a letter...

dear dotty,

how are you? i hope you're doing okay. so? how does it feel like? never would you thought that it'll still feel the same, right? just as if you're still in form 2 or 3 or 4, right? nothing much has changed. except that now, you're someone's wife and you no longer live at home, but instead you manage you own home.

it has indeed been a long journey. if no one tells you this, let me do it for you. you have blossomed into someone everyone didn't expect. you've succeeded in surprising them all. you've even proved some of them wrong.

of course you also have flaws that you still need to work on. you have to work on your patience, i know you don't have that much. hehe...you need to work on that.

you need to work on getting closer to Allah even more.

you need to give more. try to minimise on the 'taking' and maximise on the 'giving'.

you need to not let fear stop you from doing new things. you've always told the kids to try new things, so should you. WET LEAVES ARE YOUR FRIENDS. :-p

you need to learn to say 'No'...sometimes, not all the time.

you need to reward yourself once in a while.

you need to take care of yourself more, exercise more, run more. appreciate life and not to over scrutinize everything.

you need to learn the act of forgiving...and that sometimes, it doesn't matter if you're right, what matters is that you have forgiven whoever it is that have hurt you in the past, present or future.

you need to be more humble.

you need to live life simply and live for yourself and not for others.

NEVER let others take you for granted anymore. NEVER. You. Are. Not. A. Doormat.

you need to love, appreciate and be kind to your husband.

you need to love, appreciate and be kind to your mother.

you need to love, appreciate and be kind to your siblings.

you need to love, appreciate and be kind to your friends.

you have to be strong.

you have to smile more.

you have to be grateful and thankful constantly for everything that you have and don't have.

okay....now, i'm nagging. but, if i don't remind you of these things, no one will.

sure, at times, you feel a tad overwhelmed. sure, life sometimes give you more than you can handle, but remember, you are the chosen one. chosen by the Almighty to be tested. these hurdles in life will only make you stronger and turn you into a better person, insyaAllah.

i think i've said enough. i want you to know, that i love you, i appreciate you and i will take care of you.

happy birthday dotty.

love, dotty.