My Spiritual Journey-part 1

I used to be a kid who didn't really obey religion rules. When in high school, I rarely prayed. At that time, I usually I prayed when somethings came up, like final exam or some competitions, or when there were school events which obliged praying. However, I changed. I'm trying to be a better person. Step by step, I started to pray 5 times a day, and then do sunnah prayers, and then read Al Qur'an. I'm still learning, and always be, though.

Anyway, the paragraph above is too short in explaining my spiritual life. Life has too many sides that even if we write it in a thick book, it's still not enough.

I recall Gladwell's Outliers, where it explains that opportunities and external factors, beside our own effort, make us what we are now. Like Bill Gates, he is smart and willing to learn, but that is not the only factor that makes him success. The opportunity of accessing a computer when it's not common at that time, makes him be.

Well, Bill Gates is a nice example of what happens when opportunity meets self-effort. On the other side, my story, perhaps is too far to be compared with Bill Gates. However, the point is, series of opportunities and external factors also makes me what I am now. In this case, what I want to share now is about my spiritual life. Don't worry, I'll share you another part of my life later. There are many to share, heheh.

And anyway, this is not me bragging about how religious I am. I share this because I'm just simply stunned and I think it's one of things that makes me realize how amazing a life is. How our past experience built our understanding, and mindset, about something.

Okay, ready?

...

Hum, I said I wasn't really religious, I rarely prayed when I was a teenager. My mom wasn't a religious person either. But then, she still sent me to a Qur'an learning center few times a week when I was in kindergarten.

In junior high school, I met a very impressive Religion teacher. It was the first time a person asked me, "Why do you choose this religion?" and it was the first time I realized, religion is something that needs our consent, unless we won't feel really belong to it. At least, that's what happen to me. This teacher, named Mr. Toha, was a really nice person. And he didn't force us to "don't ask and just believe". He also explained why he chose Islam. And I thought about that... And decide that this is the right thing for me. It doesn't mean that I bashed other religions or believes. Everyone just have right to decide and believe, based on the knowledge and information they obtain.

However, it's still a long way to go. My journey didn't stop there. At that time I didn't immediately pray 5 times and read Qur'an and do other religious activities. There are other experiences that step by step lead me to really believe and make me decide to do it right...