Bersyukur kita masih mendapatkan sebuah sekolah. Apapun dan bagaimanapun sekolah kita, mencintai adalah keharusannya. Meski tiap diri menginginkan sebuah sekolah "ideal" di mata manusia, yang elit, prestige, unggulan, dsb. itu, tapi tidak semua dari kita bisa mendapatkannya. Seperti juga orangtua kita, kita tidak bisa memilihnya (karena saya percaya jodoh adl. takdir, walaupun ada "usaha" untuk mendapatkan sekolah terbaik tsb).
Sebuah mutiara, dimanapun dia berada tetaplah mutiara. Seorang murid cemerlang, meski bersekolah di sekolah kampung minim fasilitas sarana, dia akan tetap memberikan sesuatu bagi sekolah, lingkungan dan peer groupnya. Tak perlu pindah sekolah, dia masih bisa berkompetisi dan menjadi duta bagi sekolahnya (ingat pula cerita Laskar Pelangi dan Eliana). Dari sekolah kampung yang miskin, murid cerdas justru akan banyak berpikir. Semakin kompleks masalah di "sekolah miskin" tsb. semakin dalam pikiran dan keinginan murid cerdas untuk lebih maju.
Sebuah teori kontraproduktif di sistem pendidikan kita. Begitulah juga dalam berumah tangga.
Saya tidak akan menyinggung tentang sekolah yang "sudah jadi". Sekolah yang sudah pasti akan melahirkan murid-murid hebat karena kehebatan prasarananya. Sudah pasti itu... karena sekolah unggulan memang sudah mendapat input unggulan pula. (Bagi yang berminat mendapat pasangan unggulan, maka jadilah unggulan, dan bila jodoh, maka hidup Anda relatif lebih mudah *smileysenyum*)
Apapun kondisi kita, nasib tidak ditentukan oleh sekolah, melainkan diri kita sendiri. Seperti misalnya murid cemerlang yang "terpaksa" mendapat "sekolah biasa" atau sekolah rata-rata oleh karena jodoh kondisi (misal orangtua yang dinas di kota kecil, di pulau terpencil) jangan menyerah. Ide, pikiran dan karya luar biasa di dunia ini tidak lahir dari tempat mewah tetapi dari keterbatasan.
Di sekolah apapun kita berada, mengembangkan diri dan menciptakan karya adalah kunci suksesnya.
Die Antwort bist du selbst!
-beginvonendemtd307nachdemHbVortrag-
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Art of Composition
Picture must be alive (dramatic, wow!, fascinating, memorable, out of the ordinary, appealling, compelling not boring, energizing) that why it need (great and artistic) composition.
Composition has its elements! and they must be in balance!
Composition has its principes of popular or fine art!
Composition is the matter of choice to be chosen. It's about selectiveness
Image composition takes time. When the subject matter is chosen, one must still decide how to place it inside the frame and what other elements to include. Usually it takes a lot of time and experimenting to find the best possible composition. As a first rule of thumb one could say: It is often wise to choose one clear subject into the photograph.
Composition is the matter of separation (avoid overlap, kissing)
One way to separate subject and background is the use of complementary colors. Complementary colors are well distinguishable from each other and strengthen each other. Another method to emphasize the subject is to use textures. A subject with complicated texture stands out well from background with simple texture. A subject with simple texture stands out well from background with complicated texture.
Composition is the golden angle, rectangle, triangle, spiral, ratio and rules (Da Vinci called it divine proportion! well placed focal point beyond other focal points
I am a visual man. I watch, watch, watch. I understand things with my eyes. Bresson
Composition is the art of level
upward-ground-eye-head-above head level or society level where you stand for, and any other "LEVEL" that exist in this world
Composition is about a vision,
involving people, places, and cultures that teach something about life itself
I left Lhote's studio because I did not want to enter into that systematic spirit. I wanted to be myself. Bresson
Copyrights and patents are "intellectual property", but ideas and concepts belong to everybody.
In photography, visual organization can stem only from a developed instinct.
Book: Photography the Art of Composition
Book: Photographic Eye
Link: Making Great Pictures Life.com
Link: Have you ever seen a beautifully composed photo, painting, or website and wondered if there is any science behind it?
Article: 7 Golden Rules of Creativity
Composition has its elements! and they must be in balance!
Composition has its principes of popular or fine art!
Composition is the matter of choice to be chosen. It's about selectiveness
Image composition takes time. When the subject matter is chosen, one must still decide how to place it inside the frame and what other elements to include. Usually it takes a lot of time and experimenting to find the best possible composition. As a first rule of thumb one could say: It is often wise to choose one clear subject into the photograph.
Composition is the matter of separation (avoid overlap, kissing)
One way to separate subject and background is the use of complementary colors. Complementary colors are well distinguishable from each other and strengthen each other. Another method to emphasize the subject is to use textures. A subject with complicated texture stands out well from background with simple texture. A subject with simple texture stands out well from background with complicated texture.
Composition is the golden angle, rectangle, triangle, spiral, ratio and rules (Da Vinci called it divine proportion! well placed focal point beyond other focal points
I am a visual man. I watch, watch, watch. I understand things with my eyes. Bresson
Composition is the art of level
upward-ground-eye-head-above head level or society level where you stand for, and any other "LEVEL" that exist in this world
Composition is about a vision,
involving people, places, and cultures that teach something about life itself
I left Lhote's studio because I did not want to enter into that systematic spirit. I wanted to be myself. Bresson
Copyrights and patents are "intellectual property", but ideas and concepts belong to everybody.
In photography, visual organization can stem only from a developed instinct.
Book: Photography the Art of Composition
Book: Photographic Eye
Link: Making Great Pictures Life.com
Link: Have you ever seen a beautifully composed photo, painting, or website and wondered if there is any science behind it?
Article: 7 Golden Rules of Creativity
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Landscape remains my first love
Think of a landscape photograph as a jigsaw puzzle, with dozens of different pieces demanding your attention. If you arrange all those pieces in the right order you'll end up with an organised, structured image that makes sense and looks good. But if you put them together any old way, the end result will be a muddled mess of shapes, colours and details that's difficult to make sense of.
The trouble is, many photographers don't spend enough time thinking about that composition before firing away, and nine times out of ten the end result is unbalanced and unstimulating.
But most important of all, make it count.
source
The trouble is, many photographers don't spend enough time thinking about that composition before firing away, and nine times out of ten the end result is unbalanced and unstimulating.
Often the main subject is too far away and marooned in a sea of empty space, or there are annoying distractions in the frame. Many pictures have no obvious entry point, so the viewer's wanders around aimlessly, and lack any sense of depth or scale so they look as flat as the proverbial pancake.
Painters are one up on photographers when it comes to composing a picture, because if the scene before them isn't ideal they can move elements around on the canvas until it is. We just have to accept what's there and make the best of it.
But most important of all, make it count.
source
Friday, November 26, 2010
Karena ilmu adalah makanan
Ilmu adalah makanan (bagi jiwa), maka perhatikanlah dari siapa ilmu bahasa Arab kita peroleh. Pilihlah guru yang lurus akidahnya dan bersih pemahamannya tentang Islam. Sungguh banyak orang yang pandai berbahasa Arab, tetapi kepandaiannya itu justru menyesatkannya semakin jauh dari jalan kebenaran, karena ilmu tersebut diperolehnya dari orang-orang yang kelam pandangannya dan sungguh buruk pemahamannya tentang Islam.
http://studyarabic.blog.ugm.ac.id/
http://badaronline.com/daftar-isi
http://studyarabic.blog.ugm.ac.id/
http://badaronline.com/daftar-isi
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Zirkonia, CZ, Edelstein, Diamond
Diamond is a crystal of carbon element. Cubic Ziconia is a compound of Ziconium that display similar look and feel, but not exactly, CZ is made to fake a diamond. A simple test will tell between the two. Cultured diamond is NOT fake diamond, it is a man-made real diamond. Not from the ground, but from a lab. Since lab condition can be tightly control, it may be possible that cultured diamonds can be made flawless, unlike mined diamond.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Refleksi Kepemimpinan
Betapa sering kita menyaksikan bahwa apa yang disebut dengan kepemimpinan itu ternyata tidaklah bergantung kepada posisi atau jabatan seseorang. Kepala keluarga yang kurang mampu membina anak-anaknya, guru kelas yang tak dipatuhi para siswanya, ketua partai yang imbauannya tak dihiraukan konstituen, pemuka agama yang khutbahnya dianggap angin lalu oleh umat, direktur perusahaan yang setiap hari hanya memarahi dan mengancam anak buah, hingga jenderal yang tak piawai saat memberikan arahan, merupakan berbagai gambaran mengenai fenomena yang jamak ini. Bahkan ada pula kepala negara yang sebelum masa jabatannya berakhir, didesak untuk mengundurkan diri oleh rakyatnya sendiri walau terpilih secara sah konstitusional.
Padahal, bukankah semestinya dengan menyandang posisi pimpinan maka seseorang akan lebih mudah dalam memimpin orang lain? Bukankah dengan status yang disandangnya itu maka pengaruh yang diberikan kepada para pengikutnya akan menjadi lebih kuat? Hal ini ternyata tak selalu dapat berjalan demikian karena kepemimpinan itu sendiri tidaklah identik dengan sebuah posisi pimpinan, leadership is not a headship. Albert Einstein, Bunda Teresa, Konosuke Matsushita, Hasyim Asy'ari, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., dan banyak lagi tokoh pemimpin dunia lainnya di berbagai bidang, menjadi bukti yang nyata bahwa sesungguhnya pengaruh atas orang banyak dapat diperoleh walau tanpa jabatan penting kenegaraan sekalipun. Visi, integritas, keberanian, kepedulian, kebijaksanaan, semangat, komitmen, dan ketulusan, adalah kunci utama keberhasilan mereka di dalam memimpin, achievement of goals through voluntary followership.
Para tokoh pemimpin dunia tersebut tidaklah menunggu saat yang tepat untuk bertindak. Mereka tidak menunggu kaya, populer, atau berkuasa dahulu baru kemudian mewujudkan perubahan. Mereka tidak bersembunyi di menara gading melainkan hadir di tengah masyarakat. Mereka rela berkorban. Mereka memiliki pendirian teguh dan standar etika yang tinggi. Mereka juga para komunikator yang ulung akan pemikirannya. Mereka tekun membangun kapasitas kepemimpinannya dengan menghadapi kesulitan demi kesulitan. Mereka mengambil tanggung jawab untuk berperan semaksimal mungkin semasa hidupnya. Dan dengan menjalani hal-hal antara lain demikianlah, maka secara alamiah para informal leaders akan dapat bertransformasi menjadi para world class leaders. Kepemimpinan yang telah mereka bangunpun menjadi lebih lengkap saat mereka pada akhirnya mengemban amanat sebagai pemimpin formal di masyarakat. Hal yang kemudian membuat kisah kepemimpinan mereka menjadi inspirasi sepanjang zaman. Meminjam istilah Paulo Coelho dalam karyanya The Alchemist, mereka telah menuliskan legenda pribadinya sebagai karya dan teladan yang amat bernilai bagi generasi sesudahnya.
Walaupun memang tak dapat dipungkiri bahwa kepemimpinan itu sendiri bersifat kontekstual, sehingga pemimpin yang dibutuhkan sebuah organisasi politik akan berbeda dengan organisasi pendidikan, keagamaan, bisnis, militer, kelompok tani, para artis, atau bahkan organisasi mafia, namun sifat dasar kepemimpinan tidaklah jauh berbeda satu dengan yang lainnya. Masyarakat manapun senantiasa membutuhkan sosok pemimpin dan panutan, terlebih lagi dalam menghadapi masa-masa sulit.
Kepemimpinan juga merupakan key success factor dari proses perubahan yang besar. Para pengikutpun akan dengan sukarela mendukung terjadinya suatu perubahan mengikuti kepemimpinan yang kuat. Hal mana yang keberhasilan pengembangannya dalam tinjauan para ahli di berbagai institusi terkemuka, antara lain Harvard University atau McKinsey Inc., tidaklah dibedakan oleh faktor jenis kelamin, IQ, status sosial ekonomi, agama, ataupun ras seseorang. Kepemimpinan yang kuat dapat dijalankan oleh semua orang baik mereka yang berkepribadian ekstrovert maupun introvert.
Kepemimpinan yang kuat pula akan dapat mengendalikan jalannya sistem. Walau tengah berada di dalam sistem yang sudah terbangun secara buruk sekalipun, seorang pemimpin yang kuat tidak akan dengan mudah untuk dapat terpengaruh. Begitupun sebaliknya, seberapapun bagusnya sebuah sistem dalam berbagai bentuk peraturan dan kebijakan yang berfungsi sebagai enabler di masyarakat, jika berada di tangan pemimpin yang tidak kuat, hanyalah merupakan kesia-siaan belaka. Betapa banyak produk UU yang dimiliki oleh suatu negara, namun tak kunjung terasa manfaatnya oleh rakyat bila tak dijalankan dengan sungguh-sungguh oleh mereka yang berwenang.
Sedang di tingkat perusahaan seringkali pula kita dengar, bahwa perencanaan strategis yang sangat baik haruslah diikuti dengan eksekusi terhadap pelaksanaannya, yang tak lain adalah kepemimpinan. Bahkan tak jarang pula kita amati bahwa seiring pergantian kepemimpinan, para pengikut kadang kala merindukan sosok pemimpinnya yang terdahulu, karena pemimpin yang saat ini sedang menjabat kurang terasa kepemimpinannya, walaupun dalam hal ini tak ada perubahan aturan main sama sekali. Hal ini tak lain dikarenakan setiap orang memiliki ciri khas kepemimpinannya masing-masing yang memberi dampak dan jejak berbeda kepada para pengikutnya.
Kepemimpinan adalah driver dari sebuah proses perubahan. Kepemimpinanlah yang mampu mengubah zaman jahiliyah menjadi peradaban madaniyah dalam sejarah penyebaran agama. Kepemimpinanlah yang menjadi kunci bagi terciptanya perdamaian atau peperangan dunia. Kepemimpinanlah pula yang dapat menentukan masa depan negara serta organisasi manapun. Dan kepemimpinan pulalah yang mampu menyukseskan penyelamatan fenomenal 33 penambang Chile pertengahan Oktober lalu, baik dari para penambang itu sendiri maupun para tim penyelamat.
Pada hakikatnya, kita semua merupakan pemimpin di muka bumi ini. Sembari terutama saya mengingatkan diri saya sendiri, apapun profesi, job title, serta kesibukan kita sehari-hari saat ini, marilah kita jalankan kepemimpinan kita di semua tingkat kehidupan secara maksimal dan dengan sebaik-baiknya. Apalagi, jika secara struktural formal saat ini diri kita merupakan pimpinan yang menjadi tumpuan harapan bagi begitu banyak orang. Sungguh, tiada seorang pun yang tahu kapan 'saat' yang telah ditentukan itu akan tiba. Namun semoga, jikalau esok pun adalah waktunya, kita tak menyimpan sesal dan berserah dengan kelapangan jiwa. Kepemimpinan kita, hidup kita, adalah sebuah legenda.
