Being yourself

As I am writing this first post in English, let me just remind you that it had been awhile since I last used English in my writing. Thus, expect to find a lot of grammatical error, wrong usage of words, and other mistakes that, for me, may be normal, but maybe for you (particularly if you have a certificate in English related exams) if it is unforgivable, then I can only say sorry. Do carrect my mistake, if you want. All corrections are welcomed.

Right, so what it is exactly that I'm going to talk about? It's about being yourself. It's about having your own vision of what you'll do, what you'll become, and what you should become. First of all, in Islam, there's a complete guide of how to be a good person. There has also been a role model for all of us to follow, that is Rasulullah s.a.w. So, there should not be any complaint of not having someone to follow, or someone as a guidance. Sadly, a lot of teenagers nowadays have a tendency to follow a 'not so good' role model, such as artists, singers, corrupted politicians,etc. Worse enough, if they know that it is wrong, but didn't want to change. Now, it is not all wrong to follow someone who is other than our prophet, but of course, be wise on your choice.

For me, it can be said that the problem that occurs in our teenagers (including me) is the fact that we easily influenced by other people. For example, smoking which has been a real problem to our teenagers usually came to them because of the influence of other people. So are some other problems. Our learning sometimes also influenced by our surroundings (our friends). By learning, I mean learning other things than in our studies (for example : music, games, politics). If you have a friend that is playing guitar everydays as your roommate, then it is not surprising, one day, that you want to learn to play guitar as well, right? Ok, this is not so bad. But, let's say that it is something that is bad. I don't know what, but you just imagine. Whatever it is, we'll have a tendency to try follow what they are doing (especially if it is interesting, even if it's wrong). Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone. It depends on how well, or how strong you are as yourself.

So, why is exactly we behave like that? Are there something that cause us to have the feeling of wanted to be like someone else ? Why is it so hard for us to resist it ? Well, one of the reason is maybe because we want to have the sense of belonging. We always assume that if we want to belong to a group, we need to be like the group. You want to be friend with musicians, you need to be musicians. If you want to be friend with intellectuals, you need to be someone intellectual, isn't it? But, sometimes, (teenagers particularly) misunderstood this concept by thinking that if they want to be friends with a group of people which is corrupted, then you need to be corrupted as them as well. But of course, the correct thing to do is not to befriend them at all. Or if you want to befriend them, make sure that you are the one to change them to a much better state. You need to realise which is right, and which is wrong. You need to know that while it is fun to be appreciated by a lot of people, but it is not so fun to do wrong things just for the sake of having someone to respect you. Wait, it's fun, but it's wrong. You need to seperate between doing something fun, and doing something right. Most of the times, things which is fun for you, doesn't necessarily is the right thing. That's why in Islam, there is a complete guide of what to do, and what not to do. The problem occurs when we start to break these guides. We tried to deny some of the rules, just because we feel it is not applicable anymore nowadays. But just remember this fact, the rules of Islam is valid and suitable for the rest of the existence of the human being.

So, how to tackle this problem? First, be yourself, I mean really, just be yourself. Strengthen the 'iman' in yourself, and you can face the world with less problems. Treat everyone equally, just like Rasulullah s.a.w taught us. Be it your friends, or your enemy. And do not afraid, or shy of being someone which is doing the right thing. A lot of us thinks too much of the perspective of others about us. Believe me, if we do good deeds, there'll be people who looks at it as if we've done the wrong things. Its normal. It even happened to Rasulullah s.a.w. But of course, if u know that you are right, why bother ? And be brave to not to do the wrong things, even if you are surrounded by it. I can understand that sometimes it is not our intention to so something bad, but when we are surrounded by it, it's really hard to avoid, right ? So, just believe in yourself, and ask for protection from Allah s.w.t. Try to be an agent of change. If your roommates are doing something which is totally wrong, try advising them. If can't, just avoid doing the bad things together with them. Pray that Allah will give them 'hidayah' so that they will stop doing those things. Oh yeah, one more thing, don't be afraid of being isolated. Sometimes, you'll feel like that. But rest assured that Allah is always with those who fight, and sacrifice themself for Islam~