Showing posts with label study blues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label study blues. Show all posts

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Slayed by time

I just got the tentative date for my viva.
It's 10th October 2011, insyaAllah.
I'm surprised because each time I tell this to people, they clap their hands, put a big smile on their faces and say heartily, "Congratulations!"
Why?
I am not particularly happy. I'm just 20% relieved that I'm finally on the road to end this journey and 80% terrified that I would mess up.
I hope, pray, beg that all would turn out alright.

So to make myself more terrified, let's do a bit of mathematics.

24 hours per day that consist of:
5 hours: sleep (why is sleep the first thing? this is surely not a good sign :p)
3 hours: eating and other essential daily activities (like praying, bathing)
3 hours: other nonessential daily activities (like driving, washing the dishes)
3 hours for PROMISE. The supervisors forbid us from doing any more thesis-related work during office hours so they're piling center-related work on us now.
~ I can't think of anything else right now but it is safe to say that there is approximately 10 effective working hours that have to be used to the maximum (hope, pray, beg).

10th Oct 2011 is 32 days away.
4 days I'm going to Krabi for a holiday getaway (I brought the tickets in February and so I had no idea this would happen)
That leaves 28 days.
Let's allocate 4 days for maintenance of sanity (believe me this is essential). My supervisor likes to say that PhD really means "Permanent head Damage." So maybe we'll find out after 10th Oct won't we?
24 days remain.
That is 24 days x 10 hours = 240 hours = 10 days
Just over a week!
*faint* 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Soul: Sold to the one who gives me light

Out-worn heart, in a time out-worn,
Come clear of the nets of wrong and right;
Laugh heart again in the gray twilight,
Sigh, heart, again in the dew of the morn.

Your mother Eire is always young,
Dew ever shining and twilight gray;
Though hope fall from you and love decay,
Burning in fires of a slanderous tongue.

Come, heart, where hill is heaped upon hill:
For there the mystical brotherhood
Of sun and moon and hollow and wood
And river and stream work out their will;

And God stands winding His lonely horn,
And time and the world are ever in flight;
And love is less kind than the gray twilight,
And hope is less dear than the dew of the morn.

~Into the twilight, William Butler Yeats (1865-1935)

I don't know if I believe in chasing dreams anymore.
I wonder, if we are not chasing them, where would they go?
Do they just go on and on, until another destiny catches them and weave the dreams into that another person's reality?
Sometimes I feel that when ambition and success becomes the sole goal of a person, it will consume you whole. There will never be enough left for any other areas of your life. Its only a tricky trade for time. You can't do both: it is either this or that.
At this point of my life, ambition and success are both dirty words to my ears.
I hate them not because of the hard work associated with them but rather I am unsure if I want to be those kind of persons I see as successful and ambitious.
I just don't think it is in me to do those kind of sacrifices that these people do on a daily basis.
Making hard choices that is opposite from the heart will make you mechanical, almost robotic.
.
.
.
And right now, I feel trapped. It's like being at a crossroad where every road is very uninviting, dark and dreary. Like being in a jail, but the difference is I don't know who holds the key and why the hell I am stuck here.
Maybe it is me who trapped myself.
I admit, I have an intense desire to do the right thing, make the right choices, take the right path. But now everything doesn't feel right.
I don't really want to do anything right now, and these games are making me sick to the core.
Have anybody heard somewhere some people say, "if you don't know how high is the price you're paying, don't pay"?
Yeah, I wish I could. So wth am I supposed to do? Give them a rain check saying, "sorry, my innards ain't feeling so well, come ask me another question, another day will ya?"
That would literally blow their pants off and spark off another trail of drama that is tiring to the soul and chafes against the will. Nobody wants that. Beware, because then maybe your wings will be clipped and you can limp your way toward nothingness and mediocrity.