*) Dedy Irawan, pemerhati manajemen, tinggal di Jakarta. Memiliki pengalaman profesional di Accor, Arbe, AstraZeneca, Recapital.
Padahal, bukankah semestinya dengan menyandang posisi pimpinan maka seseorang akan lebih mudah dalam memimpin orang lain? Bukankah dengan status yang disandangnya itu maka pengaruh yang diberikan kepada para pengikutnya akan menjadi lebih kuat? Hal ini ternyata tak selalu dapat berjalan demikian karena kepemimpinan itu sendiri tidaklah identik dengan sebuah posisi pimpinan, leadership is not a headship. Albert Einstein, Bunda Teresa, Konosuke Matsushita, Hasyim Asy'ari, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., dan banyak lagi tokoh pemimpin dunia lainnya di berbagai bidang, menjadi bukti yang nyata bahwa sesungguhnya pengaruh atas orang banyak dapat diperoleh walau tanpa jabatan penting kenegaraan sekalipun. Visi, integritas, keberanian, kepedulian, kebijaksanaan, semangat, komitmen, dan ketulusan, adalah kunci utama keberhasilan mereka di dalam memimpin, achievement of goals through voluntary followership.
Para tokoh pemimpin dunia tersebut tidaklah menunggu saat yang tepat untuk bertindak. Mereka tidak menunggu kaya, populer, atau berkuasa dahulu baru kemudian mewujudkan perubahan. Mereka tidak bersembunyi di menara gading melainkan hadir di tengah masyarakat. Mereka rela berkorban. Mereka memiliki pendirian teguh dan standar etika yang tinggi. Mereka juga para komunikator yang ulung akan pemikirannya. Mereka tekun membangun kapasitas kepemimpinannya dengan menghadapi kesulitan demi kesulitan. Mereka mengambil tanggung jawab untuk berperan semaksimal mungkin semasa hidupnya. Dan dengan menjalani hal-hal antara lain demikianlah, maka secara alamiah para informal leaders akan dapat bertransformasi menjadi para world class leaders. Kepemimpinan yang telah mereka bangunpun menjadi lebih lengkap saat mereka pada akhirnya mengemban amanat sebagai pemimpin formal di masyarakat. Hal yang kemudian membuat kisah kepemimpinan mereka menjadi inspirasi sepanjang zaman. Meminjam istilah Paulo Coelho dalam karyanya The Alchemist, mereka telah menuliskan legenda pribadinya sebagai karya dan teladan yang amat bernilai bagi generasi sesudahnya.
Walaupun memang tak dapat dipungkiri bahwa kepemimpinan itu sendiri bersifat kontekstual, sehingga pemimpin yang dibutuhkan sebuah organisasi politik akan berbeda dengan organisasi pendidikan, keagamaan, bisnis, militer, kelompok tani, para artis, atau bahkan organisasi mafia, namun sifat dasar kepemimpinan tidaklah jauh berbeda satu dengan yang lainnya. Masyarakat manapun senantiasa membutuhkan sosok pemimpin dan panutan, terlebih lagi dalam menghadapi masa-masa sulit.
Kepemimpinan juga merupakan key success factor dari proses perubahan yang besar. Para pengikutpun akan dengan sukarela mendukung terjadinya suatu perubahan mengikuti kepemimpinan yang kuat. Hal mana yang keberhasilan pengembangannya dalam tinjauan para ahli di berbagai institusi terkemuka, antara lain Harvard University atau McKinsey Inc., tidaklah dibedakan oleh faktor jenis kelamin, IQ, status sosial ekonomi, agama, ataupun ras seseorang. Kepemimpinan yang kuat dapat dijalankan oleh semua orang baik mereka yang berkepribadian ekstrovert maupun introvert.
Kepemimpinan yang kuat pula akan dapat mengendalikan jalannya sistem. Walau tengah berada di dalam sistem yang sudah terbangun secara buruk sekalipun, seorang pemimpin yang kuat tidak akan dengan mudah untuk dapat terpengaruh. Begitupun sebaliknya, seberapapun bagusnya sebuah sistem dalam berbagai bentuk peraturan dan kebijakan yang berfungsi sebagai enabler di masyarakat, jika berada di tangan pemimpin yang tidak kuat, hanyalah merupakan kesia-siaan belaka. Betapa banyak produk UU yang dimiliki oleh suatu negara, namun tak kunjung terasa manfaatnya oleh rakyat bila tak dijalankan dengan sungguh-sungguh oleh mereka yang berwenang.
Sedang di tingkat perusahaan seringkali pula kita dengar, bahwa perencanaan strategis yang sangat baik haruslah diikuti dengan eksekusi terhadap pelaksanaannya, yang tak lain adalah kepemimpinan. Bahkan tak jarang pula kita amati bahwa seiring pergantian kepemimpinan, para pengikut kadang kala merindukan sosok pemimpinnya yang terdahulu, karena pemimpin yang saat ini sedang menjabat kurang terasa kepemimpinannya, walaupun dalam hal ini tak ada perubahan aturan main sama sekali. Hal ini tak lain dikarenakan setiap orang memiliki ciri khas kepemimpinannya masing-masing yang memberi dampak dan jejak berbeda kepada para pengikutnya.
Kepemimpinan adalah driver dari sebuah proses perubahan. Kepemimpinanlah yang mampu mengubah zaman jahiliyah menjadi peradaban madaniyah dalam sejarah penyebaran agama. Kepemimpinanlah yang menjadi kunci bagi terciptanya perdamaian atau peperangan dunia. Kepemimpinanlah pula yang dapat menentukan masa depan negara serta organisasi manapun. Dan kepemimpinan pulalah yang mampu menyukseskan penyelamatan fenomenal 33 penambang Chile pertengahan Oktober lalu, baik dari para penambang itu sendiri maupun para tim penyelamat.
Pada hakikatnya, kita semua merupakan pemimpin di muka bumi ini. Sembari terutama saya mengingatkan diri saya sendiri, apapun profesi, job title, serta kesibukan kita sehari-hari saat ini, marilah kita jalankan kepemimpinan kita di semua tingkat kehidupan secara maksimal dan dengan sebaik-baiknya. Apalagi, jika secara struktural formal saat ini diri kita merupakan pimpinan yang menjadi tumpuan harapan bagi begitu banyak orang. Sungguh, tiada seorang pun yang tahu kapan 'saat' yang telah ditentukan itu akan tiba. Namun semoga, jikalau esok pun adalah waktunya, kita tak menyimpan sesal dan berserah dengan kelapangan jiwa. Kepemimpinan kita, hidup kita, adalah sebuah legenda.
*) Dedy Irawan, pemerhati manajemen, tinggal di Jakarta. Memiliki pengalaman profesional di Accor, Arbe, AstraZeneca, Recapital.
Fine Art in Photography, the art of seeing
Two of the most frustrated trades are dentists and photographers - dentists because they want to be doctors, and photographers because they want to be painters. Picasso
Actually, I'm not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I'm not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren't cooks. Henri Cartier Bresson
I trust pictures, but no pictures made in my world - because I know what goes on. Naomi Campbell
Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art. Susan Sontag
Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art. Ansel Adams
I paint when I cannot photograph. Man Ray
In every photographer there was a painter, a true artist, awaiting expression. Pablo Picasso
If it is practiced by a man of taste, the photograph will have the appearance of art (but) the photographer must... intervene as little as possible, so as not...to lose the objective charm which it naturally possesses. Henri Matisse
Friday, October 29, 2010
Your character is the sum of all the qualities that make you who you are
It’s your values, your thoughts, your words, your actions
in other words, it’s YOU.
Character is the product of daily, hourly actions, and words, and thoughts; daily forgivenesses, unselfishness, kindnesses, sympathies, charities, sacrifices for the good of others, struggles against temptation, submissiveness under trial. Oh, it is these, like the blending colors in a picture, or the blending notes of music, which constitute the man. Macduff
I have learned by experience that no man's character can be eventually injured but by his own acts. Hill
Man can have strength of character only as he is capable of controlling his faculties; of choosing a rational end; and, in its pursuit, of holding fast to his integrity against al! the might of external nature. Hopkins
If you lose money, you lose nothing, If you lose time, you lose some thing, If you lose character you lose every thing. Swami
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Keller
I believe people who are in a position of visibility and leadership affect the character of young people and individuals who look to them as leaders. And in some respects, just as important as their policies and positions is their character and their substance. What for me makes people like Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt and John Adams and George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan such extraordinary leaders is that they had integrity through and through. What they were on the inside and what they said on the outside was harmonious. There a lot of people like that. I think that if people try to live a very different personal life not consistent with the role they’ve assumed as a governor or senator or president, we lose something as a nation. Romney
"Knowledge will give you power, but character, respect." B.Lee
"Das Gesicht ist das Protokoll des Charakters." Weber
"Alle Charaktere sind aus denselben Elementen zusammengesetzt; nur die Proportionen machen den Unterschied aus." Jouffroy
"Die Basis des Charakters ist die Willenskraft." Wilde
“Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.” Goethe
"Un vero carattere riesce sempre a emergere nei grandi momenti." Napoleon
Gefühl: Freude, Angst, Liebe, Hass, Ziel, Traum, Wut, Ärger, Verachtung, Frucht, Interesse-Neugier, Überraschung, Ekel, Traurigkeit, Scham und Schuld
im Sinne von „vager Ahnung“ eine Eingebung bzw. Intuition
im Sinne von „ein Gefühl für etwas haben“ eine Fähigkeit bzw. Kompetenz
und Kompetenz ins Gesicht geschrieben
Like this resume? Carve my name on your hearts, not on marble
source
more
intregrity
in other words, it’s YOU.
Character is the product of daily, hourly actions, and words, and thoughts; daily forgivenesses, unselfishness, kindnesses, sympathies, charities, sacrifices for the good of others, struggles against temptation, submissiveness under trial. Oh, it is these, like the blending colors in a picture, or the blending notes of music, which constitute the man. Macduff
I have learned by experience that no man's character can be eventually injured but by his own acts. Hill
Man can have strength of character only as he is capable of controlling his faculties; of choosing a rational end; and, in its pursuit, of holding fast to his integrity against al! the might of external nature. Hopkins
If you lose money, you lose nothing, If you lose time, you lose some thing, If you lose character you lose every thing. Swami
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Keller
I believe people who are in a position of visibility and leadership affect the character of young people and individuals who look to them as leaders. And in some respects, just as important as their policies and positions is their character and their substance. What for me makes people like Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt and John Adams and George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan such extraordinary leaders is that they had integrity through and through. What they were on the inside and what they said on the outside was harmonious. There a lot of people like that. I think that if people try to live a very different personal life not consistent with the role they’ve assumed as a governor or senator or president, we lose something as a nation. Romney
"Knowledge will give you power, but character, respect." B.Lee
"Das Gesicht ist das Protokoll des Charakters." Weber
"Alle Charaktere sind aus denselben Elementen zusammengesetzt; nur die Proportionen machen den Unterschied aus." Jouffroy
"Die Basis des Charakters ist die Willenskraft." Wilde
“Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.” Goethe
"Un vero carattere riesce sempre a emergere nei grandi momenti." Napoleon
Gefühl: Freude, Angst, Liebe, Hass, Ziel, Traum, Wut, Ärger, Verachtung, Frucht, Interesse-Neugier, Überraschung, Ekel, Traurigkeit, Scham und Schuld
im Sinne von „vager Ahnung“ eine Eingebung bzw. Intuition
im Sinne von „ein Gefühl für etwas haben“ eine Fähigkeit bzw. Kompetenz
und Kompetenz ins Gesicht geschrieben
Like this resume? Carve my name on your hearts, not on marble
source
more
intregrity
Monday, October 25, 2010
Brain-Soul Communication
The godless society’s motto is ‘work and pLay', while the motto of the god-conscious society is, ‘work and pRay’ "!
No worldly anxieties upset the satisfied soul. The Ultimate Success is not in amassing fortunes, being famous or having a fantastic career, but success is in escaping the fires of hell.
The real journey of the soul from the earth to heaven where it meets its Lord, the Creator.
LET'S PREPARE!
www.missionislam.com
No worldly anxieties upset the satisfied soul. The Ultimate Success is not in amassing fortunes, being famous or having a fantastic career, but success is in escaping the fires of hell.
The real journey of the soul from the earth to heaven where it meets its Lord, the Creator.
LET'S PREPARE!
www.missionislam.com
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Tell me about yourself from theladder.com
You know it’s coming.
It’s the most feared question during any job interview: Do you think I would look good in a cowboy hat?
Just kidding. The real question is: Can you tell me about yourself?
Blecch. What a boring, vague, open-ended question. Who likes answering that?
I know. I’m with you. But unfortunately, hiring managers and executive recruiters ask the question. Even if you’re not interviewing and you’re out networking in the community — you need to be ready to hear it and answer it. At all times.
Now, before I share a list of 10 memorable answers, consider the two essential elements behind the answers:
The medium is the message. The interviewer cares less about your answer to this question and more about the confidence, enthusiasm and passion with which you answer it.
The speed of the response is the response. The biggest mistake you could make is pausing, stalling or fumbling at the onset of your answer, thus demonstrating a lack of self-awareness and self-esteem.
Next time you’re faced with the dreaded, “Tell me about yourself…” question, try these:
Ultimately it’s about answering quickly, it’s about speaking creatively and it’s about breaking people’s patterns.
I understand your fear with such answers. Responses like these are risky, unexpected and unorthodox. And that’s exactly why they work.
Otherwise you become (yet another) non-entity in the gray mass of blah, blah, blah.
You’re hireable because of your answers. When people ask you to tell them about yourself, make them glad they asked.
Let me ask you this: How much time did you dedicate this week to becoming more interesting?
It’s the most feared question during any job interview: Do you think I would look good in a cowboy hat?
Just kidding. The real question is: Can you tell me about yourself?
Blecch. What a boring, vague, open-ended question. Who likes answering that?
I know. I’m with you. But unfortunately, hiring managers and executive recruiters ask the question. Even if you’re not interviewing and you’re out networking in the community — you need to be ready to hear it and answer it. At all times.
Now, before I share a list of 10 memorable answers, consider the two essential elements behind the answers:
The medium is the message. The interviewer cares less about your answer to this question and more about the confidence, enthusiasm and passion with which you answer it.
The speed of the response is the response. The biggest mistake you could make is pausing, stalling or fumbling at the onset of your answer, thus demonstrating a lack of self-awareness and self-esteem.
Next time you’re faced with the dreaded, “Tell me about yourself…” question, try these:
- “I can summarize who I am in three words.” Grabs their attention immediately. Demonstrates your ability to be concise, creative and compelling.
- “The quotation I live my life by is…” Proves that personal development is an essential part of your growth plan. Also shows your ability to motivate yourself.
- “My personal philosophy is…” Companies hire athletes – not shortstops. This line indicates your position as a thinker, not just an employee.
- “People who know me best say that I’m…” This response offers insight into your own level of self-awareness.
