Sinatra_Z - Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha

I use the standard Malay spelling rather than Eid,
I'm somewhat of a traditionalist I guess. Typical me.

Aidiladha is remembered for the sacrifices made by the Prophet Ibrahim, in which he was ordered by god to sacrifice his son Ismail. Though hard and bitter it may be, he nonetheless went through it, but Allah the merciful merely wanted to test Ibrahim's will and replace his son with a sacrificial animal instead.

Made me think,
The sacrifices made by Ibrahim and his son Ismail and other prophets before and after them.
They held onto their faith, their principle even when it is hard and tough. At the most crucial moments they never let go of it.

Principles,
can be defined as
a set of fundamentals that a person uses to chart their lives with. It can act as a guide when it comes to making a decision or determining which path to be taken. A principle is like a red X on a map, when one is lost or stumble upon a junction, one can always refer to the map to determine which direction to go in order to reach the final destination.

But the thing about principles is,
it would only be worth something if the person holds on to it.
A principle would be worthless if the person changes them easily.

Personally I prefer someone who holds onto a set of principles.
Even if I disagree with it, at least I know what that person stands for or where is he/she heading for. It means that person knows where he/she want's to go and I respect that. Very much.

But the problems with principles is,
when you decide to have them, you must uphold it at all times.

Principles are not tools to be used and talked about at our convenience.
We cant merely prescribe to it only when it is beneficial to us and decide to scrap it when situation doesn't give us the advantage.

If that is the case then there's no point in having any.

Even when it's hard, tough, unpopular and does not benefit you at the time being,
if you believe in your principles with sound reasoning then by all means god will not take the excuse of you ditching them because it is simply inconvenient.

Then again,
this is easier said than done.

But like Ibrahim and Ismail,
Because they managed to hold onto their faith, they did not go astray.

As years go by,
our surroundings, situation and people will have an influence on us. Amongst these many variables that affects our lives, it's hard to keep our principles constant.

So at least once a year,
let us remember what it really means to hold onto something. Let us remember, like Ibrahim and Ismail, as to what we stand for, why we stood for it and where should we be heading.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha.

Maaf Zahir Batin.