All situations, all choices have 50-50 chance of either making it through or crash and burn.
If the choices you make defines who you are, then what would this reflect on you?
I believe that God will not leave us, whatever our choices may be.
But a bad destiny can be, must be changed to a good destiny.
Like living in a place that rains once a year, but once it rains, it fills up a river. A bad destiny would be you be dead waiting for the next rainfall and changing this doom to a good destiny is by using your brains to trap the water by building a dam or putting it somewhere it won't dry off in rations that would last you a year.
See the difference?
Destinies can be changed. First you have to believe in God, then do something to rectify, then leave it to God again. Tawakal never stops, even when we are in the process of trying. We enter into our efforts fully aware of our inadequacy and the might of the Almighty that surpasses all things, even destiny.
So what am I going to do? I truly don't know. I haven't the slightest idea. I can't see the light yet.
But hey, as a consolation thought is this: we somehow always end up where we are supposed to be.
Maybe this is the path that was meant for me, and maybe it isn't.
I think I'm old enough for taking my chances with fate. If I am not here, then I'll definitely be over there.
In any case, I hope everything turn out alright ;)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Life is a big game, so I'll see you when you get there


My head is spinning around slowly, like its on a boat floating on soft waves.
This whole writing business really is... something.
It's kinda like your brain and body is separated. The brain always negotiating for something more, and the body reluctantly tags along.
Oh, well.
Gotta keep moving.
Only 14 days left!

Here are some quotes on persistence

Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius. ~Georges-Louis Leclerc

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. ~Jacob A. Riis

You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence. ~Octavia Butler

In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle -- this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly. ~ Laozi (Lao Tzu, Lao Tse)

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~Newt Gingrich

And my personal favorite:

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~Josh Billings

Gotta keep moving, people!


Tuesday, March 08, 2011

I gotta get thru this

I am dedicating this song to my thesis.


Give me just a second and I'll be all right
Surely one more moment couldn't break my heart
Give me 'til tomorrow then I'll be okay
Just another day and then I'll hold you tight

When your love is pouring like the rain
I close my eyes and its gone again
Will I get the chance to say I love you
I pretend that you're already mine
and my heart ain't breaking every time
I look into your eyes
...oh, thesis

:p

Friday, January 21, 2011

Everything is clear in the morning light



Today I'm wearing bright colors, and with a hot pink sweater to top it all off.
This morning I made the decision to go on a picnic by myself because the sky is too beautiful not to bask in its glory. You can see for yourself in the pic up there. Brilliant right? God is after all the greatest artist.
So I brought a mcD breakfast with hot tea and sat on a bench in front of the faculty. So there I was, enjoying my breakfast while observing commuters rushing by, eager to go to work (at least that is what I hope). The Puncak Alam campus is really beautiful, especially in the mornings. Its like going on a vacation to Cameron Highlands or someplace like that where the only time it is interesting there is when the rays of the sun breaks through the cold clouds to shine forth in defiance of the gloom carried by the clouds.
.
.
.
I'm not particularly happy inside, in fact I feel I'm stressed out with the drama all around me.
So as a kind of defense mechanism that holds logic only to me, I'm surrounding myself with happy things a refusal to get sucked into the abyss of depression.
So is this all working?
I suppose so.
In the end, la haula wala quwwata illa billah ;)

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Red race

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!
~As said by the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)

I'm now in the lab on a beautiful Sunday, doing a total of 600 PCR reactions since yesterday. Plus, next week my supervisors want to meet all the students for progress report.
Aiyo.I'm kinda worried, because although I think that I've done quite a lot, it is not as much as I would like it to be. There is a dire need for speed here. I'm feeling like I'm running until I'm red in the face on the treadmill but I'm not getting anywhere near to what I want.
But, if I slow down then the treadmill will still go on and make me trip and fall off the race with a bleeding head and a bruised ego to boot. So there is never really an option of slowing down. I'm not keen on taking the option either even if it exist.
Ok, the thesis aside, I have some hard questions that keep nagging at the back of my head. One time I thought I'm over it but then something happened and voila! I'm stuck with my hard questions again. However, the questions and threads of thought are currently tangled up together like an impossible knot. At first glance, there is no hope of unraveling them but in time I'll sort them out.
For now, let's just focus on this thesis.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

My state of mind through the words of others

I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart
~ E.E Cummings (1894-1962)

If you are going through hell, keep going
~ Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Sometimes it is not enough to do our best; we must do what is required
~ Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to stay in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!
~ Lewis Carroll

She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it)
~ Lewis Carroll

Our attention span is shot. We've all got Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD or OCD or one of these disorders with three letters because we don't have the time or patience to pronounce the entire disorder. That should be a disorder right there, TBD - too busy disorder.
~ Ellen DeGeneres