- “Well, I googled myself this morning, and here’s what I found…” Tech-savvy, fun, cool people would say this. Unexpected and memorable.
- “My passion is…” People don’t care what you do – people care who you are. And what you’re passionate about is who you are. Plus, passion unearths enthusiasm.
- “When I was seven years old, I always wanted to be…” An answer like this shows that you’ve been preparing for this job your whole life, not just the night before.
- “If Hollywood made a move about my life, it would be called…” Engaging, interesting and entertaining.
- “Can I show you, instead of tell you?” Then, pull something out of your pocket that represents who you are. Who could resist this answer? Who could forget this answer?
- “The compliment people give me most frequently is…” Almost like a testimonial, this response also indicates self-awareness and openness to feedback.
Ultimately it’s about answering quickly, it’s about speaking creatively and it’s about breaking people’s patterns.
I understand your fear with such answers. Responses like these are risky, unexpected and unorthodox. And that’s exactly why they work.
Otherwise you become (yet another) non-entity in the gray mass of blah, blah, blah.
You’re hireable because of your answers. When people ask you to tell them about yourself, make them glad they asked.
Let me ask you this: How much time did you dedicate this week to becoming more interesting?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
When Is a Doctor Too Old? Or Too Young?
Look closely at the top of your doctor's head the next time you get a chance. Do those odd gray hairs worry you at all? Do they speak to you of wisdom and experience? Or do they remind you it may be time to leave the old fool for a source of more up-to-date care?
In Britain, the National Health Service imposes draconian limitations on physicians wishing to work after age 65, and essentially forbids work after 70. The policy is clearly intended to guard the population from doddering idiots, but some may argue it squanders the best talents instead.
We know all about dog-years and cat-years. No expert yet has come up with an estimate for doctor-years. How old do doctors really become, after 10 years in practice, or 50? Can we safely drag wrinkled, elderly frames around like tortoises, knowing that at work we are relatively immortal? Or should we retire while still chronologically young but, in doctor-years, obsolesced beyond repair?
I once had two colleagues who graduated from medical school over 40 years apart. The young one was fresh out of training, the old one heading for retirement. Watching the two of them at work was one of the best possible lessons in the passage of medical time.
The old doctor had taken care of some patients for decades. The intermittent half-hours they spent together had coalesced over the years into tight, loyal partnerships.
The young one had never taken care of a patient for more than a couple of years before saying goodbye and moving on.
The old doctor had learned medicine from a set of principles that were almost antique, as the drugs and tests of successive decades were replaced by newer, better models.
The young one was fully versed in the newest tests and drugs, and had only a passing acquaintance with the historic standbys.
The old doctor, although reasonably conversant with computers, was a hesitant typist who preferred paper charts, prescriptions, textbooks and journals to computerized medical records and cyberliterature.
The young doctor played the computer keyboard like an organist at a Wurlitzer. Doctor and patient often plumbed the Internet for information together. Patients could take home freshly printed data analyses to study for themselves.
So which one of these doctors did the better job? As far as I was concerned, they were in a dead heat.
The old doctor, warm and informal, loved many long-term patients deeply, sometimes to the extent of forgetting they were patients, not friends. Just as you might avoid mentioning a friend's weight problem, drinking habits or bad breath, delicate issues were sometimes let slide in a culpably unprofessional way.
The young doctor never let anything slide. Still, the atmosphere in that office was formal and more than a little chilly. Nothing smoothes the rough edges of medical care like some mutual affection - a lesson the young doctor had yet to learn.
The old doctor used tests and medications fluently - up to a point. Some of doctor's habits were admittedly outmoded. Still, the years had left behind a certain supple flexibility of practice: after witnessing enough changing fashions in medical care, a doctor generally learns that most "best practices" are evanescent.
The young doctor chose tests and treatments based on the premise that there was a single right way to do things. That doctor had yet to learn that absolute trust in any drug or treatment is often a major mistake.
The old doctor stored important details about patients in memory, and nowhere else. The doctor's hesitantly typed notes recording office visits were brief and old-fashioned - a few sentences at most, difficult for anyone else to interpret.
The young doctor remembered little about each patient from visit to visit, but typed volumes, and was a big fan of medical software that supplies preformed phrases, sentences and paragraphs - the results of an entire physical exam, for instance - at the click of the mouse. Sometimes the mouse clicked just a little too quickly and erroneous information crept into the charts.
Insurance reviewers occasionally confused the old doctor's terse notes with incompetence. Patients occasionally complained bitterly about the young doctor, deploring that habit of pounding the computer keyboard for the duration of their visit and never once looking them in the eye. Both doctors, learning of these misunderstandings, were mortified and furious. Colleagues who had to wade through charts belonging to either one just tore their hair.
In some ways, the young pup was much too young for the work, and the old dog much too old. In other ways, each was just right, and would never be better.
Does the practice of medicine have a natural life span? Every doctor, every patient (and every insurer) would probably answer differently.Abigail Zuker M.D.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Managing vs Leading
Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing
is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about
systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is
about trust — about people.
source
is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about
systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is
about trust — about people.
source
Friday, July 9, 2010
Know the difference between being smart and knowledgeable
If you are smart, mentally, your mind works very well and is sharp. For an example, you have a great memory or you learn quickly.
If you are knowledgeable, you are well-educated, and you know a lot.
Are you both or just one?
If you are knowledgeable, you are well-educated, and you know a lot.
Are you both or just one?
Monday, July 5, 2010
Let's turn the joy of reading to a desire to write
Every author, of course, has a "beginning".
Robert Ludlum
The only way to learn to write is to write, and keep doing it until you get it damm right.
Tom Clancy
Robert Ludlum
The only way to learn to write is to write, and keep doing it until you get it damm right.
Tom Clancy
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Knowledge Is Not Power, Knowledge Properly Applied Is Power
Just like a hammer means nothing until someone lifts it and smacks a nail with it, knowledge is not powerful until it is used and applied.
And if you are able to find people that believe in you, cherish them as much as you possibly can and take the time to thank them for having faith in you. Having someone look you in the eyes and tell you that they believe in you is one of the most encouraging experience for any human being.
-wanna add fuel to the fire through my writing-
And if you are able to find people that believe in you, cherish them as much as you possibly can and take the time to thank them for having faith in you. Having someone look you in the eyes and tell you that they believe in you is one of the most encouraging experience for any human being.
-wanna add fuel to the fire through my writing-
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Nur Mut!
"Was immer du tun kannst, oder träumst es tun zu können, fang damit an!! Mut hat Genie, Kraft und Zauber in sich" (Goethe)
Apa pun yang dapat kau lakukan atau impikan, Mulailah. Dalam keberanian terdapat kecerdasan, kekuatan dan keajaiban. Mulailah sekarang!
Apa pun yang dapat kau lakukan atau impikan, Mulailah. Dalam keberanian terdapat kecerdasan, kekuatan dan keajaiban. Mulailah sekarang!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sometimes in life you get lucky
If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you give him a fishing rod, you feed him for a lifetime.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Fischerism
- A doctor must work eighteen hours a day and seven days a week. If you cannot console yourself to this, get out of the profession.
- A good teacher must know the rules; a good pupil, the exceptions.
- Diagnosis is not the end, but the beginning of practice.
- Don't despise empiric truth. Lots of things work in practice for which the laboratory has never found proof.
- Facts are not science — as the dictionary is not literature.
- Here's good advice for practice: go into partnership with nature; she does more than half the work and asks none of the fee.
- The great doctors all got their education off dirt pavements and poverty — not marble floors and foundations.
- The specialist is a man who fears other subjects.
- None of the great discoveries was made by a "specialist" or a "researcher".
- Research has been called good business, a necessity, a gamble, a game. It is none of these — it's a state of mind.
- When a man lacks mental balance in pneumonia he is said to be delirious. When he lacks mental balance without the pneumonia, he is pronounced insane by all smart doctors.
- Whenever ideas fail, men invent words.
- I find four great classes of students: The dumb who stay dumb. The dumb who become wise. The wise who go dumb. The wise who remain wise.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Children have rights
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. It sets forth a wide range of provisions that encompass civil rights and freedoms, family environment, basic health and welfare, education, leisure and cultural activities and special protection measures.
The Convention has several "foundation principles" that underpin all other children's rights. These include: non-discrimination; best interests of the child; right to survival and development; and views of the child.
Non-discrimination means that all children have the same right to develop their potential -- all children, in all situations, all of the time, everywhere.
The best interests of the child must be "a primary consideration" in all actions and decisions concerning her or him, and must be used to resolve confusion between different rights.
The right to survival and development underscores the vital importance of ensuring access to basic services and to equity of opportunity for children to achieve their full development.
The views of the child means that the voice of children must be heard and respected in all matters concerning their rights. Countries must promote children's active, free and meaningful participation in decision-making that affects them.
The CRC has been ratified by over 190 countries since it was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in November 1989. Ratification commits countries to a code of binding obligations towards their children. Thanks to the CRC, child rights are now at the cutting edge of the global struggle for human rights, to be ensured by adult society as a matter of legal obligation, moral imperative and development priority. In the years since the CRC was adopted, the world has seen dramatic gains for children.
However, children's rights are intimately tied to those of women. Realizing the rights and equality of women is not only a core development goal in itself, but it is also the key to the survival and development of children and to building healthy families, communities and nations. Discrimination against women hurts both women and the next generation of children, boys and girls alike. Starting even before birth, a child's health and development prospects are closely linked with the mother's health and socio-economic status. Women are, moreover, the primary care-givers for children. Resources put in the hands of women are more likely to be used to benefit children. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (external link) deals with countries' obligations to enact appropriate legislation, administrative and other measures, with the aim of achieving equality between men and women in all spheres of public and private life, including the family.
Source:Unicef
Thursday, May 20, 2010
In Every Patient Tells a Story
The experience of being ill can be like waking up in a foreign country. Life, as you formerly knew it, is on hold while you travel through this other world as unknown as it is unexpected. When I see patients in the hospital or in my office who are suddenly, surprisingly ill, what they really want to know is, What is wrong with me? They want a road map that will help them manage their new surroundings. The ability to give this unnerving and unfamiliar place a name, to know it on some level, restores a measure of control, independent of whether or not that diagnosis comes attached to a cure. Because, even today, a diagnosis is frequently all a good doctor has to offer. A healthy young man suddenly loses his memory, making him unable to remember the events of each passing hour. Two patients diagnosed with Lyme disease improve after antibiotic treatment, only to have their symptoms mysteriously return. A young woman lies dying in the ICU, bleeding, jaundiced, incoherent, and none of her doctors know what is killing her.
Lisa Sanders, MD
The doctor behind the "House"
Lisa Sanders, MD
The doctor behind the "House"
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Open your mind and see the world in a new way
I graduated from college just three years ago, so the confusion and anxiety I felt after graduating college is still quite fresh in my mind. I moved out of my parents' house a week after graduation and started at my new job, and since then I have learned a lot of things about the "real world". Here are some of my best advice for new graduates who are transitioning from the safe structured environment of school to a seemingly infinitely larger world.
Learn to manage your money - It does not matter how much money you rake in if you do not know how to manage it and make it grow. You can learn about personal finance by going to the library or reading the great personal finance blogs such as this one. Everyone has a different money management style, but the bottom line I adhere to is to not spend more than I can afford. Basically, live below your means and you will always have something to fall back on.
Work towards financial independence - I would have said "save for retirement now", but when I heard the word retirement at age 22 I figured it was 40 years away and I had plenty time to prepare. Now I know that I do not want to plod along for another 40 years , but I want to be financially free much sooner. I am sure most of you do not want to be bossed around for another 40 to 45 years, so mark the date you will be free and work towards it by saving, investing, or building a business.
Explore the world around you - I wish that I had taken a year off after graduating and just traveled around the world. In the last three years I did have the opportunity to go to remote areas of Southern China, and I was amazed by how diverse my own country is. I truly believe that traveling and seeing how others live give you perspective and insight into how to live your life. Once you are settled down with young children it would not be as easy to run away to the end of the world for a long time. You do not need too much money to explore and travel. For example, David DeFranza wrote a great article about exploring your own world by walking .
Keep in touch - Since graduating many of my best friends have scattered around the world. It is tough to keep track of everyone, but a few emails and an occassional phone call keep us in contact with each other so when there are times we could see each other again we can meet up. I think keeping friends is always better than losing them.
Build new relationships - I think many new college graduates feel the pain of loneliness when they leave school and move into a place far away from friends and family. Like I said before, most of my old friends are no longer near by. So this is a great time to build new relationships. I found a couple roommates when I just graduated so I would not be so lonely. Then I joined a great church and found new friends. Making friends is not as easy when you get out of school, but it is possible, and somewhat essential for your sanity.
Never stop learning - School is out, but there is a lifetime of learning ahead of you. Now you can take the art class you never had time for in college or you could read about the newest web technologies. You can learn just about anything you want without worrying about tests and grades and you can Learn from everyone and everything around you. With the wonders of the internet, you can even follow along courses from some of the top universities in the world .
Stay active - When I was in school I walked everywhere and took physical education classes to stay active, but now I am working and my lifestyle has become extremely sedentary. It is important to stay fit and be healthy because whatever you produce and earn comes from your body and mind. Staying healthy lets you enjoy life much more and you can save money on healthcare in the long run.
Always be on the lookout for better opportunities - Face it, for most of us, our first jobs are not our dream jobs . So do not be afraid to move on to a better opportunity. Usually the better opportunities do not just fall into your lap, so it does not hurt to constantly search for what you really want to do. If you want to be your own boss, quitting a crappy job and starting your own business is a lot easier when you are young and do not have to support others with your income.
Talk to your parents - Both my husband and I found that after college our relationships with our parents got a lot better since we became independent from them. Our teenage angst was all gone and now we know that our parents are probably our best allies in life. I know every family is different, but the time after college is a great time to show your maturity to your parents or former guardians. Talk to them as adults, and ask to be treated like an adult if they do not do so already, and your relationships may improve.
Give back - I think all of us have a human duty to give back to the world and make it a better place to live for everyone. You do not necessarily have to donate large amounts of money to charities, but you could do small things like planting a tree, or even save energy. Every small gesture that benefits the environment and others will also benefit you and your children.
Finally, do not be discouraged if these years right after graduation are difficult and you feel like you are in a crisis. It is normal to feel bewildered by a completely different lifestyle. You are young, and you have time to figure out what makes you happy and what works for you. Have fun, and never give up on improving your life and yourself.
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD
wisebread.com
Learn to manage your money - It does not matter how much money you rake in if you do not know how to manage it and make it grow. You can learn about personal finance by going to the library or reading the great personal finance blogs such as this one. Everyone has a different money management style, but the bottom line I adhere to is to not spend more than I can afford. Basically, live below your means and you will always have something to fall back on.
Work towards financial independence - I would have said "save for retirement now", but when I heard the word retirement at age 22 I figured it was 40 years away and I had plenty time to prepare. Now I know that I do not want to plod along for another 40 years , but I want to be financially free much sooner. I am sure most of you do not want to be bossed around for another 40 to 45 years, so mark the date you will be free and work towards it by saving, investing, or building a business.
