gratitude
I was quite moved when I heard that my Saudi pen pal thanked his god for the accident he got into, although he suffered a loss and was quite inconvenienced by it. I thought he would be distressed or such, but he was surprisingly gentle, not calm. We could not find someone like that in the West. We go mad. ^_^
I am a free thinker with a shallow understanding of some major religions of the world. My understanding is that a true Muslim would think that way. In Chinese, I think the closest concept to their إن شاء الله is 随缘，which is my core modus operandi. So I understand how they think, to some extent.
My understanding is that the Muslims in the West is not the same as a typical Muslim in the Middle East. The ones from the West are like Chinese restaurants in the West, ie. westernized Chinese food, not the real thing. There are certain ways of thinking and behaving of a true Muslim, but that is hard to find in the West. And the generalization or misconception that Islam or Muslims equal terrorism, I think, is only something that media in the West manufactured. It is akin to propaganda.
Going back to my story, I was inspired by this Saudi friend's strong connection to his god (I deliberately use lowercase g). I think roughly the same way, although I am not religious. This past week I was extremely thankful to heaven every day when I drove home from work, as things did not explode in my hands when I had more than my share of responsibilities to handle during a time when my own workload was extremely heavy. My boss expressed her appreciation of me, for handling the week well, which in my opinion, was due to a balance of more good luck than bad luck. I did not think it was attributed to my ability or aptitude. You can have all the skills and knowledge of the world, but if the universe is against you, you will not succeed.
I am not trying to be humble, and I don't need to pretend to be. What is there to be humble and modest about? I did not do anything great that would warrant such a pretense. However, I have learned that I need to be brave, to handle myself well and to handle the situation well, when things are not going my way.
Because I have no sense of pride from what I did (no ego), I also did not have a sense of accomplishment. Instead, I felt gratitude and a sense of peace, and ultimately happiness.
I am a free thinker with a shallow understanding of some major religions of the world. My understanding is that a true Muslim would think that way. In Chinese, I think the closest concept to their إن شاء الله is 随缘，which is my core modus operandi. So I understand how they think, to some extent.
My understanding is that the Muslims in the West is not the same as a typical Muslim in the Middle East. The ones from the West are like Chinese restaurants in the West, ie. westernized Chinese food, not the real thing. There are certain ways of thinking and behaving of a true Muslim, but that is hard to find in the West. And the generalization or misconception that Islam or Muslims equal terrorism, I think, is only something that media in the West manufactured. It is akin to propaganda.
Going back to my story, I was inspired by this Saudi friend's strong connection to his god (I deliberately use lowercase g). I think roughly the same way, although I am not religious. This past week I was extremely thankful to heaven every day when I drove home from work, as things did not explode in my hands when I had more than my share of responsibilities to handle during a time when my own workload was extremely heavy. My boss expressed her appreciation of me, for handling the week well, which in my opinion, was due to a balance of more good luck than bad luck. I did not think it was attributed to my ability or aptitude. You can have all the skills and knowledge of the world, but if the universe is against you, you will not succeed.
I am not trying to be humble, and I don't need to pretend to be. What is there to be humble and modest about? I did not do anything great that would warrant such a pretense. However, I have learned that I need to be brave, to handle myself well and to handle the situation well, when things are not going my way.
Because I have no sense of pride from what I did (no ego), I also did not have a sense of accomplishment. Instead, I felt gratitude and a sense of peace, and ultimately happiness.
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