Write drunk; edit sober
~ Hemingway

If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut
~ Albert Einstein

Without haste, but without rest
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I am tired. My arm aches. My head boils. My feet are cold. But I am not aware of any weakness.
~ Zane Grey

If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today
~ Mikhail Gorbachev

Develop a built-in bullshit detector
~ Ernest Hemingway

No person has the right to rain on your dreams
~ Marian Edelman

Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine, and valleys of frustration and failure
~ Calvin and Hobbes

Oh, and to finish this off:


Welcome to Grad School everyone! :p


Tuesday, November 09, 2010

A sprint to the end

One of my old friends have said that my blog always tell sad stories. Ok, maybe not sad all the time but happy posts are very rare in between.
Now, I think we're not friends anymore. I wonder why these things happen. Oh well, life goes on.
.
.
.
However, it is true that my urges to write always come when I have something burning in my chest that I have to let out or just a random thought or perspectives that I like to share.
When happy moments come, usually going to the computer to blog about it would be farthest in my mind ;)
So lately so much has happened. I'm at the writing stage now for my thesis, although there are some additional labwork left. But the bulk of it is already completed. Alhamdulillah.
BUT, writing is hard! huhu, especially with someone like me who hardly have any resistance at all when temptation/ distraction knocks. I suspect that even my SV knows this because she quarantined those who are supposed to be writing their thesis in an isolation room. She can only do so much, the rest is entirely up to me.
And that is exactly what scares me. Having someone else to blame would definitely lessen the pressure and expectations but sadly, there is none. Dr (Phd) is not a joint title, you know. So like it or not, I have to pull through.
InsyaAllah it'll be ok. No doubt about that.
But for now, the thing to do is FOCUS!

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Trouble is a mosquito

Life, it seems, is a very interesting paradox.
When you're all geared up to take on the world, planning and taking your steps carefully, waking up with the dawn and ever eager to start a new day: something almost always happen so hard to dampen your spirit, like phantom hands coming out of the water with the sole purpose of drowning you.
On the other hand, when you're miserable and all the colors you see are only gradients of grey the whole world would be lit up, tempting you with the dream of possibility that is just bursting with happiness that makes it irresistible, even stupid to stay on your corner sulking sourly.

Unfortunately, I'm having one of the former situation.
I burned my weekends, my work looks like a big dead end sign, my thoughts are all over the place trying to cover all bases, trouble shooting non stop. The thing about trouble is that they are like mosquitoes: they keep buzzing around your head, irritating you to bits and making you more determined to catch them coz every time you try to swat them, they fly away and then cheekily come back.
.
.
.
Sorry for whining.
I know I should have known that this all come with trudging your life through postgraduate study.
It is too late to turn back now, the U-turn was three years ago. Now its a long, long, longgg highway. Might as well go on. There is still light up ahead. As someone so aptly said:
There is a light at the end of every tunnel....just pray it's not a train! :D

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

If I delay, success will become wed to another



“I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.”
~Og Mandino (American Essayist and Psychologist, 1923-1996)

I have to recite this to myself every moment of every day so that I'll be focused and not be so easily swayed by transient escape.
This going after one's goals is a challenging ordeal that will shake you to your core. It is tiring and taxing to everything.
I don't know. It may very well be true that I am simply just a weak person that I easily get tired and demoralized. But hey, I haven't quit and I want to see this through to the end.
I'll see you guys at the top! Make sure you're there too ;)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Surely there is ease after this...


بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
[1 In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ
[2Have We not opened for thee thy bosom,

وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ
[3 And removed from thee thy burden

الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ
[4 Which had well nigh broken thy back
,

وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
5] And We exalted thy name?

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
6] Surely there is ease after hardship
.

إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
7] Aye, surely there is ease after hardship.

فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ
[8 So when thou art free, strive hard,

وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ
[9 And to thy Lord do thou attend whole-heartedly.

http://www.alquran-karim.com/alInshirah.html

Since as long as I can remember, I've prayed for strength and guidance. Berdoa untuk kekuatan dan jalan keluar. I don't know if I am any stronger but every time life dealts me a blow, I always find myself praying for more strength.

Life often brings me to my knees, but that is a perfect position for prayer isn't it?

If you have time to read this, then I want to share figments of my life to date. Bear with me ya...