Explore the world around you - I wish that I had taken a year off after graduating and just traveled around the world. In the last three years I did have the opportunity to go to remote areas of Southern China, and I was amazed by how diverse my own country is. I truly believe that traveling and seeing how others live give you perspective and insight into how to live your life. Once you are settled down with young children it would not be as easy to run away to the end of the world for a long time. You do not need too much money to explore and travel. For example, David DeFranza wrote a great article about exploring your own world by walking .
Keep in touch - Since graduating many of my best friends have scattered around the world. It is tough to keep track of everyone, but a few emails and an occassional phone call keep us in contact with each other so when there are times we could see each other again we can meet up. I think keeping friends is always better than losing them.
Build new relationships - I think many new college graduates feel the pain of loneliness when they leave school and move into a place far away from friends and family. Like I said before, most of my old friends are no longer near by. So this is a great time to build new relationships. I found a couple roommates when I just graduated so I would not be so lonely. Then I joined a great church and found new friends. Making friends is not as easy when you get out of school, but it is possible, and somewhat essential for your sanity.
Never stop learning - School is out, but there is a lifetime of learning ahead of you. Now you can take the art class you never had time for in college or you could read about the newest web technologies. You can learn just about anything you want without worrying about tests and grades and you can Learn from everyone and everything around you. With the wonders of the internet, you can even follow along courses from some of the top universities in the world .
Stay active - When I was in school I walked everywhere and took physical education classes to stay active, but now I am working and my lifestyle has become extremely sedentary. It is important to stay fit and be healthy because whatever you produce and earn comes from your body and mind. Staying healthy lets you enjoy life much more and you can save money on healthcare in the long run.
Always be on the lookout for better opportunities - Face it, for most of us, our first jobs are not our dream jobs . So do not be afraid to move on to a better opportunity. Usually the better opportunities do not just fall into your lap, so it does not hurt to constantly search for what you really want to do. If you want to be your own boss, quitting a crappy job and starting your own business is a lot easier when you are young and do not have to support others with your income.
Talk to your parents - Both my husband and I found that after college our relationships with our parents got a lot better since we became independent from them. Our teenage angst was all gone and now we know that our parents are probably our best allies in life. I know every family is different, but the time after college is a great time to show your maturity to your parents or former guardians. Talk to them as adults, and ask to be treated like an adult if they do not do so already, and your relationships may improve.
Give back - I think all of us have a human duty to give back to the world and make it a better place to live for everyone. You do not necessarily have to donate large amounts of money to charities, but you could do small things like planting a tree, or even save energy. Every small gesture that benefits the environment and others will also benefit you and your children.
Finally, do not be discouraged if these years right after graduation are difficult and you feel like you are in a crisis. It is normal to feel bewildered by a completely different lifestyle. You are young, and you have time to figure out what makes you happy and what works for you. Have fun, and never give up on improving your life and yourself.
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD
wisebread.com
Monday, May 10, 2010
The world belongs to the brave
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." --Mark Twain
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The best physician is also a philosopher.
To be great, a surgeon must have a fierce determination to be the leader in his field. He must have a driving ego, a hunger beyond money. He must have a passion for perfectionism. He is like the actor who wants his name in lights.
The superior doctor prevents sickness; The mediocre doctor attends to impending sickness; The inferior doctor treats actual sickness.
The person most often late for a doctor's appointment is the doctor himself.
Physicians are rather like undescended testicles, they are difficult to locate and when they are found, they are pretty ineffective.
Often the confidence of the patient in his physician does more for the cure of his disease than the physician with all his remedies.
No physician is really good before he has killed one or two patients.
No physician is really good before he has killed one or two patients.
Medicine is a science, acquiring a practice an art.
Life is short, the Art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult. The physician must be ready, not only to do his duty himself, but also to secure the co-operation of the patient, of the attendants and of externals.
Let the young know they will never find a more interesting, more instructive book than the patient himself.
It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class.
If popular medicine gave the people wisdom as well as knowledge, it would be the best protection for scientific and well-trained physicians.
I wondher why ye can always read a doctor's bill an' ye niver can read his purscription.
Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you, too.
A physician is someone who knows everything and does nothing.
A surgeon is someone who does everything and knows nothing.
A psychiatrist is someone who knows nothing and does nothing.
A pathologist is someone who knows everything and does everything too late.
A physician is an unfortunate gentleman who is every day required to perform a miracle; namely to reconcile health with intemperance.
A doctor is the only man who can suffer from good health.
I don't dawdle. I'm a surgeon. I make an incision, do what needs to be done and sew up the wound. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The superior doctor prevents sickness; The mediocre doctor attends to impending sickness; The inferior doctor treats actual sickness.
The person most often late for a doctor's appointment is the doctor himself.
Physicians are rather like undescended testicles, they are difficult to locate and when they are found, they are pretty ineffective.
Often the confidence of the patient in his physician does more for the cure of his disease than the physician with all his remedies.
No physician is really good before he has killed one or two patients.
No physician is really good before he has killed one or two patients.
Medicine is a science, acquiring a practice an art.
Life is short, the Art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult. The physician must be ready, not only to do his duty himself, but also to secure the co-operation of the patient, of the attendants and of externals.
Let the young know they will never find a more interesting, more instructive book than the patient himself.
It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class.
If popular medicine gave the people wisdom as well as knowledge, it would be the best protection for scientific and well-trained physicians.
I wondher why ye can always read a doctor's bill an' ye niver can read his purscription.
Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you, too.
A physician is someone who knows everything and does nothing.
A surgeon is someone who does everything and knows nothing.
A psychiatrist is someone who knows nothing and does nothing.
A pathologist is someone who knows everything and does everything too late.
A physician is an unfortunate gentleman who is every day required to perform a miracle; namely to reconcile health with intemperance.
A doctor is the only man who can suffer from good health.
I don't dawdle. I'm a surgeon. I make an incision, do what needs to be done and sew up the wound. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Another side of me
Quisera ser | I would love to be ...
Spanish pop music includes romance, excitement and has some amazing Spanish singers. When I watch music programs on Spanish TV I'm totally in awe at the maturity of the singers voices and their style of delivery. They will fill your heart with joy and their music scene is one of the best in Europe.
http://lyricstranslate.com/de/Alejandro-Sanz-lyrics.html
http://www.valencia-tourist-travel-guide.com/music-of-spain.html
and if you want more
Spanish pop music includes romance, excitement and has some amazing Spanish singers. When I watch music programs on Spanish TV I'm totally in awe at the maturity of the singers voices and their style of delivery. They will fill your heart with joy and their music scene is one of the best in Europe.
http://lyricstranslate.com/de/Alejandro-Sanz-lyrics.html
http://www.valencia-tourist-travel-guide.com/music-of-spain.html
and if you want more
Thursday, April 29, 2010
This life
At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.
-- Barbara Bush
Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use.
-- Ruth Gordon
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
-- Grace Hansen
Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.
-- Author Unknown
Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.
-- Author Unknown
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death.
-- Robert Fulghum
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
-- Katharine Hepburn
Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is.
-- Blaise Pascal
People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.
-- Dalai Lama
The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
-- Allan K. Chalmers
Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.
-- Faith Baldwin
Whoever I am and whatever I am doing, some kind Excellence is within my reach.
-- John W. Gardiner
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.
--Kahlil Gibran
great-inspirational-quotes.com
-- Barbara Bush
Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use.
-- Ruth Gordon
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
-- Grace Hansen
Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.
-- Author Unknown
Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.
-- Author Unknown
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death.
-- Robert Fulghum
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
-- Katharine Hepburn
Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is.
-- Blaise Pascal
People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.
-- Dalai Lama
The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
-- Allan K. Chalmers
Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.
-- Faith Baldwin
Whoever I am and whatever I am doing, some kind Excellence is within my reach.
-- John W. Gardiner
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.
--Kahlil Gibran
great-inspirational-quotes.com
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
if ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection
Hai manusia, kamu dalam keraguan tentang kebangkitan (dari kubur); maka (ketahuilah) sesungguhnya Kami telah menjadikan kamu dari tanah, kemudian dari setetes mani, kemudian dari segumpal darah, kemudian dari seumpal daging yang sempurna kejadiannya dan yang tidak sempurna, agar Kami jelaskan kepadamu dan Kami tetapkan dalam rahim, apa yang Kami kehendaki sampai waktu yang sudah ditentukan, kemudian Kami keluarkan kamu sebagai bayi, kemudian (dengan berangsur-angsur) kamu sampai pada kedewasaan, dan diantara kamu ada yang diwafatkan dan (ada pula) diantara kamu yang dipanjangkan umurnya sampai pikun, supaya dia tidak mengetahui lagi sesuatupunyang dahulunya telah diketahuinya. Dan kamu lihat bumi ini kering, kemudian apabila Kami turunkan air diatasnya, hiduplah bumi itu dan suburlah dan menumbuhkan berbagai macam tumbuh-tumbuhan yang indah (QS. 22:5)
O mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make (it) clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterward We bring you forth as infants, then (give you growth) that ye attain your full strength. And among you there is he who dieth (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life, so that, after knowledge, he knoweth naught. And thou (Muhammad) seest the earth barren, but when We send down water thereon, it doth thrill and swell and put forth every lovely kind (of growth). (QS. 22:5)
O mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make (it) clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterward We bring you forth as infants, then (give you growth) that ye attain your full strength. And among you there is he who dieth (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life, so that, after knowledge, he knoweth naught. And thou (Muhammad) seest the earth barren, but when We send down water thereon, it doth thrill and swell and put forth every lovely kind (of growth). (QS. 22:5)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Happiness associated with deep talk
Happy people spend more time conversing about serious subjects rather than chitchatting about the weather or engaging in other idle banter, a team of researchers has found.
Their study, published in Psychological Science, doesn't purport to prove a cause-and effect relationship between happiness and serious conversation. On the one hand, their report says, happy people may be “social attractors” who facilitate deep social encounters..
"On the other hand, deep conversations may actually make people happier. Just as self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship, deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in the interaction partners. Therefore, our results raise the interesting possibility that happiness can be increased by facilitating substantive conversations," the authors suggest.
There is anecdotal evidence that deep conversations do, in fact, lift the spirits. For example, members of the Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics and Skeptics in Riverside enjoy serious talk about topics such as the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, evolution and politics.
Studies show atheists and agnostics on average have a higher IQ than others. Many have advanced degrees, or are otherwise informed about science and philosophy.
One Riverside atheist commented on joining the Inland Empire Atheists that he was glad to be around people who know what "a priori" means.
Charlene Powell, who organizes the West Side Lunch discussion group for the Inland Empire atheists believes that more meaningful conversations make people happier on many different levels:
"When we discuss more meaningful topics we are telecasting to the world our own deeper worth and meaning," she says.
Gayle Myrna, another IEAA member, notes one of the reasons she joined the group was to engage in intellectual discussions:
“Since then, I have not been disappointed. Our group has a high level of bright people...so the discourses are always engaging, whether or not I always agree with someone's position on a topic.”
She says she finds the discussions "very uplifting."
Dr. Matthias R. Mehl of the University of Arizona and his fellow researchers studied thousands of conversations by 79 undergraduates over a four-day period. They equipped each with a digital recording device that took samples every 12.5 minutes, analyzed the results to determine whether the participants were alone or talking with others and characterized their conversations according to complexity.
The research team found that --- consistent with other research --- people who were happy with their lives were more gregarious and talkative.
“For example, compared with the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent about 25% less time alone and about 70% more time talking.”
Moreover, the happiest also had about one third as much small talk and twice as many substantive conversations as the least happy.
The study " "Eavesdropping on Happiness: Well-being is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations” is available online.
The authors are Matthias R. Mehl, Simine Vazire, and their students, Shannon E. Holleran and C. Shelby Clark. Further research is planned to test the hypothesis that deep conversations engender happiness.
Their findings seem to have been anticipated by a philosopher who lived 2,400 years ago. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates
examiner.com
Their study, published in Psychological Science, doesn't purport to prove a cause-and effect relationship between happiness and serious conversation. On the one hand, their report says, happy people may be “social attractors” who facilitate deep social encounters..
"On the other hand, deep conversations may actually make people happier. Just as self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship, deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in the interaction partners. Therefore, our results raise the interesting possibility that happiness can be increased by facilitating substantive conversations," the authors suggest.
There is anecdotal evidence that deep conversations do, in fact, lift the spirits. For example, members of the Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics and Skeptics in Riverside enjoy serious talk about topics such as the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, evolution and politics.
Studies show atheists and agnostics on average have a higher IQ than others. Many have advanced degrees, or are otherwise informed about science and philosophy.
One Riverside atheist commented on joining the Inland Empire Atheists that he was glad to be around people who know what "a priori" means.
Charlene Powell, who organizes the West Side Lunch discussion group for the Inland Empire atheists believes that more meaningful conversations make people happier on many different levels:
"When we discuss more meaningful topics we are telecasting to the world our own deeper worth and meaning," she says.
Gayle Myrna, another IEAA member, notes one of the reasons she joined the group was to engage in intellectual discussions:
“Since then, I have not been disappointed. Our group has a high level of bright people...so the discourses are always engaging, whether or not I always agree with someone's position on a topic.”
She says she finds the discussions "very uplifting."
Dr. Matthias R. Mehl of the University of Arizona and his fellow researchers studied thousands of conversations by 79 undergraduates over a four-day period. They equipped each with a digital recording device that took samples every 12.5 minutes, analyzed the results to determine whether the participants were alone or talking with others and characterized their conversations according to complexity.
The research team found that --- consistent with other research --- people who were happy with their lives were more gregarious and talkative.
“For example, compared with the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent about 25% less time alone and about 70% more time talking.”
Moreover, the happiest also had about one third as much small talk and twice as many substantive conversations as the least happy.
The study " "Eavesdropping on Happiness: Well-being is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations” is available online.
The authors are Matthias R. Mehl, Simine Vazire, and their students, Shannon E. Holleran and C. Shelby Clark. Further research is planned to test the hypothesis that deep conversations engender happiness.
Their findings seem to have been anticipated by a philosopher who lived 2,400 years ago. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates
examiner.com
Friday, April 16, 2010
Residents are learning a lot of their medicine from the computer
In “The Hostile Hospital,” from the Lemony Snicket “Series of Unfortunate Events” books, the three young orphans at the center of the story visit the fictitious Heimlich Hospital, where Babs, the head of human resources, asks them if they know what the most important work done in a hospital is.“Healing sick people?” one of the children asks innocently.
“You’re wrong,” Babs growls, silencing the children. “The most important thing we do at the hospital,” she continues without flinching, “is paperwork.”
It’s a satirical stab that comes uncomfortably close to the truth.
Paperwork, or documentation, takes up as much as a third of a physician’s workday; and for many practicing doctors, these administrative tasks have become increasingly intolerable, a source of deteriorating professional morale. Having become physicians in order to work with patients, doctors instead find themselves facing piles of charts and encounter and billing forms, as well as the innumerable bureaucratic permutations of dozens of health insurance companies.
