Aiman Azlan's Blog

June 27th, 2014 marked the end of my "40 Days of Positivity" social media campaign, using the hashtag #40DaysOfPositivity. Why 40 days? Because I believe that if you want to turn something into a habit, then you must do it consistently for at least 40 days. The basic idea is that it takes a long time for a good habit to really sink in and becomes second nature to us. Cultivating good habits require effort, time, and patience. The inspiration to start this campaign started when I realized that there are a lot of negativity on the internet, especially in social media sites - people arguing, complaining, spreading rumours, and the like. I don't want to hop onto the same bandwagon, so I decided to make this campaign. Mostly it was for myself, so that I can be more positive on the internet but it turned out to be beneficial for others as well. Many are doing their own #40DaysOfPositivity. So that's good to know. I posted these messages on my Facebook and Twitter...

One of the big challenges for the human mind is to think outside of itself. We like to assume that whatever that we think we know about something or someone is the whole truth, even if in reality it is only an assumption we made based on a limited amount of information which may or may not cover all the many aspects of that something or someone.  I read a saying once, "Don't judge me till you walk a mile in my shoes or live a day in my life." I agree with the saying, but it sounds like a lot of work. Doesn't it? Wouldn't be easier to just assume? When someone cuts you off in a highway, it is easier to just assume that he is a reckless driver, rather than to entertain the possibility that he might have a wife who is in labour and he needs to get to the hospital ASAP.  When a young, attractive woman married an old man, it is easier to assume that she is a gold-digger, rather than to entertain the possibility that she might actually love the guy....

I have a story for you. Here are a few things you need to know to appreciate the story: The incident happened when I was in boarding school, all of the students in that school were Muslims, we were a small community so everybody kind of knew everybody, and the male dorm is right across from the female dorm, divided by a dining hall in between. Also, you need to know what kind of person I was back then. Okay, this is awkward. I was the kind of person who was very straightforward with the ladies...and I don’t mean that in any romantic way at all. I would be very straightforward whenever I saw my Muslim lady friends dressed up in a way that a Muslim woman shouldn’t. Whenever I saw something wrong, I would be straight up honest with them right there and then. I had very bad timing, and bad self-control, and apparently my method was bad too. Point is, it was bad. Yes, you can say that I was very brave – very stupidly brave. I was so brave that I was even straightforward with my ...