Currently I am so busy with my project that I find it difficult to breathe sometimes.
Last week I went to Kota Bharu for patient blood sampling. I went on Tuesday morning and back in Shah Alam on Friday morning (intially I wanted to skip lab but then I had to attend a meeting..so to the lab I went). The weekends were spent in the lab, struggling to meet deadlines and expectations.
Even today is spent in the lab. Plus tonight I'm going to Kota Bharu and will arrive there in the wee hours of the morning. Then, I'd rush to my uncle's house to borrow his car. Then I'll go to HUSM to coordinate patient blood sampling in the clinic. Tomorrow I'd go through the case files and mark those who are eligible for the study and the day after is the actual sampling time. Wednesday night I'll be heading back to Shah Alam and again will arrive in the wee hours in the morning. After a bath and some breakfast I'm planning to go to the lab and do some labwork and also to store the samples collected.
This is not the only things I have to do as I have to think about fine tuning my research project to accommodate the current situation and also to take into account the clinician's views. I have to catch up in my reading and writing! I've been stalling this bit for quite a while but I know I can't any longer because my stupidity shows now, especially when dealing with the clinician.

My sis asked me, "Kak Lisa tak penat ke?"
My reply, " Mana ade, Kak Lisa kan Bionic woman" hehehe :p

I think this is a hectic life, life in the fast lane; even if I'm dead broke. I can get through this because I have extraordinary support from every corner. I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful family and friends, but I'm trying not to push my luck too much haha.

But it's good focusing on work like this, I don't have time to think about other things bugging my mind and tugging at my heart. Just work, work, work. But why not? The only rest is when we die. Until that time finally comes, I'm determined to make this all worthwhile.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Pertahankanlah jiwa kalian

Seandainya pada hari ini kalian masih tetap sengsara seperti ini, tanpa adanya perubahan yang bererti, nescaya nama baik kalian pasti hilang, rasa gentar yang ada pada musuh pula berganti menjadi berani. Oleh itu, pertahankan jiwa kalian
Tariq bin Aziz

Subhanallah, sangat bererti kata- kata ini. Siapa yang perlukan pujukan diwaktu hati mula goyah? Bukan pujukan yang diperlukan! Yang diperlukan ialah gesaan untuk kembali fokus pada target perjuangan. Mengapa buang masa memikirkan perkara yang telah lalu, keterlanjuran diri sendiri dalam meniti kehidupan. Setidak-tidaknya jangan jadikan kesengsaraan lalu sia-sia. Ambillah pengajaran!
Jangan tenggelam dalam kesengsaraan, nanti akan terbunuh kerana dunia dan seisinya pasti mahu menarik kau kebawah. Kau perlu bertahan!
Bagaimana cara kau bertahan, itu ikut suka kau.
Aku sendiri selalu perlukan time out bila peristiwa berlaku tidak seperti yang aku rancangkan. Pengorbanan hari cuti, pengorbanan masa dengan famili, pengorbanan masa untuk diri sendiri---nampak seperti sia-sia kerana tiada hasil. Kosong. Situasi hadapan seperti gerhana penuh kegelapan yang menelan semua cahaya. Gelap. Setelah berusaha macam nak gila, tetap tak jadi. Maka aku berikan diri sendiri time out, masa untuk berpisah sebentar dari perkara yang menyesakkan. Kadangkala menangis, namun itulah jua luahan kekuatan diriku. Ada orang mentafsirkan aku ini cepat putus asa kerana kadangkala aku bagai meminta untuk meminjam kekuatannya sebentar.
Sebenarnya mereka silap, aku tidak putus asa. Janganlah senang menghukum orang, tidak mungkin kau tahu lebih dari yang mengalami. Aku hanya tinggalkannya sebentar supaya aku boleh lebih bersedia untuk memikul beban itu kembali. Aku menangis bukan kerana aku lemah, tapi kerana mencari kekuatan dalam diri.
Itu cara aku, maafkan jika kamu semua tidak mampu memahami.
Kini aku cuma bertahan. Memikirkan jalan yang lain untuk sampai ke destinasi setelah nyata selama ini aku meniti jalan yang salah.
...
Tapi, aku juga silap, bodoh kerana mengharapkan kekuatan makhluk. Mereka enggan memberi, kerana hakikatnya mereka pun tiada apa-apa. Yang ada cuma ilusi kekuatan. Aku selalu lalai tentang ini. Mereka sesuatu yang dijadikan, maka itu bermakna kekuatan mereka hanya pinjaman.
La haula wala quwwata illa billahil 'aliyil 'Azim