But despite the paperwork burden, there are few studies on the amount of time current doctors devote to charting, ordering, filling out forms and dictating. That is, except among one subset of doctors — doctors-in-training, or residents.
According to a study published earlier this year, residents now spend up to twice as much time on documentation as their counterparts did two decades earlier. Analyzing the results of a national survey of over 15,000 trainees in internal medicine, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that a majority of residents reported spending as many as six hours a day documenting, while only a small fraction of residents spent as much time with patients.
In other words, young people who are learning to doctor spend as much time writing, typing or dictating about their patients as they do seeing them.
“Residents are learning a lot of their medicine from the computer,” said Dr. Amy S. Oxentenko, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “That does nothing to foster the relationship with the patient.”
But the increase in paperwork has not only been absolute; it has also been relative. For residents, the sheer volume of administrative tasks they must complete is compounded by the fact that their work hours have decreased while documentation requirements have remained unchanged. “You can only fit so many activities into a day,” Dr. Oxentenko said.
Even though fatigue-related errors might be decreasing as a result of duty hours reform, new types of errors are now on the rise. Residents must make clinical decisions with less time to investigate the complexities of a patient’s symptoms and relatively little information culled from a one-on-one interview. “If you are spending so much time entering a note just because you have to enter a note,” Dr. Oxentenko said, “that’s less time to review that patient’s history, drug interactions, contraindications and the best test to order for that particular patient.”
While the introduction of electronic medical records has increased overall efficiency by allowing access to all of a patient’s previous documents, they have also spawned a whole host of electronic ways of bypassing actual patient contact when doctors are pressed for time. Residents may rely on notes written by other doctors instead of talking to the patients themselves. These other notes may have also been pieced together from previous notes rather than from actual interactions with the patient. As a list, a paragraph or whole sections get pasted into progressively more documents, important information, like a reaction to a certain treatment, can be lost in the transfer. Clinicians who rely mostly on computer notes for their information are at risk of inadvertently choosing the wrong therapeutic course of action for a patient.
A doctor’s note turns into a cut-and-paste collage instead of an accurate and personalized narrative of illness; and documentation becomes an electronic and potentially dangerous version of the game “Telephone.”
In the years ahead, achieving some kind of balance between documentation and patient interaction for physicians-in-training will be an ongoing challenge for doctors and medical educators. But the fundamental question driving these changes will be even more difficult to answer. Doctors and, even more significantly, patients must ask themselves what is the most important thing that young doctors must do with their limited hours of training.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Where do they really learn medicine?’ ” Dr. Oxentenko added. “If it’s with patients, then we have to make sure we preserve that face-to-face time. We have to preserve what is really important in terms of the learning environment because the habits doctors-in-training learn now will become their practice habits long-term.”
source: nytimes.com
“You’re wrong,” Babs growls, silencing the children. “The most important thing we do at the hospital,” she continues without flinching, “is paperwork.”
It’s a satirical stab that comes uncomfortably close to the truth.
Paperwork, or documentation, takes up as much as a third of a physician’s workday; and for many practicing doctors, these administrative tasks have become increasingly intolerable, a source of deteriorating professional morale. Having become physicians in order to work with patients, doctors instead find themselves facing piles of charts and encounter and billing forms, as well as the innumerable bureaucratic permutations of dozens of health insurance companies.
But despite the paperwork burden, there are few studies on the amount of time current doctors devote to charting, ordering, filling out forms and dictating. That is, except among one subset of doctors — doctors-in-training, or residents.
According to a study published earlier this year, residents now spend up to twice as much time on documentation as their counterparts did two decades earlier. Analyzing the results of a national survey of over 15,000 trainees in internal medicine, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that a majority of residents reported spending as many as six hours a day documenting, while only a small fraction of residents spent as much time with patients.
In other words, young people who are learning to doctor spend as much time writing, typing or dictating about their patients as they do seeing them.
“Residents are learning a lot of their medicine from the computer,” said Dr. Amy S. Oxentenko, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “That does nothing to foster the relationship with the patient.”
But the increase in paperwork has not only been absolute; it has also been relative. For residents, the sheer volume of administrative tasks they must complete is compounded by the fact that their work hours have decreased while documentation requirements have remained unchanged. “You can only fit so many activities into a day,” Dr. Oxentenko said.
Even though fatigue-related errors might be decreasing as a result of duty hours reform, new types of errors are now on the rise. Residents must make clinical decisions with less time to investigate the complexities of a patient’s symptoms and relatively little information culled from a one-on-one interview. “If you are spending so much time entering a note just because you have to enter a note,” Dr. Oxentenko said, “that’s less time to review that patient’s history, drug interactions, contraindications and the best test to order for that particular patient.”
While the introduction of electronic medical records has increased overall efficiency by allowing access to all of a patient’s previous documents, they have also spawned a whole host of electronic ways of bypassing actual patient contact when doctors are pressed for time. Residents may rely on notes written by other doctors instead of talking to the patients themselves. These other notes may have also been pieced together from previous notes rather than from actual interactions with the patient. As a list, a paragraph or whole sections get pasted into progressively more documents, important information, like a reaction to a certain treatment, can be lost in the transfer. Clinicians who rely mostly on computer notes for their information are at risk of inadvertently choosing the wrong therapeutic course of action for a patient.
A doctor’s note turns into a cut-and-paste collage instead of an accurate and personalized narrative of illness; and documentation becomes an electronic and potentially dangerous version of the game “Telephone.”
In the years ahead, achieving some kind of balance between documentation and patient interaction for physicians-in-training will be an ongoing challenge for doctors and medical educators. But the fundamental question driving these changes will be even more difficult to answer. Doctors and, even more significantly, patients must ask themselves what is the most important thing that young doctors must do with their limited hours of training.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Where do they really learn medicine?’ ” Dr. Oxentenko added. “If it’s with patients, then we have to make sure we preserve that face-to-face time. We have to preserve what is really important in terms of the learning environment because the habits doctors-in-training learn now will become their practice habits long-term.”
source: nytimes.com
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Wanita yang Lisannya adalah Al Quran
Kisah menakjubkan berikut ini dikisahkan oleh Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak.
Seorang wanita tua duduk di atas sebatang kayu (pohon) dalam perjalanan menunaikan ibadah haji. Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah kebetulan melewati jalan itu. Ia juga hendak menuju ke Baitullah untuk melaksanakan ibadah haji dan mengunjungi makam Nabi shallallahu alaihi wasallam. Melihat seorang wanita yang terlihat khawatir dan kesulitan, ia berkata kepadanya. Pembicaraan tersebut dikisahkan sebagai berikut:
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah):“Assalamu’alaikum warahma-tullah.”
Sang wanita: “(Kepada mereka dikatakan): “Salam”, sebagai ucapan selamat dari Tuhan Yang Maha Penyayang.” (QS Yasin *36+ : 58). Dia bermaksud bahwa jawaban salam adalah dari Allah Ta’ala, Kemudian dia berkata lagi:
“Barangsiapa yang Allah sesatkan , maka baginya tak ada orang yang akan memberi petunjuk.” (QS Al-A’raaf *7+ : 186). Maksudnya dia sedang tersesat.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Darimana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Maha Suci Allah, yang telah memperjalankan hamba-Nya pada suatu malam dari Al Masjidil Haram ke Al Masjidil Aqsha.” (QS al-Israa [17] : 1) Maksudnya dia berasal dari Masjidil Aqsa
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Sudah berapa lama anda disini?”
Sang Wanita: “selama tiga malam: (QS Maryam [19] : 10)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bagaimana engkau makan?”
Sang Wanita: “dan Tuhanku, Yang Dia memberi makan dan minum kepadaku, (QS Asy-Su’ara *26+ : 79)” Maksudnya dengan satu cara atau lainnya, Allah member makan kepadanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Adakah air untuk berwudhu?”
Sang Wanita: “kemudian kamu tidak mendapat air, maka bertayamumlah kamu dengan tanah yang baik (suci).” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 43). Maksudnya dia melakukan tayammum karena tidak menemukan air.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini ada sedikit makanan, ambillah!”
Sang Wanita: “sempurnakanlah puasa itu sampai (datang) malam,” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 187). Dia ingin menunjukkan bahwa dia sendang berpuasa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini bukan bulan Ramadhan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan barangsiapa yang mengerjakan suatu kebajikan dengan kerelaan hati, maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mensyukuri kebaikan lagi Maha Mengetahui.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 156). Maksudnya ia melaksanakan puasa sunnah.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Membatalkan puasa dalam perjalanan diperbolehkan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan berpuasa lebih baik bagimu jika kamu mengetahui.: (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 184)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bicaralah sebagaimana saya berbicara.”
Sang Wanita: “Tiada suatu ucapanpun yang diucapkannya melainkan ada di dekatnya malaikat pengawas yang selalu hadir.” (QS Qaaf [50] : 18). Maksudnya karena setiap perkataan seseorang diawasi dan dicatat, maka dia bersikap hati-hati dengan berbicara hanya dengan kata-kata di dalam Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Dari suku mana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan janganlah kamu mengikuti apa yang kamu tidak mempunyai pengetahuan tentangnya. Sesungguhnya pendengaran, penglihatan dan hati, semuanya itu akan diminta pertanggungan jawabnya.” (QS Al-Israa [17] : 36). Maksudnya bahwa hal-hal yang engkau tidak memiliki pengetahuan tentangnya dan bukan merupakan urusanmu, engkau hanya membuang-buang waktu dengan menanakannya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maaf, saya sungguh telah berbuat kesalahan.”
Sang Wanita: “Pada hari ini tak ada cercaan terhadap kamu, mudah-mudahan Allah
mengampuni (kamu).” (QS Yusuf *12+ : 92)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maukah anda berkendaraan dengan untaku dan menemui kelompokmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan apa yang kamu kerjakan berupa kebaikan, niscaya Allah mengetahuinya.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 197). Maksudnya jika anda berbuat baik kepadakum Allah akan memberikan balasan bagimu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Kalau begitu naiklah.” Lalu beliau menundukkan untanya (yakni membuat untu itu duduk agar dapat dinaiki wanita tersebut, -pnet).
Sang Wanita: “Katakanlah kepada orang laki-laki yang beriman: “Hendaklah mereka menahan pandanganya.” (QS An-Nuur [24] : 30). Hadhraat Adullah memahaminya dan berpaling. Ketika wanita tersebut menaiki unta, unta tersebut menyentak dan pakaian wanita tersebut terlilit di pelana dan dia pun berseru: “Dan apa saja musibah yang menimpa kamu maka adalah disebabkan oleh perbuatan tanganmu sendiri” (QS Asy-Syuura [43] : 30). Dengan kata lain, ia hendak memint aperhatian Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah terhadap kecelakaan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memahaminya dan ia mengikat kaki unta dan meluruskan tali pelana. Wanita tersebut memuji kecekatan dan kemampuannya dengan mengakatan: “maka Kami telah memberikan pengertian kepada Sulaiman” (QS Al-Anbiyaa [21] : 79).
Ketika perjalanan akan dimulai, wanita itu membaca ayat yang dibaca ketika melakukan perjalanan: “Maha Suci Tuhan yang telah menundukkan semua ini bagi kami padahal kami sebelumnya tidak mampu menguasainya, dan sesungguhnya kami akan
kembali kepada Tuhan kami”. (QS Az-zukhruf [43] : 13-14)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memegang tali kekang unta tersebut. Dia mulai menyenandungkan Huddi, nasyid Arab yang terkenal di dalam perjalanan dan dia mulai berjalan dengan cepat.
Sang Wanita: “Dan sederhanalah kamu dalam berjalan dan lunakkanlah suaramu.” (QS Luqma [31] : 19) Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak memahaminya. Dia mulai berjalan lebih lambar dan merendahkan suaranya.
Sang Wanita: “bacalah apa yang mudah (bagimu) dari Al Qur’an.” (QS Al-Muzammil [73[ : 20). Maksudnya, daripada menyenandungkan Huddi, iia sebaiknya membaca Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahima-hullah) mulai membaca Al-Qur’an.
Sang wanita menjadi sangat senang dan berkata: “Dan hanya orang-orang yang berakallah yang dapat mengambil pelajaran (dari firman Allah).” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 269)
Setelah membaca Al-qur’an selama beberapa saat, Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bertanya kepada wanita tersebut jika ia mempunyai suami: “Wahai bibi, apakah anda mempunyai suami?” (maksudnya apakah dia masih hidup)
Sang Wanita: “Hai orang-orang yang beriman, janganlah kamu menanyakan (kepada Nabimu) hal-hal yang jika diterangkan kepadamu akan menyusahkan kamu dan jika kamu menanyakan di waktu Al Qur’an itu diturunkan, niscaya akan diterangkan kepadamu,” Wanita itu bermaksud mengatakan bahwa seharusnya tidak ada perntanyaan mengenai hal tersebut, yang menunjukkan mungkin suamina telah meninggal. Akhirnya mereka pun dapat
menyusul rombangan wanita itu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apakah anda memiliki anak atau kerabat dalam romongan itu yang memiliki hubungan denganmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Harta dan anak-anak adalah perhiasan kehidupan dunia.” Dia bermasud bahwa dia memiliki anak-anak bersama rombongan tersebut dan mereka membawa perbekalan bersamanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apa yang dilakukan oleh anak-anakmu untuk rombongan ini? (Maksud pertanyaan Hadhrat Abdullah adalah untuk memudahkan mengenali anak-anak wanita tersebut).
Sang Wanita: “dan (Dia ciptakan) tanda-tanda (penunjuk jalan). Dan dengan bintang-bintang itulah mereka mendapat petunjuk.” (QS Al-Nahl [16] : 16). Maksudnya bahwa anaknya adalah penunjuk jalan bagi rombongan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bisakah anda mengatakan nama mereka kepadaku?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan Allah mengambil Ibrahim menjadi kesayanganNya.” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 125). “Hai Yahya, ambillah Al Kitab (Taurat) itu.” (QS Maryam *19+ : 12). “Dan Allah telah berbicara kepada Musa dengan langsung .” (QS An-Nisaa [4[ : 164). Dengan membaca ayat-ayat ini, wanita tersebut mengabarkan bahwa nama anak-anaknya adalah Yahya, Ibrahim dan Musa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memanggil nama-nama tersebut dari
romongan itu dan tiga orang anak muda segera mendekat.
Sang Wanita: “Maka suruhlah salah seorang di antara kamu untuk pergi ke kota dengan membawa uang perakmu ini, dan hendaklah dia lihat manakah makanan yang lebih baik, maka hendaklah ia membawa makanan itu untukmu” (QS Al-Kahfi [18] : 19). Dengan kata lain dia memerintahkan anak-anaknya untuk member makan Hadhrat Abdullah.
