worrying anyway?)
• Okay so this one's rather big: I have finished the research for my thesis, my proposal is 95% and my colloquium is scheduled on early August, so I actually got something big coming up!!!
• A while ago, Cindy, Deby and I made a literature review on a substance that has the potential to be a new diabetes drug....something like that. We intended to enter this paper for INAMSC paper competition but sadly we didn't pass the selection :( But then we entered the abstract for a conference and it's been accepted. More updates on this when it's fixed :)
• My library jut got bigger; I have been buying more books in little time than I had done for quite long. Well not that much actually, and some I bought really impulsively. I think I am that type of girl not to be trusted with a credit card at the bookshop ;) One of the books I bought recently was 'All I Know Now' by Carrie Hope Fletcher, so excited!!!
• What else? Hmm nothing much happened I guess. Well I did get the opportunity to visit some countries during the last two years, those are Malaysia, Turkey (not really!) and Egypt which stories deserve an independent post! So yeah I'll get to them later. Soon. Promise.

Owkay, I think that's quite enough for now. Should there be anything else left I'll post an update. Right. So, wish me luck!! :D

Porn Will Violate your Soul | Nouman Ali Khan | Short Advice

And this, people, is urgently important.

Reflection on surah Al Waqiah:75-79 by Nouman Ali Khan

Tafsir mengenai ayat yang paling saya sukai, dari salah satu surah favorit saya, subhanallah..

Jangan Marah

Dalam hidup mestilah kita sering berinteraksi dengan orang lain, dan tak jarang pula dalam interaksi tersebut kita mengalami masalah yang akhirnya membuat kita kesal dengan orang lain tersebut. Bila menghadapi masalah dengan orang lain, kita cenderung menempatkan diri kita pada posisi tak bersalah, dan akhirnya kita kesal dengan orang lain tersebut. Padahal bisa jadi sebenarnya letak masalah ada pada diri kita. Kita yang tidak mengerjakan tugas tepat waktu, tidak profesional, tidak berkomunikasi dengan baik, hal-hal seperti ini dapat mencederai hubungan baik kita dengan rekan sejawat atau teman kita. Bila hal ini terjadi, bila kita merasa kesal dengan orang lain, yang pertama perlu kita pikirkan bukanlah mengapa orang tersebut selalu membuat kita jengkel, tetapi apa yang sudah kita lakukan sampai orang tersebut menjadi jengkel. Benarkah perbuatan saya? Pantaskah orang tersebut kesal dengan saya? Most of the time, the answer would be yes. Bila itu kasusnya, segeralah berlapang dada, memperbaiki kesalahan, dan meminta maaf kepada orang tersebut. Pun bila jawabannya No, lapangkanlah dada dan coba bina komunikasi dengan baik untuk memecahkan masalah. Jangan lupa untuk selalu menjaga kepala tetap dingin. Ingat sabda nabi, "Jangan marah, maka bagimu surga."

:)

More Syukur, Less Drama

Lihat dulu ke dalam. Ke dalam mana? Ke dalam diri sendiri. Ke dalam hati. Kadang-kadang kita merasa hidup kita berat dan menganggap bahwa masalah hanya menimpa diri kita. Tapi ada juga orang yang kelihatannya senantiasa bahagia, tersenyum, tertawa, meskipun mungkin hidupnya sangat sederhana. Meskipun mungkin kita tahu bahwa dia juga punya masalah yang mestinya memberatkan hatinya dan menghilangkan senyum dari bibirnya. Tapi kenapa ia masih saja bisa tertawa?

Mungkin jawabannya ada pada tingkat kesyukuran. Tiap orang barangkali berbeda dalam memahami syukur dan dalam melaksanakannya. Namun pada hakikatnya, syukur seharusnya membawa kebahagiaan bagi para pelakunya. Bila kita sudah merasa bersyukur, tapi masih sungguh berat menjalani hari yang banyak terisi masalah, mungkin cara bersyukur kita perlu dikoreksi. Syukur yang benar akan membawa kelapangan dada, ia akan membuat kita melihat segala masalah sebagai peluang untuk menjadi dewasa. Ia selalu bisa membuat kita melihat the sunny side dari segala peristiwa. Bila tak punya uang, kita jadi berhemat. Jika nilai kita buruk, kita belajar lagi untuk meningkatkan pemahaman. Selalu ada hikmah dari setiap kejadian, pertanyaannya: bisakah kita melihat dan merasakan hikmah tersebut?

Nervous Tiada Tara

Jadi besok, 24 Mei 2014, akan diadakan seleksi untuk asisten praktikum Biokimia dan Patologi Klinik. Aku daftar Biokimia, dan bahkan belum sampai separuh materinya kureview lagi. Jadi judul post ini cukuplah menggambarkan perasaanku saat ini.

Bila memang Allah berkehendak, kehendak-Nya adalah selalu yang terbaik untuk hamba-hamba-Nya. Ya Allah, bantu kami menghadapi hari esok dan jadikan kami ridho dengan segala ketentuan-Mu.