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Mountain of work

slm :)
it's been awhile since I've wrote anything here.
I'm busy nowadays, climbing the gigantic mountain of work and racing for time.
Even the reason I am able to write anything now is because I am currently waiting for my real-time PCR to finish (maybe it'll be finished at 11.00 p.m).
I wish it could be faster...I wish I were faster.
*********************************************************************************

This Saturday I'll be meeting with Aishah, from Sabah. It is not often that she came down here so I'm taking this opportunity to catch up and be updated about each other lives'.
After my friends and I went our separate ways after graduation, the simple act of saying "hello" seem so hard to do. It's like life is so full of other things that it takes a great amount of effort and determination to keep in touch. We are all so caught up in the rapid flow of life that things that should be important (like family and friends) seem like a blur and all that we can say as we see it pass by is "sorry I can't make it, I have so much work to do" and just watch helplessly as they went on with their own lives without you in it.
Well, what did you expect? Who are we to make them wait?

Monday, November 03, 2008

Yearning to get away

Slm..
I noticed something about me that I never realized before..and I am unsure what it means to me as a person...

It's like this: If the actions/words or anything of another person hurt me, my family or my friends then I'll be prejudiced to react negatively to this person or anything associated to that person.

Basically, if I don't like you then anything you do, say or write would get the same treatment. I won't give it my time of day to even consider what's coming from you might be right or make sense. You could be forwarding me cute beneficial emails but I can't stand to read it. You might as well giving me a sermon but I would be suspicious of your intentions. All of it feels hypocritical.

But this only happens when I've given ample time to consider where that person stand. I try to hold a positive view of people: even when all around people say bad things, I stick around and see if it is true and only change my views whenever those things affect me personally. I don't jump to conclusion often, I consciously try to do this because this doesn't come natural to me [constant upgrading of self..huhuhu I am still sadly a beta version, far from complete]. I am, after all, a firm believer of second chances. Even third, fourth or fifth chance if that person deserve it. But anymore than that, sorry and goodbye because you're making a fool of me.
Fool me once, shame on you
Fool me twice, shame on me
Does this mean that I am a tad emotional?
Maybe. Or this is just another emotional defense mechanism.

I think this is an unfavorable and potentially damaging trait to have. I stand to lose so much if I let misguided preconceptions lead the way I go through life.
Got to control this!
Leave it all to the Almighty because my small self can't handle it.
This thought alone gives me strength. I leave the matter to Allah as I don't want to think about it.

Right now, I want to finish my project ASAP so that I could get away from here.
Right now, I'm yearning to move on.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Drive

It has been a great and fulfilling raya for me this year :)
I suspect it's because I'm more involved in things now.
I noticed that after recent events that happened to me, I'm beginning to take charge of my life more.
My life motto as of right now is, "I am RESPONSIBLE for my own HAPPINESS."

This is the song that sums it all:
Drive
by Incubus

Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much
I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer.
It's driven me before, and it seems to have a vague,
haunting mass appeal.
But lately I'm beginning to find that I
should be the one behind the wheel.

Whatever tomorrow brings,
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes, Yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there..I'll be there.

So, if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?
Aah-ah-oo-o-o.

It's driven me before and it seems to be the way
that everyone else gets around.
But lately I'm beginning to find that when
I drive myself my light is found.

Whatever tomorrow brings,
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes, Yeahhh
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there...I'll be there.

Would you choose water over wine....hold the wheel and drive?

Whatever tomorrow brings,
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes, Yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there..I'll be there.

My aim now is to focus on my research project, finish it all off, get a job, possibly get a husband too (notice that I don't put boyfriend? I think I don't have time for all those things..hish...getting all fed up I guess) and all the while focusing my attention to my family and dear friends.
I think that in the past I'm like a lone dandelion caressed by the wind. When the wind blows right, I'd go right. When the wind blows left, to the left I go.
No more.
I've talked to my Mom, and I think that if I don't get to convert my scholarship, then must try and complete this project as fast as I can, the best that I can.
I hope to get it all done before anything happens to Ayah.
I can only try, and try I will.