Ketika makanan telah dibawakan, dia berkata kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “”Makan dan minumlah dengan sedap disebabkan amal yang telah kamu kerjakan pada hari-hari yang telah lalu”. (QS Al-Haaqah [69] : 24), dan bersama ayat tersebut dia membaca ayat lain, maksudnya adalah untuk menunjukan rasa terima kasihnya kepada Hadrath Abdullah atas kebaikannya. Ayat tersebut adalah: “Tidak ada balasan kebaikan kecuali kebaikan (pula).” (QS Ar-Rahmaan [55] : 60)
Percakapan merreka berakhir pada ayat ini. Anak wanita itu mengabarkan kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bahwa ibunya telah berbicara dengan cara seperti itu, yakni hanya menggunakan ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an dalam perkataannya, selama 40 tahun terakhir.
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Seorang wanita tua duduk di atas sebatang kayu (pohon) dalam perjalanan menunaikan ibadah haji. Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah kebetulan melewati jalan itu. Ia juga hendak menuju ke Baitullah untuk melaksanakan ibadah haji dan mengunjungi makam Nabi shallallahu alaihi wasallam. Melihat seorang wanita yang terlihat khawatir dan kesulitan, ia berkata kepadanya. Pembicaraan tersebut dikisahkan sebagai berikut:
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah):“Assalamu’alaikum warahma-tullah.”
Sang wanita: “(Kepada mereka dikatakan): “Salam”, sebagai ucapan selamat dari Tuhan Yang Maha Penyayang.” (QS Yasin *36+ : 58). Dia bermaksud bahwa jawaban salam adalah dari Allah Ta’ala, Kemudian dia berkata lagi:
“Barangsiapa yang Allah sesatkan , maka baginya tak ada orang yang akan memberi petunjuk.” (QS Al-A’raaf *7+ : 186). Maksudnya dia sedang tersesat.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Darimana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Maha Suci Allah, yang telah memperjalankan hamba-Nya pada suatu malam dari Al Masjidil Haram ke Al Masjidil Aqsha.” (QS al-Israa [17] : 1) Maksudnya dia berasal dari Masjidil Aqsa
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Sudah berapa lama anda disini?”
Sang Wanita: “selama tiga malam: (QS Maryam [19] : 10)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bagaimana engkau makan?”
Sang Wanita: “dan Tuhanku, Yang Dia memberi makan dan minum kepadaku, (QS Asy-Su’ara *26+ : 79)” Maksudnya dengan satu cara atau lainnya, Allah member makan kepadanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Adakah air untuk berwudhu?”
Sang Wanita: “kemudian kamu tidak mendapat air, maka bertayamumlah kamu dengan tanah yang baik (suci).” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 43). Maksudnya dia melakukan tayammum karena tidak menemukan air.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini ada sedikit makanan, ambillah!”
Sang Wanita: “sempurnakanlah puasa itu sampai (datang) malam,” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 187). Dia ingin menunjukkan bahwa dia sendang berpuasa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini bukan bulan Ramadhan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan barangsiapa yang mengerjakan suatu kebajikan dengan kerelaan hati, maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mensyukuri kebaikan lagi Maha Mengetahui.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 156). Maksudnya ia melaksanakan puasa sunnah.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Membatalkan puasa dalam perjalanan diperbolehkan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan berpuasa lebih baik bagimu jika kamu mengetahui.: (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 184)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bicaralah sebagaimana saya berbicara.”
Sang Wanita: “Tiada suatu ucapanpun yang diucapkannya melainkan ada di dekatnya malaikat pengawas yang selalu hadir.” (QS Qaaf [50] : 18). Maksudnya karena setiap perkataan seseorang diawasi dan dicatat, maka dia bersikap hati-hati dengan berbicara hanya dengan kata-kata di dalam Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Dari suku mana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan janganlah kamu mengikuti apa yang kamu tidak mempunyai pengetahuan tentangnya. Sesungguhnya pendengaran, penglihatan dan hati, semuanya itu akan diminta pertanggungan jawabnya.” (QS Al-Israa [17] : 36). Maksudnya bahwa hal-hal yang engkau tidak memiliki pengetahuan tentangnya dan bukan merupakan urusanmu, engkau hanya membuang-buang waktu dengan menanakannya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maaf, saya sungguh telah berbuat kesalahan.”
Sang Wanita: “Pada hari ini tak ada cercaan terhadap kamu, mudah-mudahan Allah
mengampuni (kamu).” (QS Yusuf *12+ : 92)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maukah anda berkendaraan dengan untaku dan menemui kelompokmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan apa yang kamu kerjakan berupa kebaikan, niscaya Allah mengetahuinya.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 197). Maksudnya jika anda berbuat baik kepadakum Allah akan memberikan balasan bagimu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Kalau begitu naiklah.” Lalu beliau menundukkan untanya (yakni membuat untu itu duduk agar dapat dinaiki wanita tersebut, -pnet).
Sang Wanita: “Katakanlah kepada orang laki-laki yang beriman: “Hendaklah mereka menahan pandanganya.” (QS An-Nuur [24] : 30). Hadhraat Adullah memahaminya dan berpaling. Ketika wanita tersebut menaiki unta, unta tersebut menyentak dan pakaian wanita tersebut terlilit di pelana dan dia pun berseru: “Dan apa saja musibah yang menimpa kamu maka adalah disebabkan oleh perbuatan tanganmu sendiri” (QS Asy-Syuura [43] : 30). Dengan kata lain, ia hendak memint aperhatian Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah terhadap kecelakaan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memahaminya dan ia mengikat kaki unta dan meluruskan tali pelana. Wanita tersebut memuji kecekatan dan kemampuannya dengan mengakatan: “maka Kami telah memberikan pengertian kepada Sulaiman” (QS Al-Anbiyaa [21] : 79).
Ketika perjalanan akan dimulai, wanita itu membaca ayat yang dibaca ketika melakukan perjalanan: “Maha Suci Tuhan yang telah menundukkan semua ini bagi kami padahal kami sebelumnya tidak mampu menguasainya, dan sesungguhnya kami akan
kembali kepada Tuhan kami”. (QS Az-zukhruf [43] : 13-14)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memegang tali kekang unta tersebut. Dia mulai menyenandungkan Huddi, nasyid Arab yang terkenal di dalam perjalanan dan dia mulai berjalan dengan cepat.
Sang Wanita: “Dan sederhanalah kamu dalam berjalan dan lunakkanlah suaramu.” (QS Luqma [31] : 19) Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak memahaminya. Dia mulai berjalan lebih lambar dan merendahkan suaranya.
Sang Wanita: “bacalah apa yang mudah (bagimu) dari Al Qur’an.” (QS Al-Muzammil [73[ : 20). Maksudnya, daripada menyenandungkan Huddi, iia sebaiknya membaca Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahima-hullah) mulai membaca Al-Qur’an.
Sang wanita menjadi sangat senang dan berkata: “Dan hanya orang-orang yang berakallah yang dapat mengambil pelajaran (dari firman Allah).” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 269)
Setelah membaca Al-qur’an selama beberapa saat, Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bertanya kepada wanita tersebut jika ia mempunyai suami: “Wahai bibi, apakah anda mempunyai suami?” (maksudnya apakah dia masih hidup)
Sang Wanita: “Hai orang-orang yang beriman, janganlah kamu menanyakan (kepada Nabimu) hal-hal yang jika diterangkan kepadamu akan menyusahkan kamu dan jika kamu menanyakan di waktu Al Qur’an itu diturunkan, niscaya akan diterangkan kepadamu,” Wanita itu bermaksud mengatakan bahwa seharusnya tidak ada perntanyaan mengenai hal tersebut, yang menunjukkan mungkin suamina telah meninggal. Akhirnya mereka pun dapat
menyusul rombangan wanita itu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apakah anda memiliki anak atau kerabat dalam romongan itu yang memiliki hubungan denganmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Harta dan anak-anak adalah perhiasan kehidupan dunia.” Dia bermasud bahwa dia memiliki anak-anak bersama rombongan tersebut dan mereka membawa perbekalan bersamanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apa yang dilakukan oleh anak-anakmu untuk rombongan ini? (Maksud pertanyaan Hadhrat Abdullah adalah untuk memudahkan mengenali anak-anak wanita tersebut).
Sang Wanita: “dan (Dia ciptakan) tanda-tanda (penunjuk jalan). Dan dengan bintang-bintang itulah mereka mendapat petunjuk.” (QS Al-Nahl [16] : 16). Maksudnya bahwa anaknya adalah penunjuk jalan bagi rombongan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bisakah anda mengatakan nama mereka kepadaku?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan Allah mengambil Ibrahim menjadi kesayanganNya.” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 125). “Hai Yahya, ambillah Al Kitab (Taurat) itu.” (QS Maryam *19+ : 12). “Dan Allah telah berbicara kepada Musa dengan langsung .” (QS An-Nisaa [4[ : 164). Dengan membaca ayat-ayat ini, wanita tersebut mengabarkan bahwa nama anak-anaknya adalah Yahya, Ibrahim dan Musa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memanggil nama-nama tersebut dari
romongan itu dan tiga orang anak muda segera mendekat.
Sang Wanita: “Maka suruhlah salah seorang di antara kamu untuk pergi ke kota dengan membawa uang perakmu ini, dan hendaklah dia lihat manakah makanan yang lebih baik, maka hendaklah ia membawa makanan itu untukmu” (QS Al-Kahfi [18] : 19). Dengan kata lain dia memerintahkan anak-anaknya untuk member makan Hadhrat Abdullah.
Ketika makanan telah dibawakan, dia berkata kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “”Makan dan minumlah dengan sedap disebabkan amal yang telah kamu kerjakan pada hari-hari yang telah lalu”. (QS Al-Haaqah [69] : 24), dan bersama ayat tersebut dia membaca ayat lain, maksudnya adalah untuk menunjukan rasa terima kasihnya kepada Hadrath Abdullah atas kebaikannya. Ayat tersebut adalah: “Tidak ada balasan kebaikan kecuali kebaikan (pula).” (QS Ar-Rahmaan [55] : 60)
Percakapan merreka berakhir pada ayat ini. Anak wanita itu mengabarkan kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bahwa ibunya telah berbicara dengan cara seperti itu, yakni hanya menggunakan ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an dalam perkataannya, selama 40 tahun terakhir.
doktermuslim.wordpress.com
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Overcoming Employment Gap
by Susan Heathfield
Concerned about getting back in the workforce after a gap in your employment? You should be when you consider the bad experiences some employers have had when they take a chance on people with a gap in their employment history. Additionally, the job market appears to have qualified candidates for most positions. How will your resume, with a one, five, or ten year employment gap, stack up against those of people who have been racking up career achievements and accomplishments for the same ten years?
Stay-at-home moms and dads who raise their children, rather than their expertise and visibility in a workplace, are the largest group to sport these resume gaps. Even a couple of years out of the workforce can devastate your career if you’re not careful. In worse case scenarios, you can become unemployable in your field. Even in best case scenarios, you will undoubtedly take a salary cut and find yourself reporting to someone who would formerly have reported to you.
This is not to say that returning to work is hopeless. There are plenty of people who have walked back into an executive job, developed their dream job or created a career change following chosen unemployment. It’s just that it’s harder for you with an employment gap. These tips will help you stay ready for employment while you raise the kids or take a few years for a non-work activity. It’s much better to spend that time preparing to be employable than to hit the job market cold after years at home. You'll be better prepared if you heed these tips.
Concerned about getting back in the workforce after a gap in your employment? You should be when you consider the bad experiences some employers have had when they take a chance on people with a gap in their employment history. Additionally, the job market appears to have qualified candidates for most positions. How will your resume, with a one, five, or ten year employment gap, stack up against those of people who have been racking up career achievements and accomplishments for the same ten years?
Stay-at-home moms and dads who raise their children, rather than their expertise and visibility in a workplace, are the largest group to sport these resume gaps. Even a couple of years out of the workforce can devastate your career if you’re not careful. In worse case scenarios, you can become unemployable in your field. Even in best case scenarios, you will undoubtedly take a salary cut and find yourself reporting to someone who would formerly have reported to you.
This is not to say that returning to work is hopeless. There are plenty of people who have walked back into an executive job, developed their dream job or created a career change following chosen unemployment. It’s just that it’s harder for you with an employment gap. These tips will help you stay ready for employment while you raise the kids or take a few years for a non-work activity. It’s much better to spend that time preparing to be employable than to hit the job market cold after years at home. You'll be better prepared if you heed these tips.
Tips for Staying Employable During an Employment Gap
- Work With Your Current Employer: Your current employer, assuming you are still working, may value you and your experience. Talk with your employer to identify potential part-time or consulting work or periodic assignments you can do during the years you plan to work less than full time. If you work in marketing, for example, perhaps you can do freelance work on brochures, the website or press releases. If you work in Human Resources, you may contract to update the employee handbook annually or teach a class periodically. This is the easiest way to stay grounded in the workplace during an extended leave. Make your best pitch before you leave your job. Don't hesitate to call, however, even if you have been off work for a period of time.
- Build and Keep Your Network Before You Need It: It is easier to maintain current professional contacts than to build a new group a few years down the road. Professional contacts become dispersed to new positions; mentors retire; valued coworkers move on to new jobs. It is up to you to maintain relationships, sometimes for years, with people who will remember your talents when you decide to return to full-time employment. It is also imperative that you relate to friends and associates in your off-work life as an educated professional who has chosen to take time away from her career to raise a family. Talk about more than the children; make sure your friends know what you do professionally as well.
- Stay Active in Professional Associations: Most career fields have professional associations that sponsor meetings, conferences, committees, training sessions and more for members. Stay active in your local association by attending meetings, writing for the newsletter, acting as a good will ambassador and attending national conferences. Volunteer for the activities that most closely match your career field and interests. Choose activities in which you’ll interact with many members to expand your network at the same time.
- Volunteer in Community, School and Civic Organizations: Challenging volunteer work can help to fill the gaps in your resume whether you return to your original career or create a career change in the future. Do invest thinking time in determining what kinds of volunteer work will be the most strategic for your longer term goals. Serving as president of the school board is likely worth more, when you return to work, than sewing costumes for the school play. Do both if you have the time and energy – they fulfill different aspects of your spirit. Do think about how the volunteer work will appear on the resume and stress contributing in volunteerism related to your future employment.
- Keep Your Resume File Updated: Keep track of new skills and activities you have developed and experienced during your time away from the workforce. Keep the resume file filled with notes about your volunteer work and other contributions. When you want to return to work, you’ll be happy you kept good records of the time you were unemployed.
- Create a Small Business and Work Even a Few Hours a Week: Think creatively. A mom I know just left the workforce to spend time with her eleven-year-old daughter. She is launching an Internet home baked doggie treat business. Active for years in Greyhound associations, she has identified her initial customer base and plans to expand from there. Write for newspapers, magazines and businesses; write and edit an About site; develop marketing materials for organizations; sell your professional expertise as a consultant; make candles or other crafts; design and maintain gardens; operate a daycare center or a home-based school; design and build websites; paint, wallpaper and decorate homes and businesses; cater special events; and provide virtual office assistant services over the web. Check Scott Allen’s Entrepreneur’s site for even more ideas.
