Undisputable sweetness of being on time

I guess you have clicked on this article link due to feeling of curiosity or of being able to speculate what I will be sharing. It is a fact of life that we always seek to improve ourselves in many ways, at different times with different goals. Hence our perception on the road of excellence in life, in general or specifically, may much vary from one individual to another, from one culture to another. From one civilisation to another too. It can be excellence in our academic pursuit, our career development, our personality improvement and even to the extent of improving our effectiveness as a the head of a family. The flavours may be somewhat the same, but recipe wise can be different.

I recently heard a lecture from Brother Yasser Fazaga recently which struck me which inspired this post. I will delve and relate it back to my post in a bit. Now back to the title.

When was the last time you felt anxious due to being stuck or stranded at a train station, or on the road due to evening traffic? Either you are heading off to an important meeting or going back home to meet your family, I am sure both scenarios will create some anxiety in you. We may not necessarily be rushing to reach our destinations for various reasons, but the fact that reaching on time or even earlier somewhat gives us a breather and enables you to execute your plans accordingly. At least a breather in our heads. On time for meetings or a social gathering; shows a lot about our attitude and commitment. This was what my dad once advised me. Can’t deny that in my opinion! Early to reach home, may show that family time matters. Work continues everyday anyways. Hence, that feel good feeling is there and will be there, come to think of it.

Let me share another example. For those running errands. We target specific time for our errands because we want it to fit into our daily schedule. Correct? Visit to the market or IKEA are typically planned, and when not planned leaves a trail of headaches. Everything seems to go plain wrong– we take too long to find a parking space, there is a long queue at check-out, and later on you can’t find your parking ticket. That all can build up to this ball of frustration thus affecting the rest of our day. Sounds familiar?

Hence, planning and decision making plays a big part in our time management. Wise planning and execution as planned. There may be hiccups a ong the way, but at least it was intentionally planned and when achieved accordingly, that satisfaction is like a bonus. It propels you to repeat that task using the same method again and again. You feel good, and you have no excuse to rage against anyone because you were late for something.

Now back to Brother Yasser Fazaga. His talk what on the art of communication. He said, say what you mean, and mean what you say. If you have understood my writing approach and style, there is quite a bulk of beating round the bush before I finally arrive the fact. [Imagine watching an artist at work and finally reaching the end art piece. My philosophy in writing and conveying a message is to take my readers through my thoughts process. Like how you ‘get it’ when you in deep conversation with somebody.]

That aside, here is my fact and this is what I want to say:

I think I have tasted the sweetness of performing my obligatory prayers mostly on time. By obligatory prayers I mean the 5 daily prayers required of a matured and sound Muslim, and by on time, I mean not intentionally or voluntarily delaying it. I don’t know how to explain exactly how I feel what I feel, but I simply feel it. Can it be due to that feel good factor that I don’t owe my Creator this task? Can be just that! And that I can move on to other businesses in my day.

Here is what you need to know in case you are not familiar with Islamic prayers. We are required to pray 5 times on daily occasion with allocated time for each. Much revolved around the movement of the Sun and the Earth. Hence by default, time management in the daily life of a Muslim is utmost important. But what I want to highlight here is that it sparks my interest on this feel good feeling which I have. I can approach this topic based on what have been said out there. I also know other religion such as Christianity devotes on prayers as being an important pillar in the lives of its followers.

Sweetness of getting the task done, and done on time. Me being me, I will be reading a bit more on how our psyche and perhaps physiology is affected with getting a task done on time/as planned, and also what does praying on time does to us.

Hard to describe but this is what I feel and it will be selfish keeping this feeling all to myself.

Well, I think I shall stop here and let you ponder on the rest of the trail I hopefully have left for you to reflect.