Dear Allah,
Please..please let my path be smooth..
It is YOU who knows what's in my heart, may I be bestowed with what is best according to YOUR knowledge.
Amin.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Is raya in the lab an option?

Assalamualaikum,
So Syawal is near...and Ramadhan is leaving us.
Will we be given the opportunity to experience the wonders offered by Ramadhan again next year?
I don't know.
But I do know that I hope for the best for me and you :)
**************************************************************************************

Truth is, I am not really psyched with the idea of raya. I am actually very worried of my research project. There's so many things going on in my head that I need to put pen to paper before I can make sense of all the problems plaguing my mind.
Sometimes, there's so many things in my head that I get carried away and be over-focused on the project. I think that is why people think I am so serious. Truth is, my mind is somewhere else: troubleshooting the failed experiments, planning future courses of action, making plan B, C, D and sometimes E if my original plan don't work out.....wow, I could go on and on...seriously.

Can I go to the lab during the celebrations?
But I must be fair to my family, mereka pun ada hak atas diriku.
Lisa, PRIORITIZE!

I want to complete my research ASAP!
Let the path to that goal is easy..without too many thorns.

After I complete my project, then what?
What I'll do?
Dunno.
I'll decide when the time comes.
Cross the bridge when you see it, now focus on getting over this cliff!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Have you ever felt that you have said too much?
I am by nature, a quiet person. It is not that I don't have anything to say [quite the contrary..actually hehe] but somehow I just don't talk that much, except, perhaps to those close to me.
Lately, I feel like I said too much.
I feel like a big balloon full of air with the opening just closed between the fingers and not tied. Suddenly the fingers closing the outlet let go of the balloon and there I was, flying here and there, making so much noise but then eventually I slumped down, out of air. Nothing left in me. What's left is just a piece of colored rubber...
Hmm...why?
Maybe because these few weeks that have passed seem like a waste to me. I didn't get much work done as much as I like to.
Maybe these are the after effects of taking things too easily?
Gotta get my game on!
When Dr Teh asked me to change my method last week, she said
"Dah lama dah puasa, dah sampai masa makan besar"
[or something along those lines...I can't actually remember her exact words..]
Initially I was struck dumb, I didn't get it at first. Then Prof Zaki said,
"Wah, Dr Teh dah pandai berkias-kias sekarang"
Me===> Huh? Kias?

Then I got it, I think she was saying that I have not being productive lately, so I was fasting [puasa] in terms of my productivity and the time has come for me to finally have my makan besar [big fest].

Aiya....so slow la me sometimes...
I thought makan besar for me is like a reward or something..haha, so much for false hopes.
So I have to pull myself together and gotta have those RESULTS!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Alhamdulillah, setelah semua perkara yang berlaku, akhirnya report berjaya dihantar.
Sungguh, x pernah sangka boleh hantar. Macam- macam jadi sampai semua usaha pun nampak sia- sia.

16 mac 2008, 9.30 pm

Report sudah 80% siap. Peringkat akhir analysis dah selesai. Hati dah berbunga dah, lega sebab sempat capai deadline.
"Nak touch up sikit ni Lili, then kita boleh balik" aku berkata pada Lili yang dipaksa untuk teman kat lab.
Tiba2 masa tengah edit2 tu, Word tiba2 hang. Nak tekan apa2 pun tak boleh. masa tu dah berpeluh dah, jantung pun dah berdegup kencang, nafas tak menentu.
"Ok, ok, tenang, word ada recover function" kataku pada diri sendiri.
Tapi bila buka balik Word, document terus hilang. Xde. Kat recent documents pun xde, seolah- olah sejarah telah dipadam, yang berlaku sebelum itu seolah2 dalam mimpi.
mata ditutup rapat, enggan berdepan dengan realiti. Esok dah nak hantar n sekarang dah pukul 10!
macam2 persoalan dalam fikiran:
"Apa nak buat ni?"
"Kenapa dia hilang?"
"kenapa hilang sekarang?"
"Apa nak cakap dengan Dr Teh? deadline dah banyak kali tangguh"
"Mati la..."

Cube cr kat internet, word recovery software, tapi semuanya hampeh. xde hasil. masa tu dah seram sejuk, air mata dah mengalir dah. Harapan masa depan nampak kelam. Kenapa? Kenapa mesti benda2 mcm ni jadi? Kenapa????