- Keep Your Skills Current: Can you imagine a computer programmer finding a new position after five years outside of the workforce? Neither can I. Not unless she can demonstrate current skills. Fields such as banking, employment law, securities and financial planning change quickly. Attend school, take graduate seminars, participate in online learning and read to stay current in your field. Your local college may have classes you can audit if you can't pay tuition. No, a quick refresher class won’t help you out in most fields when you decide to return to work or change careers. Keeping abreast of your field every year is the best way to stay employable at something you’d like to do.
- Use the Time at Home to Change Careers: Maybe it’s time to try something new. A time away from work is perfect for pursuing career options and learning more about yourself and your interests. You may want to Create the Life You Want With a Mid-Career Crisis. If you decide to change careers, you can invest the time to earn a needed degree. Or, you can spend your volunteer or home-based business time on skills needed for the new career.
- Consider Part-time Work: Work part-time in your field, your career change field or just to keep your work record fresh. The money may also come in handy for the family or to fund your future goals.
- Consider Job Sharing: Many people have chosen to leave the workforce for periods of time. According to the Wall Street Journal, the percentage of mothers with a child under one-year-old who are working, dropped to 55 percent in 2002 from 59 percent in 1998. This reverses a thirty year trend according to the Census Bureau. Employers may have to consider creative ways to keep valued people working or to fill hard-to-fill positions. Job sharing, either half days, or splitting the week can work for both the employees and the employer if lines of communication remain open. And, the shared work may work best for all concerned when two talented people invest their energy in the same job.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Membangun Kesalehan Intelektual
Telah banyak orang berbicara tentang kesalehan ritual dan bahkan akhir-akhir ini muncul istilah kesalehan social. Mungkin agar menjadi lebih sempurna, perlu ditambah jenis kesalehan lainnya, misalnya kesalehan intelektual. Orang yang tertib menjalankan sholat lima waktu, puasa, haji dan banyak berdzikir, disebut sebagai orang yang saleh ritual.
Demikian pula, orang yang secara tertib dan disiplin selalu mengeluarkan zakat, infaq dan shodaqoh, suka menyantuni anak yatim dan orang miskin, membantu biaya pendidikan orang yang tidak mampu, dan seterusnya, disebut telah mencapai kesalehan sosial. Saleh ritual telah banyak orang meraihnya, tetapi kesalehan sosial masih perlu didorong lebih keras lagi.
Orang seringkali mengeluh, banyak orang hanya mengejar kesalehan ritual. Artinya, orang cepat tertarik tatkala diajak kegiatan yang bernuansa ritual, seperti dzikir bersama, istighosah, umrah, haji berkali-kali, dan sejenisnya. Kegiatan itu dianggap lebih utama dari jenis kegiatan keagamaan lainnya. Padahal keberagamaan yang bersifat ritual, harus disempurnakan dengan kesalehan sosial. Orang yang tidak memperhatikan anak yatim dan memberi makan orang miskin disebut mendustakan agama.
Selain kesalehan spiritual dan kesalehan social, masih ada lagi yang lebih perlu didorong lagi, yaitu kesalehan intelektual. Seseorang dikatakan telah meraih kesalehan intelektual manakala yang bersangkutan selalu menggunakan akal atau intektualnya untuk kepentingan kehidupan ini sebagai bagian dari ibadah kepada Tuhan. Intelektual bisa disalah gunakan untuk kerusakan. Orang yang merancang berbuat jahat, sehingga kehidupan menjadi kacau, demi kepentingan dirinya sendiri, golongan atau orang lain, maka yang bersangkutan tidak menggunakan akal atau intelektualnya secara saleh.
Orang-orang yang tidak mau menggunakan dan mengembangkan potensi pikiran atau intelektual sebagaimana mestinya, maka bisa disebut sebagai orang yang tidak saleh intelektualnya. Islam menganjurkan kepada kaum muslimin agar selalu membaca, berpikir, memperhatikan, menganalisis, meneliti untuk mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan. Jika kewajiban itu ditunaikan sebaik-baiknya, maka artinya yang bersangkutan telah disebut sebagai orang saleh intelektualnya.
Membangun kesalehan intelektual dalam Islam bukan dianggap sebagai perkara sederhana. Ayat al Qurán yang pertama kali turun adalah berupa perintah membaca. Yaitu membaca dengan atas nama Tuhan. Perbuatan membaca, meneliti, menganalisis, memahami dengan mengatas namakan Tuhan Yang Maha Mulia, Yang Maha Benar, Yang Maha adil dan sifat-sifat mulia yang lain, yang dilakukan secara benar, obyektif, sungguh-sungguh, maka itulah yang disebut dengan saleh intelektual.
Orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual akan menjadi kaya ilmu. Para ulama’ terdahulu, apapun bidang keilmuan yang ditekuni, mereka itu adalah orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual. Mereka itu berhasil menelorkan karya-karya besar di berbagai cabang ilmu pengetahuan. Nama mereka menjadi sedemikian harum, karena buah pikiran dan karya-karyanya dipelajari atau dikaji dari generasi ke generasi di berbagai kalangan yang luas.
Kesalehan intelektual dipandang lebih penting daripada kesalehan ritual dan bahkan juga kesalehan sosial. Sebab kesalehan intelektual dianggap sebagai pintu untuk memasuki kesalehan lainnya. Al Qurán sendiri juga menegaskan bahwa Allah akan mengangkat derajat orang-orang yang beriman dan berilmu pengetahuan-----kesalehan intelektual, beberapa derajat lebih tinggi. Sedemikian mulianya orang-orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual, sehingga disebut tinta para ulama lebih mulia dan berharga dari pada darah para suhadak.
Munculnya berbagai macam lembaga pendidikan hingga perguruan tinggi Islam di mana-mana adalah sebagai upaya untuk membangun atau mengantarkan orang-orang agar berhasil meraih kesalehan intelektual. Namun kesalehan intelektual yang dimaksudkan itu adalah kesalehan yang didasari oleh keimanan. Hal itu dapat dipahami dari kalimat perintah membaca hendaknya dilakukan atas nama Tuhan dan bukan sembarang membaca.
Atas dasar pemahaman seperti itu, mestinya umat Islam di mana-mana, selain membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesalehan social, harus menyempurkan dengan membangun kesalehan intelektual. Umat Islam tidak selayaknya merasa ber-Islam secara kokoh dan sempurna, jika baru berhasil membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesaleahan sosial. Umat Islam selama ini menjadi lemah, sehingga dikalahkan oleh umat lainnya, disebabkan karena gagal dalam membangun pilar-pilar kesalehan intelektual.
Umat Islam semestinya mengembangkan pusat-pusat riset di berbagai cabang ilmu dalam rangka membangun kesalehan intelektual. Melakukan riset dalam berbagai ilmu adalah sama artinya memenuhi perintah al Qurán dan juga hadits Nabi. Al Qurán memerintahkan kepada manusia agar memikirkan dan mempelajari ciptaan-Nya baik yang dilangit maupun yang di bumi. Tidak selayaknya, perintah mengembangkan ilmu hanya dimaknai sebatas mengembangkan ilmu-ilmu fiqh, tauhid, akhlak, tasawwuf dan tarekh yang kemudian disebut sebagai Islamics Studies.
Islamics Studies tidak cukup dimaknai secara sempit seperti di muka itu. Islamics studies harus ditarik dalam kontek yang lebih luas, meliputi semua bidang ilmu sebagaimana al Qurán dan hadits nabi memerintahkan untuk menggali dan mengembangkannya. Jika Islamics studies hanya dipahami secara sempit, maka sampai kapanpun, umat Islam akan tetap tertinggal dari umat lain, karena gagal dalam membangun kesalehan intelektual yang sebenarnya. Wallahu a’lam.
uin-malang.ac.id
Demikian pula, orang yang secara tertib dan disiplin selalu mengeluarkan zakat, infaq dan shodaqoh, suka menyantuni anak yatim dan orang miskin, membantu biaya pendidikan orang yang tidak mampu, dan seterusnya, disebut telah mencapai kesalehan sosial. Saleh ritual telah banyak orang meraihnya, tetapi kesalehan sosial masih perlu didorong lebih keras lagi.
Orang seringkali mengeluh, banyak orang hanya mengejar kesalehan ritual. Artinya, orang cepat tertarik tatkala diajak kegiatan yang bernuansa ritual, seperti dzikir bersama, istighosah, umrah, haji berkali-kali, dan sejenisnya. Kegiatan itu dianggap lebih utama dari jenis kegiatan keagamaan lainnya. Padahal keberagamaan yang bersifat ritual, harus disempurnakan dengan kesalehan sosial. Orang yang tidak memperhatikan anak yatim dan memberi makan orang miskin disebut mendustakan agama.
Selain kesalehan spiritual dan kesalehan social, masih ada lagi yang lebih perlu didorong lagi, yaitu kesalehan intelektual. Seseorang dikatakan telah meraih kesalehan intelektual manakala yang bersangkutan selalu menggunakan akal atau intektualnya untuk kepentingan kehidupan ini sebagai bagian dari ibadah kepada Tuhan. Intelektual bisa disalah gunakan untuk kerusakan. Orang yang merancang berbuat jahat, sehingga kehidupan menjadi kacau, demi kepentingan dirinya sendiri, golongan atau orang lain, maka yang bersangkutan tidak menggunakan akal atau intelektualnya secara saleh.
Orang-orang yang tidak mau menggunakan dan mengembangkan potensi pikiran atau intelektual sebagaimana mestinya, maka bisa disebut sebagai orang yang tidak saleh intelektualnya. Islam menganjurkan kepada kaum muslimin agar selalu membaca, berpikir, memperhatikan, menganalisis, meneliti untuk mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan. Jika kewajiban itu ditunaikan sebaik-baiknya, maka artinya yang bersangkutan telah disebut sebagai orang saleh intelektualnya.
Membangun kesalehan intelektual dalam Islam bukan dianggap sebagai perkara sederhana. Ayat al Qurán yang pertama kali turun adalah berupa perintah membaca. Yaitu membaca dengan atas nama Tuhan. Perbuatan membaca, meneliti, menganalisis, memahami dengan mengatas namakan Tuhan Yang Maha Mulia, Yang Maha Benar, Yang Maha adil dan sifat-sifat mulia yang lain, yang dilakukan secara benar, obyektif, sungguh-sungguh, maka itulah yang disebut dengan saleh intelektual.
Orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual akan menjadi kaya ilmu. Para ulama’ terdahulu, apapun bidang keilmuan yang ditekuni, mereka itu adalah orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual. Mereka itu berhasil menelorkan karya-karya besar di berbagai cabang ilmu pengetahuan. Nama mereka menjadi sedemikian harum, karena buah pikiran dan karya-karyanya dipelajari atau dikaji dari generasi ke generasi di berbagai kalangan yang luas.
Kesalehan intelektual dipandang lebih penting daripada kesalehan ritual dan bahkan juga kesalehan sosial. Sebab kesalehan intelektual dianggap sebagai pintu untuk memasuki kesalehan lainnya. Al Qurán sendiri juga menegaskan bahwa Allah akan mengangkat derajat orang-orang yang beriman dan berilmu pengetahuan-----kesalehan intelektual, beberapa derajat lebih tinggi. Sedemikian mulianya orang-orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual, sehingga disebut tinta para ulama lebih mulia dan berharga dari pada darah para suhadak.
Munculnya berbagai macam lembaga pendidikan hingga perguruan tinggi Islam di mana-mana adalah sebagai upaya untuk membangun atau mengantarkan orang-orang agar berhasil meraih kesalehan intelektual. Namun kesalehan intelektual yang dimaksudkan itu adalah kesalehan yang didasari oleh keimanan. Hal itu dapat dipahami dari kalimat perintah membaca hendaknya dilakukan atas nama Tuhan dan bukan sembarang membaca.
Atas dasar pemahaman seperti itu, mestinya umat Islam di mana-mana, selain membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesalehan social, harus menyempurkan dengan membangun kesalehan intelektual. Umat Islam tidak selayaknya merasa ber-Islam secara kokoh dan sempurna, jika baru berhasil membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesaleahan sosial. Umat Islam selama ini menjadi lemah, sehingga dikalahkan oleh umat lainnya, disebabkan karena gagal dalam membangun pilar-pilar kesalehan intelektual.
Umat Islam semestinya mengembangkan pusat-pusat riset di berbagai cabang ilmu dalam rangka membangun kesalehan intelektual. Melakukan riset dalam berbagai ilmu adalah sama artinya memenuhi perintah al Qurán dan juga hadits Nabi. Al Qurán memerintahkan kepada manusia agar memikirkan dan mempelajari ciptaan-Nya baik yang dilangit maupun yang di bumi. Tidak selayaknya, perintah mengembangkan ilmu hanya dimaknai sebatas mengembangkan ilmu-ilmu fiqh, tauhid, akhlak, tasawwuf dan tarekh yang kemudian disebut sebagai Islamics Studies.
Islamics Studies tidak cukup dimaknai secara sempit seperti di muka itu. Islamics studies harus ditarik dalam kontek yang lebih luas, meliputi semua bidang ilmu sebagaimana al Qurán dan hadits nabi memerintahkan untuk menggali dan mengembangkannya. Jika Islamics studies hanya dipahami secara sempit, maka sampai kapanpun, umat Islam akan tetap tertinggal dari umat lain, karena gagal dalam membangun kesalehan intelektual yang sebenarnya. Wallahu a’lam.
uin-malang.ac.id
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Das Geheimnis des Könnens liegt im Wollen!
Lebe, als würdest du morgen sterben.
Lerne, als würdest du ewig leben.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Erfahrung ist wie eine Laterne im Rücken: Sie beleuchtet immer nur das Stück des Weges, was wir bereits hinter uns haben.(Konfuzius)
TIME
To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of a month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
Wer ein "warum" zum Leben hat, erträgt fast jedes "wie".
(Viktor Frankl)
Wir können im Leben höchstens eine große Erfahrung haben, und das Geheimnis des Lebens ist, diese Erfahrung so oft wie möglich wieder zu haben.
(Oscar Wilde)
Verstehen kann man das Leben nur rückwärts. Leben muß man es vorwärts.
(Sören Kierkegaard)
Das ganze Leben ist ein ewiges Wiederanfangen.
(Hugo von Hoffmannsthal)
Die Zukunft hat viele Namen. Für die Schwachen ist sie das Unerreichbare. Für die Furchtsamen ist sie das Unbekannte. Für die Tapferen ist sie die Chance.
(Victor Hugo)
Man kann nur verstehen, was man erlebt hat.
Das Schlimmste im Leben ist es zu verpassen.
Das Leben der Eltern ist das Buch, in dem die Kinder lesen. (Spiegel)
Es muß anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll.
Die Welt wird nie gut, aber sie könnte besser werden.(Zuckmayer, Carl)
Was ich habe, will ich nicht verlieren,
aber wo ich bin, will ich nicht bleiben,
aber die ich liebe, will ich nicht verlassen,
aber die ich kenne, will ich nicht mehr sehen,
aber wo ich lebe, will ich nicht sterben,
aber wo ich sterbe, da will ich nicht hin.
