Thursday, December 22, 2005
Another work term ends and in a few hours, I’ll likely never see this place again. As happy as I am about going back to Edmonton, evident by the countdown that I have going on the computer screen for my co-workers to see, it’s going to be sad to leave this team behind.
I genuinely liked every colleague of mine and built relationships that will be torn down in an instant. Then again, that's the nature of life.
To get a better assessment of this experience, I’ll post about it again a few months later. Things are not always clear in the heat of the moment as emotions usually cloud the judgement and hindsight does provide a much better perspective. Very often we are quick to judge things as being ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for us without waiting to see how they will unfold.
For example, was my decision to turn down the Suncor job offer bad? It all depends.
If I can accomplish that I intend, then no matter what my employment situation, it was a smart decision. But if I fail miserably in finishing any of the goals that I have outlined myself by next December, then turning down the job offer is going to be costly.
Then again, that’s where trust in Allah (swt) becomes so important. If I’m making decisions for the ‘right’ reasons, then I have to believe that Allah (swt) is not going to embarrass or humiliate me.
One similar example is whether to pray in public when there is no other option. Do I miss a prayer or do I pray in my office no matter what my co-workers think? (Of course, I explained to them what I was doing though some of them already knew)
My thought process is that since I’m doing the right thing, I will not be put in a bad situation because of it insha Allah and alhumdillalah, not only did no one object but they were very curious and wanted to know more. If anything, I felt they had more respect for me afterwards; certainly a positive side effect.
A Muslim brother who is also in co-op conveyed an interesting story. In an interview with Syncrude, he was interviewed by two women. At the end, they both put out their hands for a formal handshake but being Muslim, he couldn’t touch the hands of non-family females. So he respectfully declined and politely explained his reasons (and vice versea with Muslim females and non-family male members).
Now at this point, we were both of the opinion that the women probably took offense to it and in all likelihood will not offer him the job. But what he did was right and it took an immense amount of courage that most Muslims can’t muster.
A few weeks later, he informed me about his job offer at Syncrude!
Not to say things are going to work out perfectly each time, but in my case every ‘sacrifice’ that I’ve had to make for the right reasons has worked out incredibly well. Cynical people tell me that sooner or later the bubble is going to burst; I say Allah (swt) hasn’t let me down yet and it doesn’t matter what happened to other people, I just look at my own account and live accordingly.
(is it geeky that I actually understood (thanks to Che E 314) and laughed out loud at the following statement: The only constant in life is flux)
I genuinely liked every colleague of mine and built relationships that will be torn down in an instant. Then again, that's the nature of life.
To get a better assessment of this experience, I’ll post about it again a few months later. Things are not always clear in the heat of the moment as emotions usually cloud the judgement and hindsight does provide a much better perspective. Very often we are quick to judge things as being ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for us without waiting to see how they will unfold.
For example, was my decision to turn down the Suncor job offer bad? It all depends.
If I can accomplish that I intend, then no matter what my employment situation, it was a smart decision. But if I fail miserably in finishing any of the goals that I have outlined myself by next December, then turning down the job offer is going to be costly.
Then again, that’s where trust in Allah (swt) becomes so important. If I’m making decisions for the ‘right’ reasons, then I have to believe that Allah (swt) is not going to embarrass or humiliate me.
One similar example is whether to pray in public when there is no other option. Do I miss a prayer or do I pray in my office no matter what my co-workers think? (Of course, I explained to them what I was doing though some of them already knew)
My thought process is that since I’m doing the right thing, I will not be put in a bad situation because of it insha Allah and alhumdillalah, not only did no one object but they were very curious and wanted to know more. If anything, I felt they had more respect for me afterwards; certainly a positive side effect.
A Muslim brother who is also in co-op conveyed an interesting story. In an interview with Syncrude, he was interviewed by two women. At the end, they both put out their hands for a formal handshake but being Muslim, he couldn’t touch the hands of non-family females. So he respectfully declined and politely explained his reasons (and vice versea with Muslim females and non-family male members).
Now at this point, we were both of the opinion that the women probably took offense to it and in all likelihood will not offer him the job. But what he did was right and it took an immense amount of courage that most Muslims can’t muster.
A few weeks later, he informed me about his job offer at Syncrude!
Not to say things are going to work out perfectly each time, but in my case every ‘sacrifice’ that I’ve had to make for the right reasons has worked out incredibly well. Cynical people tell me that sooner or later the bubble is going to burst; I say Allah (swt) hasn’t let me down yet and it doesn’t matter what happened to other people, I just look at my own account and live accordingly.
(is it geeky that I actually understood (thanks to Che E 314) and laughed out loud at the following statement: The only constant in life is flux)
Faraz Ahmed 9:36 a.m.
2 Comments:
Allah helps His slaves when they try to live by His commands.
The Syncrude brother -- do you know what did he say, extacly? It will be a great help knowing so that others can use something that worked :)
The Syncrude brother -- do you know what did he say, extacly? It will be a great help knowing so that others can use something that worked :)
I don't know what he said but i'll try and find out as it might come in handy down the road.
Yeah, trust is big but it takes time to develop; not something that happens overnight. Many people tend to get frustrated and give up if things don't go their way initially.
Yeah, trust is big but it takes time to develop; not something that happens overnight. Many people tend to get frustrated and give up if things don't go their way initially.