Tiba2 dalam suasana sedih tu, terdengar lirik lagu yang dibuka oleh Lili n kawannya. Lagu Tika Dinihari oleh Devotees.
Sebahagian dari lirik tu:

Tuhan
Usah bebankan kami
Dengan bebanan yang berat
Seperti
Yang pernah kau berikan
kepada umat yang terdahulu dari kami

Tuhan
Jangan Pikulkan Kami
Yang tidak kami terdaya
Maafkan salah kesilapan
Ampunkanlah Dosa-Dosa
Rahmatilah Kami


masa tu air mata memang dah tak tertahan. Menyesali diri sebab fikir yang bukan- bukan. Terfikir yang Allah itu Maha Adil, Maha Mengetahui. Pastilah apa2 sahaja yang menimpa diri boleh dihadapi sebab Allah tidak akan membebankan kita dengan sesuatu yang tidak mampu kita hadapi. Allah kan mencipta kita? Maka pastilah Dia mengetahui apa yang kita boleh handle. Kalau dengan keyakinan ini kita berusaha, kalau xdapat juga pastilah bukan kerana kegagalan kita.
Kalau masih x berjaya, pastilah kerana Allah sudah merancangkan sesuatu yang lain untuk kita.
Kalau kita tidak berdaya, tiada kemampuan untuk menangani masalah itu, pasti Allah akan ambil bebanan itu dari kita dengan cara yang kadang2 kita sendiri tak sedar. Yang penting kene usaha. Allah tidak suka orang yang lemah.
Kalau perkara itu tidak berhasil, pasti kerana sesuatu sebab.
Mungkin yang sebelum ni report tu tidak memuaskan sebenarnya, mungkin diri harus buat sesuatu yang lain yang lebih baik. Ataupun perkara ini berlaku untuk mendidik diri supaya lebih berhati2, ye la, kalau benda ni jadi masa nk hantar thesis kan lagi haru? atau mungkin juga yang berlaku pada diri adalah sebagai peringatan untuk org lain.

saya percaya yang takdir kita bukanlah takdir kita seorang, tapi takdir kita juga ada kaitan dengan orang2 sekeliling. sebab tu hidup xboleh selfish, xboleh fikir pasal sendiri saja. kene consider apa yang berlaku pada org lain, kesan pada org lain. kalau kita buat baik, kesannya kan bukan pada kita saja, org yang menerima kebaikan itu juga terkesan. sama juga kalau buat jahat, org lain pun akan rasa kesannya.

dengan keyakinan itu, saya cuba pandang masalah ini dengan objektif. Letak tepi dulu emosi, kalau x pasti dah x boleh buat apa. jadi zombie.
Cakap dengan mak, sebab dah xde sapa nak luahkan rasa hati. Fikiran dah berkecamuk, badan dah letih, otak dah letih, hati pun dah letih.
Mak nasihat supaya berhenti sekejap, mandi2 dulu (ye la, da dari pagi dok kt lab je), tido sekejap (recommended 2 jam) n then buat balik semula. Saya sebagai anak yang patuh (chewah!) ikut sebijik2 cadangan itu sebab fikiran da blur. ikut je semua. Sy balik rumah, mandi2, tido n bangun balik. pinjm laptop Lili sebab da hilang keyakinan pada laptop sendiri.
Lepas tu memang tak tidur, buat kerja mcm org gila. orang gila pun x macam tu. nasib baik ada lg copy yang lama, so xde la mula dari kosong. akhirnya, pukul 10 pagi esoknya siap! pegi lab esoknya, touch up touch up skit n then pergi jumpa dr teh.

naiklah dengan sedikit perasaan bangga sebab berjaya juga meet deadline.
Tapi tetiba bila tunjuk kt dr teh, dr teh nak tuka format. Dr teh sampaikan berita itu selembut yang boleh, tapi still sakit.
Ya Allah, masa tu rasa macam nak rebah. Nasib baik tgh duduk ats kerusi.
Sikitt lagi nak menangis depan Dr teh, sebab kecewa sangat. Apasal la asyik nak nangis je ni? selalunya x macam ni.
tak sengaja, terlepas kata- kata, "kalau xdapat pun xpelah dr teh"
Lepas tu, habis kene sound.
Dr teh kata:
"u dah sampai peringkat ni dah, takkan nak berhenti?"
"I tak suka u macam ni"
"Dah, jangan stres sangat, kenapa x happy ni??"

huhuhu
---dalam fikiran sendiri : macam mana nak happy? report kene reject, diri da mabuk x tido, laptop rosak...---

saya tau, mak pun akan macam sebijik apa yang dr teh cakap. Dua individu ini memang x suka kalau aku seakan- akan lemah. tapi masa tu sangat kecewa. terlepas cakap. masa tu memang nak let go.