Bleiben will ich da, wo ich nie gewesen bin.
(Thomas Bratsch)
Lerne, als würdest du ewig leben.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Erfahrung ist wie eine Laterne im Rücken: Sie beleuchtet immer nur das Stück des Weges, was wir bereits hinter uns haben.(Konfuzius)
TIME
To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of a month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
Wer ein "warum" zum Leben hat, erträgt fast jedes "wie".
(Viktor Frankl)
Wir können im Leben höchstens eine große Erfahrung haben, und das Geheimnis des Lebens ist, diese Erfahrung so oft wie möglich wieder zu haben.
(Oscar Wilde)
Verstehen kann man das Leben nur rückwärts. Leben muß man es vorwärts.
(Sören Kierkegaard)
Das ganze Leben ist ein ewiges Wiederanfangen.
(Hugo von Hoffmannsthal)
Die Zukunft hat viele Namen. Für die Schwachen ist sie das Unerreichbare. Für die Furchtsamen ist sie das Unbekannte. Für die Tapferen ist sie die Chance.
(Victor Hugo)
Man kann nur verstehen, was man erlebt hat.
Das Schlimmste im Leben ist es zu verpassen.
Das Leben der Eltern ist das Buch, in dem die Kinder lesen. (Spiegel)
Es muß anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll.
Die Welt wird nie gut, aber sie könnte besser werden.(Zuckmayer, Carl)
Was ich habe, will ich nicht verlieren,
aber wo ich bin, will ich nicht bleiben,
aber die ich liebe, will ich nicht verlassen,
aber die ich kenne, will ich nicht mehr sehen,
aber wo ich lebe, will ich nicht sterben,
aber wo ich sterbe, da will ich nicht hin.
Bleiben will ich da, wo ich nie gewesen bin.
(Thomas Bratsch)
Friday, March 26, 2010
Qoutes of this day
- "I'm an Indonesian and I'm proud of it" - Myself :)
- "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." - Malcolm X
- "I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I am for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I am a human being first and foremost and as such I am whoever benefits humanity as a whole." - Malcom X
- "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr.
- "We must be the change we wish to see" -- Gandhi
- "Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct." - Gandi
- "Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” - Che Guevara
- “It is better to die standing, than to live on your knees." - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
- "Every Man Dies; Not Every Man Really Lives" Sir William Wallace
- "I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what every other oppressed person has advocated—the right to help myself in the absence of help from anywhere else." - Marwan Barghouthi
- " Philosophy is instructing the world in theory " - Cuvier , read it in Edward Said's Orientalism book
- “I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” - Yasser Arafat
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
It is not impossible!
Carol Cassella, M.D., anesthesiologist, spouse, mother (two sets of twins ages 13 and 14) and author of the 2008 debut novel Oxygen, seems to personify the 21st century ideal of the woman who does it all, has it all and is it all, balancing her many roles with grace and ease.
“ It’s not true,” she says, denying the role model image. “There is no balance. It’s like being on a Bongo Board; there’s never a static point. I’m always adjusting, seeking equilibrium — which isn’t there. The last year has been the most stressful of my life.”
Most of us, even while leading active lives ourselves, would find the 15 years Cassella spent prior to the release of Oxygen somewhat chaotic. In that time she moved from Texas to Seattle and completed residency in internal medicine, got married, changed medical specialties and completed residency in anesthesia, gave birth to four children within 15 months, built a house (husband Steve is in construction), rebuilt (they needed more room than planned) and moved from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
“Shock and awe” are the only words Carol and her husband could find to describe the realization that they would be the parents of a second set of twins not long after the birth of their first set. “We discovered quickly that it was impossible to take care of four babies without help. Luckily we found the greatest nanny in the world — she is still a part of our lives and a close family friend,” she says.
Although apparent bedlam seemed to be the norm for Cassella, I was curious about what made 2008, the exciting year of Oxygen’s release, the most stressful of her life. As it turns out, it wasn’t the combination of obvious factors before the book was released that gave it that designation: having to meet stringent deadlines while parenting four adolescent children, coping with the illnesses of both her mother and father-in-law, exposing her inner thoughts and writing to readers’ appraisal, and concerns about her colleagues’ reaction to her heretofore secret writing career. It was the additional demands for her time that came after the book was published that amped things up: the frenzy of the book tour, numerous requests for speaking engagements, an abundance of e-mail from enthusiastic readers who wanted a reply, and then the proverbial “straw,” a new set of demanding deadlines imposed by a contract to write a second novel. ”My already crazy life became geometrically crazier. I realized any semblance of balance was a fantasy. I started to have doubts about what I was doing, where I was heading.”
In contrast to Oxygen’s lengthy incubation, Cassella had only 12 months after it hit the shelves to finish her second novel, which is planned for release in July 2010. From her experience with Oxygen, she knew exactly what her reading audience expected from her: “entertainment and engagement, immersion in the practice and culture of medicine and anesthesiology, a journey where larger questions about values are addressed, challenge and stimulation, and emotionally real characters.”
“Before, writing Oxygen,” she says, “I was just hoping to be published. Now I know I will be published. I signed a contract for the second book along with the first. The pressure is on. I do want to please people. I want to meet readers’ expectations, of course, so that contributes heavily to the stress I’m still experiencing. Plus I have my own beliefs and desires about writing — to use the English language well and rise to the heights of possibility.”
The ideas for Oxygen germinated during the early days of Cassella’s anesthesia residency. The main character in the novel, Marie, is a single anesthesiologist with the same kind of career and relationship questions many women in their mid-thirties have. Has she made the right decision, pursuing a career that leaves little time for men, marriage or children? Does she fear commitment or has she just not met the right man? Is she negligent or in denial about the needs of her family for her attention?
When professional trauma strikes early in the book, Marie’s concerns are immediately displaced by all-out fear, anxiety, doubt, grief, insecurity and a demoralizing sense of aloneness. The complexity in both her personal and professional relationships increases as the consequences of her situation broaden. She becomes a different person, estranged from herself and others, as she struggles to make sense out of what has happened to her.
Cassella acknowledges some autobiographical connection with Marie, but fortunately has experienced less drama and more enjoyment in the medical profession than has her protagonist. The Library Journal declared her story one of the ten best debut novels of 2008. Oxygen is a national best seller according to the publisher who is releasing the paperback in June 2009.
Cassella envisioned herself a writer from childhood and majored in English at Duke University despite her parents’ admonition that writing might not be the pathway to financial independence. She ultimately followed their counsel and went to medical school, yet she knew in her heart that she would always be a writer. When her four children started school, Cassella began a connection with Field’s End, the writers’ community on Bainbridge Island, to fulfill her childhood and early adult craving to write. She was first in line on the doorstep of the Bainbridge Island Library when Field’s End founders Nichole Vick and David Guterson presented their initial class offerings. She took them all, participated in roundtables and conferences, and met writers who supported each other in their common mission.
Cassella is definitely made of the writer’s cloth. “I certainly wanted to write long before I wanted to be a doctor,” she says, “so the writer has lived inside my mind ever since I learned to read. I don’t think I could have felt complete at the end of my life if I hadn’t given writing a dedicated and serious effort. But I also can’t imagine having missed out on my career as a physician. It is such a unique type of work, presenting so many intriguing intellectual, scientific and technological challenges, along with the strong emotional component of the patient relationships.”
Cassella began writing Oxygen in 2001. Through Field’s End she developed a writer/coach relationship with author Michael Collins who acted as her touchstone, helping her sustain her commitment to writing. After three years of intensive spurts of writing followed by no moments to write, she came to a “can’t stop” point. “I had too much invested in the book to stop for anything beyond the minimal essentials of work and family. I could never have completed Oxygen without my husband Steve’s support; he shouldered the majority of responsibilities when I had to intensify my focus on writing.”
Sometimes fulfilling all of the responsibilities that come with working two or three days a week at the hospital, co-parenting four teens, co-managing a household, writing 30 minutes here and 10 minutes there, while still making time to sleep, eat and stay healthy, feels unattainable to Cassella. When thinking about it all she sometimes wonders, “Should I have added writing to my already crazy life? Have I invited a beast into my house?” And when referring to the demands of writing a second novel, one she finds more difficult than the first, she asks herself, Should I still continue on this path? Will I have regrets? Am I being selfish by writing? Am I missing family events and experiences that I’ll be sad about forever? Is what I’m doing good for the children? Or at least not bad for them?”
She answers herself by saying, “Ultimately I have to believe that the children know they are loved as unique individuals, and the consequences of such a busy, crowded childhood will be made up for in other ways. I hope they grow up to be as close to one another as I am with my two sisters. I only wish their childhood could pass a little more slowly, with more chance to savor the five or six years we have left together.”
Many parents in dual career relationships would probably share Cassella’s sentiments about raising children well while working full time. Although she aspires to high achievement in all aspects of her life, with her family as the “center of her universe,” she has accepted, with poise and relief, that she is not, cannot and never will be perfect — or attain more than a second or two of equilibrium on life’s big Bongo Board.
“ It’s not true,” she says, denying the role model image. “There is no balance. It’s like being on a Bongo Board; there’s never a static point. I’m always adjusting, seeking equilibrium — which isn’t there. The last year has been the most stressful of my life.”
Most of us, even while leading active lives ourselves, would find the 15 years Cassella spent prior to the release of Oxygen somewhat chaotic. In that time she moved from Texas to Seattle and completed residency in internal medicine, got married, changed medical specialties and completed residency in anesthesia, gave birth to four children within 15 months, built a house (husband Steve is in construction), rebuilt (they needed more room than planned) and moved from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
“Shock and awe” are the only words Carol and her husband could find to describe the realization that they would be the parents of a second set of twins not long after the birth of their first set. “We discovered quickly that it was impossible to take care of four babies without help. Luckily we found the greatest nanny in the world — she is still a part of our lives and a close family friend,” she says.
Although apparent bedlam seemed to be the norm for Cassella, I was curious about what made 2008, the exciting year of Oxygen’s release, the most stressful of her life. As it turns out, it wasn’t the combination of obvious factors before the book was released that gave it that designation: having to meet stringent deadlines while parenting four adolescent children, coping with the illnesses of both her mother and father-in-law, exposing her inner thoughts and writing to readers’ appraisal, and concerns about her colleagues’ reaction to her heretofore secret writing career. It was the additional demands for her time that came after the book was published that amped things up: the frenzy of the book tour, numerous requests for speaking engagements, an abundance of e-mail from enthusiastic readers who wanted a reply, and then the proverbial “straw,” a new set of demanding deadlines imposed by a contract to write a second novel. ”My already crazy life became geometrically crazier. I realized any semblance of balance was a fantasy. I started to have doubts about what I was doing, where I was heading.”
In contrast to Oxygen’s lengthy incubation, Cassella had only 12 months after it hit the shelves to finish her second novel, which is planned for release in July 2010. From her experience with Oxygen, she knew exactly what her reading audience expected from her: “entertainment and engagement, immersion in the practice and culture of medicine and anesthesiology, a journey where larger questions about values are addressed, challenge and stimulation, and emotionally real characters.”
“Before, writing Oxygen,” she says, “I was just hoping to be published. Now I know I will be published. I signed a contract for the second book along with the first. The pressure is on. I do want to please people. I want to meet readers’ expectations, of course, so that contributes heavily to the stress I’m still experiencing. Plus I have my own beliefs and desires about writing — to use the English language well and rise to the heights of possibility.”
The ideas for Oxygen germinated during the early days of Cassella’s anesthesia residency. The main character in the novel, Marie, is a single anesthesiologist with the same kind of career and relationship questions many women in their mid-thirties have. Has she made the right decision, pursuing a career that leaves little time for men, marriage or children? Does she fear commitment or has she just not met the right man? Is she negligent or in denial about the needs of her family for her attention?
When professional trauma strikes early in the book, Marie’s concerns are immediately displaced by all-out fear, anxiety, doubt, grief, insecurity and a demoralizing sense of aloneness. The complexity in both her personal and professional relationships increases as the consequences of her situation broaden. She becomes a different person, estranged from herself and others, as she struggles to make sense out of what has happened to her.
Cassella acknowledges some autobiographical connection with Marie, but fortunately has experienced less drama and more enjoyment in the medical profession than has her protagonist. The Library Journal declared her story one of the ten best debut novels of 2008. Oxygen is a national best seller according to the publisher who is releasing the paperback in June 2009.
Cassella envisioned herself a writer from childhood and majored in English at Duke University despite her parents’ admonition that writing might not be the pathway to financial independence. She ultimately followed their counsel and went to medical school, yet she knew in her heart that she would always be a writer. When her four children started school, Cassella began a connection with Field’s End, the writers’ community on Bainbridge Island, to fulfill her childhood and early adult craving to write. She was first in line on the doorstep of the Bainbridge Island Library when Field’s End founders Nichole Vick and David Guterson presented their initial class offerings. She took them all, participated in roundtables and conferences, and met writers who supported each other in their common mission.
Cassella is definitely made of the writer’s cloth. “I certainly wanted to write long before I wanted to be a doctor,” she says, “so the writer has lived inside my mind ever since I learned to read. I don’t think I could have felt complete at the end of my life if I hadn’t given writing a dedicated and serious effort. But I also can’t imagine having missed out on my career as a physician. It is such a unique type of work, presenting so many intriguing intellectual, scientific and technological challenges, along with the strong emotional component of the patient relationships.”
Cassella began writing Oxygen in 2001. Through Field’s End she developed a writer/coach relationship with author Michael Collins who acted as her touchstone, helping her sustain her commitment to writing. After three years of intensive spurts of writing followed by no moments to write, she came to a “can’t stop” point. “I had too much invested in the book to stop for anything beyond the minimal essentials of work and family. I could never have completed Oxygen without my husband Steve’s support; he shouldered the majority of responsibilities when I had to intensify my focus on writing.”
Sometimes fulfilling all of the responsibilities that come with working two or three days a week at the hospital, co-parenting four teens, co-managing a household, writing 30 minutes here and 10 minutes there, while still making time to sleep, eat and stay healthy, feels unattainable to Cassella. When thinking about it all she sometimes wonders, “Should I have added writing to my already crazy life? Have I invited a beast into my house?” And when referring to the demands of writing a second novel, one she finds more difficult than the first, she asks herself, Should I still continue on this path? Will I have regrets? Am I being selfish by writing? Am I missing family events and experiences that I’ll be sad about forever? Is what I’m doing good for the children? Or at least not bad for them?”
She answers herself by saying, “Ultimately I have to believe that the children know they are loved as unique individuals, and the consequences of such a busy, crowded childhood will be made up for in other ways. I hope they grow up to be as close to one another as I am with my two sisters. I only wish their childhood could pass a little more slowly, with more chance to savor the five or six years we have left together.”
Many parents in dual career relationships would probably share Cassella’s sentiments about raising children well while working full time. Although she aspires to high achievement in all aspects of her life, with her family as the “center of her universe,” she has accepted, with poise and relief, that she is not, cannot and never will be perfect — or attain more than a second or two of equilibrium on life’s big Bongo Board.
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