Of Reunions and Reflections

These past few weeks since mid October there has been a series of reunions with my ex schoolmates of Sekolah Sultan Mahmud Kuala Terengganu (or fondly known as SESMA). I managed to attend 2 out of the 3 events and boy it feels good to meet friends you havent seen for 21 years!

The first gathering (October) I went to was hosted by the SESMA sweethearts Karim & Za, in Bukit Jelutong. Imagine they have been an item since Form 2!

SESMA mini gathering at Karim and Za's. From left: Karim, Za, moi, Fadzrul, Anuar

The next one was just last Saturday 8 Nov hosted by Amiza and Azam in Bukit Setiawangsa.

@Amiza's Setiawangsa home. From left:Engku Fadzrul, Zamilah, Abdullah, Amiza, Nuhairi, Amran, TeeJay, moi, Wan Fatimah Azdee, Zunaini, Norhasmani, Hasliza, Adini

21 years of catching up in a few hours. Of course it wasnt enough.

We were laughing at how each of us has turned out... the guys now have receding hairlines, double chins and bellies, the girls have put on weight too. No wait, that's just me. Hahahaha! Seriously the girls have blossomed into luverly ladies.

For me it was a time to reflect on my life.

A lot has happened between SPM 1987 and 2008, and some of the milestones in my life aren't something to be proud of. Sure we make mistakes, we face the ups and down in life. We pick ourselves up after a failure. Some friends are fortunate not to make stupid mistakes, some are unlucky to learn the hard way (yup folks that's me).

But that's life. All we have to do is to accept and be grateful for who we are, strive to improve ourselves, submit to Him and keep looking forward coz if you keep turning back, you will miss fantastic opportunities lying ahead of you.

I watched a good episode of Oprah a few weeks ago, Oprah was talking to the author of the best-selling book "Eat Love Pray", Elizabeth Gilbert. The book is about Elizabeth's struggles in healing herself from post divorce depression.

What I remember most about the interview was when she told Oprah about her Indonesian Guru. He challenged her to smile. Not just slap a smile on her face, but to smile inside out till she could get her liver to smile! I said to myself "Whoa! That's hard". That takes a while. You can always fake a smile but there's no way you can make your insides smile unless you mean it.

I'm still trying to make my insides smile when I'm down in the dumps. It takes practice, I tell ya.

What I'm saying here is that although you went through the fire and storm, you must be strong enough to pick yourself up, SMILE INSIDE OUT, LET GO of the past and keep moving FORWARD. You decide how you want to go about things. No one else does it for you. This serves as a reminder to myself too.

So folks. Take some time alone to FEEL GOOD about yourself, SMILE INSIDE OUT and keep moving FORWARD. Remembering Him helps! :-)

Photo credits : Karim TheBlueTie and Engku Fadzrul. Thanks guys!