A Reminder to Myself

By: Niesa

The act of lending out a helping hand, it is something that can be done at any moment, and anyone can do it. A single gesture that can mean a lot to someone, no matter how small it seems. Take picking up trash that lies on the street as an example. We notice the trash, stop and pick it up and proceed to throw it into the trashcan. A very simple action that even a child can do. So how does that mean a lot to someone? It’s not like anyone will notice the absence of one single trash. But imagine if every single person that passes by the street do the same thing. Soon enough, the street will be spotless clean, people of the community will enjoy the clean environment and let’s just say morale and health is boosted. That action will also relieve a bit of the burden carried by the street cleaners that have slaved away under the bright sunlight, every day.

That is how one simple action can lead to the happiness of others, in ways that sometimes we did not see. However, helping others can also help ourselves, if we think back about it. Hence, I will share a bit on how helping others have helped me. Back when I was in school, I did not think much about others and how I can contribute to the community. The only thing that was on my mind was going through school and doing well on my examinations. Only that. But when I entered IIUM, I was exposed with various programmes, all with different objectives and activities, even ones that I never thought can actually be made into a programme. All of these programmes, however, have one similar objective. To help. To help those that need them, in all sorts of ways.

Through that, I began to think about what I can do to help others and actually do it. And by lending out a hand, it exposes me to various parts of a person’s life that I never thought existed. For example, I never knew that a person that is around the same age as I am can have so many painful experiences growing up. We are both the same age, and both live in this country, but the experiences that person had gone through wakes me up from my own bubble, letting me learn about the various realities of life. It drags me out of my own ignorance, instilling empathy in me and gave me the space to grow as a person.

Interestingly, helping others have also helped me by unearthing my own capabilities that I never knew I had all this time. This refers to the time I helped others via programmes I joined. The programme mentioned have an objective to help others and thinking that it seems interesting I joined. Through that, I developed various skills such as ways to talk to strangers, editing skills as well as improving something that I was not good at, teamwork skills. I can never work with others as it stresses me out often. But when the team works for the same objective, to help, being one of them is actually fun. It also shows me how there are kind people out there. People who took time out of their own hectic schedule to just do something for others. To just help. It makes me realize that humanity is still there, and that people still care about each other.

People have different chapters in their life and some of the chapters consist of hardships and tests from Allah SWT. Of course, all of those hardships are given to them as He knows that they are strong enough to face it. But it still hurts to see them in pain. It makes me more grateful for the blessings provided to me by Him and I know that my blessings should  be shared with others if it can be done, as some of others’ blessings are stored in mine. Hence,it should be given to them. Nevertheless, helping others always became a reminder for me to be more grateful with the things I have in my life, instead of longing for things that are not mine.

The world is really big and while thinking of that, sometimes one can feel insignificant like they do not have any impact on the world. But like mentioned before, a helping gesture can change a person’s life, even if that action is as simple as picking up the trash. Which is why helping others always serves as a reminder to me that, I can make a change in others life. I am capable of putting a smile on someone’s face, just by a single gesture. That will always be the motivation for me to keep on with my journey.

P/s: This article has participated  in HOPE For Mankind 2019 Essay Writing Competition previously.