"Dr teh nak bila?"
"Kalau boleh saya nak petang ni"
"Saya cuba, dr teh"

Tawakal je la menuturkan kata2 itu. Can I pull this off?
Then terus balik rumah sebab tensen. sebelum tu pegi beli KFC sebab geram sangat. Balik rumah, sambil makan KFC tengok TV cerita Oshin.
Ok2, nak tak nak, kene cuba juga. Apa alasan? xde alasan.
lepas dah tenang sikit, mula balik slow2.
Pukul 6 macam tu dr teh sms : "u give me ur write up tomorrow. dun wori, dun stres"
Syukur yang teramat, nasib baik dr teh bagi peluang.
Malam tu mak ayah datang sebab nak ambil kunci kereta yang dpinjam, lagi satu ksyukuran. Memang xboleh handle kalau sorang2. mereka lah peniup semangat, dengan kehadiran mereka saja dah macam boleh tinggal sekejap kekusutan.

Malam itupun x tidur...
dah nak masuk 48 jam.

Alhamdulillah, siap juga yang second ni. Mencabar betul. Bila sampai lab esok paginya, report pertama yg kne reject tu ada kt atas meja. Correction! nasib baik sikit je, dah lah esok dh nk hantar pada external examiner. Hari tu semua pun sibuk mcm apa, termasuklah wanie (yg insyaAllah akn convert sama), dr teh n prof zaki. Semua pun dah macam nk terbalik. Stay kt lab ngan wanie sampai kul 11 utk edit. tu pun masih ada saja masalah. Tapi alhamdulillah boleh dselesaikan.

Esok paginya, selepas kekecohan nak menyusun, bind n mhantar report tu, akhirnya semua selesai.
Xsangka!
Lepas kegilaan yg berlaku, mmg x sangka.
Boleh juga hantar! hahaha, tu la, kita tak tau apa akan jadi pada masa hadapan. yang penting kuatkn diri mhadapi apa sahajam n yang lain yg kita xleh control tu, serah saja pada yang Maha Berkuasa.

lepas selesai je tu, pergi celebrate ngan wanie n fazleen makan kt restoran. hahaha, mcm hadiah pada diri sendiri :)

lega, bersyukur, mabuk xtido semua bercampur baur. tambah ngan pening minum kopi plak tu (minum sebab teringin sungguh, so mmg xpayah la nk mengadu pening sebab sendiri tau akibatnya..huhuhu)

lepas ni nk baya hutang tido.
I've been running on adrenaline all this while, and the effects have begun to wear off. Baru terasa betul2 kepenatan. tapi xpe sebab esok cuti! yeay!

Bukankah cantik perancangan Allah? :)

Tuesday, January 22, 2008


Hahaha
these cartoons are truly great :P
i found it while surfing
check out this site: http://www.phdcomics.com

so many translations for PhD: Philosophy Doctor (which is the correct one), Piled higher and Deeper and of course, my personal favourite, Permanent Head Damage.
Really makes u think twice, huh?
In my efforts to try to convert my research to PhD level, i just hope it'll turn out for the best :p

Gotta start writing!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

slm...
today is not too good. it's been two days since i've known that the progress report for conversion to PhD is due in January, as opposed to Mac before..
I've been in front of this computer countless times, trying to bring myself to write something worthwhile for my report. but as my feelings are like storm in the seas, i couldn't. so the thing i ended up doing is to Procrastinate.
Procrastination. Lost in confusion. Overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of my task.
So why couldn't i start?
...hmm..i guess this isn't the first time these things happen to me. i think i am not one of those people that are able to do their work early. i thrive in the eleventh hour, basking in the rush of adrenaline while racing to reach the deadline.
Just hope i reach the deadline. Or it'll just be a line where i'll be dead.
********
Ya Allah, berikanlah aku kekuatan untuk mengatasi kelemahanku sebagai seorang insan.