Aku La Bah Tue...: Insight..

First impression...

Do you know that first impression might turn your life in a minute. But how to make a good first impression? These give you a head to start making a good first impression. ^_^

Step 1: Make an entrance
Take a few moments before you walk in to a room and realign your posture. Bring your shoulders back and down and put a smile on your face. Scan the room and look around as this will make you look a lot more positive and thus creates a good first impression.

Step 2: Your handshake
Make sure you give a good, cool and firm handshake. Look the person in the eye and remember to smile at them.

Step 3: Posture
Practice sitting down in front of a mirror, in the outfit you will be wearing, to see what is going to work and what isn't. Sit well in the chair as this will make you look more confident. Rest your elbows on the arm of the chair and maybe cross your legs.

Step 4: Hand gestures
Make sure you don't use barriers such as folding your arms as this will make you look too closed. Use nice open gestures and good emphatic gestures when you speak, and make sure you keep your hands below shoulder height.

Step 5: Mirroring
Use mirroring to create fast-track rapport. This is achieved by slightly copying the interviewer's body language which will help you come across as more approachable.

But if you give a bad first expression, there are few ways for you to bounce back from it. Just chill la babe and do this steps! ^_^

Step 1: Don't beat yourself up
It's important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and says things they wish they hadn't. Don't magnify the situation in your head. Most people will give you a chance to redeem yourself and show them the person you really are. We'll show you how.

Step 2: The failed joke
It sounded hilarious in your head - but for some reason no-one else seems to agree.

The failed joke might seem like social suicide, but it is redeemable. The simple trick here is to not let it bother you. It is important to recognise that your joke was not funny. If a mirthless silence descends, close it with a self-debasing phrase such as "It sounded funny in my head"; or "Wow, that wasn't funny at all". Then quickly move on to something else. Don't let a tumbleweed moment linger.

Don't try too hard to make up for it and convince people you really are funny.

Instead, relax, keep quiet and wait a while before trying to make another crack. In a very short space of time, people will completely forget your failed joke and their impression of you will be formed on who you are rather than what you said.

Step 3: Inadvertent offence
It may be that your well-intentioned comment has done more than fail; it may even have offended a new acquaintance.

If this is the case there are several steps you can follow to bounce back.

Step 4: Stop digging
At the moment the words have left your mouth, the damage is done. A common mistake is to immediately try and justify what's been said.

This invariably results in creating even more of a problem for yourself. Don't dig your way into a giant hole of social disapproval.

Instead, once you've realised your mistake, stop. Apologise immediately and sincerely. But keep it brief and then move on. Walk away, talk to someone else, or offer to get a drink.

Step 5: Give them space
Accept that you have offended that person, and hounding them for the rest of the evening isn't going to earn you a place in their good books.

Leave them alone, and get to know some other people.

After a suitable period - towards the end of the party, for example - approach them again.

This time, speak to them one-to-one. Don't try to over-explain anything, but offer a sincere and considered apology for your thoughtless comment.
Hopefully your sincere apology will have convinced the offended party that you aren't a horrible person, and in future they will be willing to give you a second chance.

RAMADHAN

Fasting is another unique moral and spiritual characteristic of Islam. Literally defined, fasting means to abstain "completely" from foods, drinks, intimate intercourse and smoking, before the break of the dawn till sunset, during the entire month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year. But if we restrict the meaning of the Islamic Fasting to this literal sense, we would be sadly mistaken.

When Islam introduced this matchless institution, it planted an ever-growing tree of infinite virtue and invaluable products. Here is an explanation of the spiritual meaning of the Islamic Fasting:

It teaches man the principle of sincere Love: because when he observes Fasting he does it out of deep love for God. And the man who loves God truly is a man who really knows what love is.
It equips man with a creative sense of hope and an optimistic outlook on life; because when he fasts he is hoping to please God and is seeking His Grace.
It imbues in man the genuine virtue of effective devotion, honest dedication and closeness to God; because when he fasts he does so for God and for His sake alone.
It cultivates in man a vigilant and sound conscience; because the fasting person keeps his fast in secret as well as in public. In fasting, especially, there is no mundane authority to check man's behavior or compel him to observe fasting. He keeps it to please God and satisfy his own conscience by being faithful in secret and in public. There is no better way to cultivate a sound conscience in man.
It indoctrinates man in patience and selflessness, as through fasting, he feels the pains of deprivation but he endures them patiently.
It is an effective lesson in applied moderation and willpower.
Fasting also provides man with a transparent soul, a clear mind and a light body.
It shows man a new way of wise savings and sound budgeting.
It enables man to master the art of Mature Adaptability. We can easily understand the point once we realize that fasting makes man change the entire course of his daily life.
It grounds man in discipline and healthy survival.
It originates in man the real spirit of social belonging, unity and brotherhood, of equality before God as well as before the law.
It is a Godly prescription for self-reassurance and self-control.

Who Must Fast?

Fasting Ramadan is compulsory upon every Muslim, male or female, who has these qualifications:

To be mentally and physically fit, which means to be sane and able.
To be of full age, the age of puberty and discretion, which is normally about fourteen. Children under this age should be encouraged to start this good practice on easy levels, so when they reach the age of puberty they will be mentally and physically prepared to observe fasting.
To be present at one's permanent settlement, your home town, one's farm, and one's business premises, etc. This means not to be on a journey of about fifty miles or more.
To be fairly certain that fasting is unlikely to cause you any harm, physical or mental, other than the normal reactions to hunger, thirst, etc.

Exemption From Fasting:
These said qualifications exclude the following categories:

Children under the age of puberty and discretion.
Insane people who are unaccountable for their deeds. (Orang gillak!).People of these two categories are exempted from the duty of fist, and no compensation or any other substitute is enjoined on them.
Men and women who are too old(thank to Allah that my atuk masih muda) and feeble to undertake the obligation of fast and bear its hardships. Such people are exempted from this duty, but they must offer, at least, one needy poor Muslim an average full meal or its value per person per day.
Sick people whose health is likely to be severely affected by the observance of fast. They may postpone the fast, as long as they are sick, to a later date and make up for it, a day for a day.( you have to follow the rules. Remember, u have 11 month to QADA it)
Travelers may break the fast temporarily during their travel only and make up for it in later days, a day for a day
Pregnant women and women breast-feeding their children may also break the fast, if its observance is likely to endanger their own health or that of their infants. But they must make up for the fast at a delayed time, a day for a day.
Women in the -period of menstruation (of a maximum of ten days or of confinement (of a maximum of forty days)(Allah bagi cuti yer... take note).; They must postpone the fast till recovery and then make up for it, a day for a day.

It should be understood that here, like in all other Islamic undertakings, the intention must be made clear that this action is undertaken in obedience to God, in response to His command and out of love of Him.
The fast of any day of Ramadan becomes void by intentional eating or drinking or smoking or indulgence in any intimate intercourse, and by allowing anything to enter through the mouth into the interior parts of the body. And if this is done deliberately without any lawful reason, this is a major sin which only renewed repentance can expiate.
If anyone, through forgetfulness, does something that would ordinarily break the fast, 0a observance is not nullified, and his fast stands valid, provided he stops doing that thing the moment he realizes what he is doing.
On completion of the fast of Ramadan, the special charity known as Sadagat-ul-Fitr (charity of ' Fast-breaking) must be distributed before 'Eid-ul-Fitr (approximately), seven dollars per head.

General Recommendations:

It is strongly recommended by Prophet Muhammad to observe these practices especially during Ramadan:

To have a light meal before the break of the dawn, known as Sahur in Bahasa Melayu.
To eat a few dates or start breaking the fast by plain water right after sunset, saying this prayer Allah humma laka sumna, wa 'ala rizqika aftarna. (O God! for Your sake have we fasted and now we break the fast with the food You have given us).
To make your meals as light as possible because, as the Prophet put it, the worst thing man can fill is his stomach.
To observe the supererogatory prayer known as sembahyang Tarawih.
To exchange social visits and intensify humanitarian services
To increase the study and recitation of the Qur'an.
To exert the utmost in patience and humbleness.
To be extraordinarily cautious in using one's senses, one's mind and, especially, the tongue; to abstain from careless gossip and avoid all suspicious motions