Snippets

Exams..
You'd probably noticed the little amount of posts I wrote on October but that's due to the super busy schedule I'm following and with everything else going on currently, I hardly ever find the time to read. Even though I had quit reading in order to memorize Quran verses, I missed it and I guess that it's a part of my everyday life that I could at least asses few minutes to.

First term exams have started on Wednesday, starting with Social Studies and today was English Lit. Since it's been two years since I last studied S.S, I was somewhat nervous on taking it so I double-studied (if that's even a word) and thankfully, it wasn't all that hard at all. It's also the first time that we take English Lit so I didn't really know what to expect and I know I've done well.

Firsts..

Beside school, I got my very first phone on 13th of October (Too late? I know). I've never felt the need to have a phone even though it's the 'trend' around here. My parents have always urged me to but I didn't need it. And on 6th of October, The Week crew came to school to award us (the winner team in Cubscribe Challenge) and I got a Samsung Corby and I'm very pleased with it. Plus, we got a one-year subscription for Muscat Daily and the other publications of Apex Stuff. Also, a group picture of us was published on the cover page of the paper.

After writing for Oman Observer for almost 6 months, they thought to let me work officially and sign my very first work contract with them. It's a huge commitment, I know, but I had made sure to know what I was getting myself into before going for the signing.

So that's it for now, and up until a new post, take care.

New Lifestyle

While being stuck at traffic the other day, I asked my aunt what she'd want her little daughter to be when she grow up and she replied with '7afi'9a lelQuran'. I told her that I meant a future occupation and she said 'That doesn't matter, I mentioned what matters eventually'. I was silent, contemplating the beauty of the few words she uttered.

Reaching my freind's house for the Quran lesson, I met my turning-point when the after-lecture that followed the recitation of the Quran discussed 3 main things; Are we really obeying Allah's words, following the Prophet's steps and respecting our parents? Through answering these questions between myself, I realized there's more to life than my current lifestyle; going to school, coming back, doing homework, watching TV, reading, writing and praying five times a day. There's much more than that and I need to opt a change.

Life's full of pleasures which keep us away from the significant tasks we’re supposed to do instead; like preparing for the after-life.

قال تعالى

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا وَفِي الْآَخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور

سورة الحديد ~ الآية رقم 20

Hence, I started learning the quran and thankfully, I’m blessed to have realized that I can only depend completely on my memory when it comes to memorizing Quran verses than the hard time I spend in learning school materials and thinking that I’m a short-memory holder.

قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم :
يقال لصاحب القرآن : اقرأ و ارتق و رتل كما كنت ترتل في دار الدنيا فإن منزلتك عند آخر آية كنت تقرؤها

Now, I truly believe the saying ‘If there’s a will, there’s a way’.

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اللهم حفظنا القرآن كما تحفظه الملائكة
واستعملنا واشغلنا واكفنا به عمن سواه لوجهك الكريم

New Hope For Tourette Syndrome Patients

The Doctors episode on Life-Changing Procedures featured Tyler Boshae with Tourette's Syndrome. Read more about him here.

This video contains some disturbing footage of Tyler suffering from his uncontrollable tics..

After the Deep Brain Stimulation surgery, he now has a better quality of life and as he put it, "I want to emphasize that this procedure, it's groundbreaking, it's life-changing, but it's not a cure. It didn't take my condition away completely. It gave me a much higher quality of life, almost a complete flip, but I still have bad days, I still have hard times. My tics still kick up a lot, but this procedure has made it so much more manageable, enjoyable, and I'm able to enjoy being with my family now, and can be with my friends and do activities. It's great."

Watch this video to know how life-changing this was for him.

During the procedure, an electrode was implanted in the thalamus part of the brain (where the electrical impulses and sensory information are interpreted). After surgery, electricity was used to stimulate certain parts of the thalamus and control the cells that cause these painful and unmanageable tics.

If you want to help the foundation Tyler created, click here.

This story reminded me of a non-fiction I read (Torn Apart by James Patterson and Hal Friedman) based on Corey's rough childhood. When reading it, I couldn't imagine how hard this must be. But pictures speak a thousand words..

Allah gave us many gifts and the most important of all is health. We complain a lot but our sadness doesn't stand a chance near the miseries other disabled people suffer from.

The least we can do is thank God for what he's given us...and see the large picture..

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قال تعالى :
"لَئن شكَرتم لأزِيدنكم"
- سورة إبراهيم، اية رقم: 7


"And remember! your Lord caused to be declared (publicly): "If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you; But if ye show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed."
- Surat Ibrahim, verse no. 7

Earthquake After Another

I can clearly remember the first day of January, and before that, how everyone greeted each other with a happy new year and made a huge fuss on twenty-ten. No longer did this celebration last after Haiti’s earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on Jan, 12th, when more than 230,000 people were killed in a matter of 35 seconds only.



Followed shortly by Chile’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake on February, 27th which killed at least 528 people.


And an aftershock earthquake, magnitude of 6.6 hits Chile on March, 5 causing more damages to the already shocked and devastated country.

Just yesterday, March, 8th, an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude hit eastern Turkey, killing at lease 57 people.

A list of significant Earthquakes in the year 2010:

* Magnitude 6.0 Eastern Turkey ~ March 08, 2010
* Magnitude 6.5 Southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia ~ March 05, 2010
* Magnitude 6.6 Offshore Bio-bio, Chile ~ March 05, 2010
* Magnitude 8.8 Offshore Maule, Chile ~ February 27, 2010
* Magnitude 7.0 Ryukyu Islands, Japan ~ February 26, 2010
* Magnitude 6.9 China-Russia-North Korea Border Region ~ February 18, 2010
* Magnitude 5.9 Offshore Northern California ~ February 04, 2010
* Magnitude 7.0 Haiti Region ~ January 12, 2010

Source

قُل لَّن يُصِيبَنَآ إِلاَّ مَا كَتَبَ الله لَنَا
~التوبة :51

May they rest in peace..