Reverse Negotiation does not work!

Success is not something thats always straight ahead. sometimes you got to take an exit and diviate from your routine path. i have been on the same route all these days and couldn't see anything exciting ahead on my way. so thought of taking an exit..being optimistic that it will lead me to success going forward. i find it very apt to compare my career as being driving on a highway. if you are on a single lane road(small company),then changing lanes(projects) is not an option. so you plan to slow down and take an exit from that road..planning behind your mind that you'll be catching another highway(company) soon that will be bigger and broader where you can cruise through. and, fully aware that there might be a stop signal right after you get off the road. well, the opinion of the general public to whom i have spoken thinks this to be a brave/stupid plan. the plan they suggest is to catch a flyover that connects your road to a different highway you want to be on. well thats the ideal case and next to impossible for me :P. so here i am, all set with my stupid cum brave plan.
But suprisingly i am bribed by something to stick onto the same highway! now i am in a position where i might not reach my destination any faster but will gain something being on the same way(ofcourse it has to be the greenbacks!). and as the title of the topic suggests, i tried to be stupid-er by doing a reverse negotiation..yeah! negotiating not for the benefit..i think i was being JUST and honest :P. and yeah i failed the negotiation part miserably..which proves to be fantastic for me!
Allz well that ends well..hopefully.

Making ones prayers...

If not every non Arabic speaking person, at least I find it difficult to concentrate fully during the prayers. there are several hadiths that describe as to how one can increase the khushu wa khudhu(humility, Submissiveness, tenderness in the heart) during prayers. but still people get diverted. i remember reading one of the scholar who said upon asking how he concentrates in prayers, he said, 'while praying i feel shaitaan(devil) is behind me, heaven on my right side, hell on my left and Allah SWT in front of me. this makes me to be steadfast.' Alhamdulillah(All praise to Allah). but as new generation muslims we still get diverted. if its the fajar prayer, after praying and coming back to bed we wonder whether we prayed in real or was it in a dream!(sorry to say but it happens with me sometime). if its zohar, in prayer you will be solving the incomplete algorithm that you left at your desk. if its maghrib, you are empty stomach and tired and feel pity for yourself. and for isha, you think you should have slept by this time, or you think that you wasted the day and will not do so tomorrow! All in all the prayers have become a break from the routine to think of what you did and what you will be doing.

I think I recently found a way to work on ones concentration during the prayers (I should have done this long before. will have to be regular atleast from now on to really make it effective). Personally i find it appealing. (yeah! to boost my confidence!). the secret is, sleep a little early in the night..get up an hour or 45mins before fajar time..this should not be tough at all if you sleep early(can be done practically on weekends). make wadhu(ablution) and pray 8 rakaats in denominations of 2. well not much exciting till now ? the other MOST important thing is to read those surahs (chapters) that you have memorized recently...the surahs that do not come automatically from your subconscious mind. this is very important. as soon as you tend to deviate your concentration, you realize that you are derailing in your recitation. you just HAVE to be in prayers to recite, otherwise it stops or goes wrong. also recite a little bit loud..as loud as it is audible to yourself. this technique also encourages one to memorize new surahs. surah yaseen is the best to start with. then surah rehman and others can follow.

well I share this to encourage myself first. and as everyone know, night prayers have atmost significance. so it a gain gain situation for us! and yeah dont forget to make dua(suplication) after your prayers.

May Allah accept from all of us. Ameen.

and that one mistake..

would have landed me in big trouble. but not,Alhamdulillah (Praise to God). the least has happened when there were the possibilities of worst to occur.three accidents in three consicutive days, that left me or my car untouched! so i call them stunts! rather than accidents :D. these were couple months back.
Being a driving freak, who doesnt bother to wear seat belt no matter a cop behind him, was on my trip to the rockies with two of my friends. we saw blue color in the GPS and were wanting to see a lake. all i could see was a straight patch of road in front of my with 30MPH speed limit. ignorng the sign boards I cruised to 60MPH and there comes a curvature! in those 3 seconds on the curvature, i practically understood the meaning of centrifugal force :D and all those physical laws that keep your car glued to the road. it felt as if i might fly off the road, and my left leg hesitantly applying the brake, in a dilemma that braking might roll the car in a more dramatic way. anyways i felt like whatever i did was a perfect combination and i was able to convert the accident to a 180 degree spin. the car stopped in the opposite lane in a single lane road, lucky with no vehicles coming in that direction. it was soo fun! :D
The next day we went to royal gorge, 2.5 hrs drive from my place, but this time in a rental Impala. on the way back home on a single lane highway at 70MPH, a big deer comes from nowhere and bang!! the momentum of her got herself off the road. i slowed down and again, luckily there was no car behind us. i was in no mood to stop as these kind of accidents happen often in places like these. my friend said, the deer might be stil alive and better we call the police. the deer was unconsious for some time and then started trembling. ok, we called the cop, waited 30mins, and he comes, takes out his revolver and shoots the deer! saying she is already in the dieing state and he is easing her pain! he had plans to use the deer meat to feed the circus lions. to my good luck, I took insurance with full coverage for the car. well, all this was soo exciting! :D
The third stunt was a brave one! and was after a few days. it was a snowy morning with -15C temperature. on my way to office, i thought of taking the straight freeway instead of the regular road with ups and downs. a stop on the uphill would keep my car spinning there for ever. so i took the ramp, raced my car to about 50MPH(65MPH is the limit), and there it goes....so smooth and sliding without any effort! the feeling is just awesome here. its like a man who jumps from a building and wants to stop in the air in between. :D. you just dont even have 1% control of the car. to add to this my car's front tires were torn to death. somehow i managed to get the car off the road rightways on the unpaved area which was filled with a foot high snow. that really hellped to halt the car to zero speed. yups..the car stops, no damage...and no injury to me. if i would have hit a car or the divider on that high speed, it would have been a really bad accident. well for the next hour and a half i am standing in biting cold, calling my so called friends for help and welcoming two cops. randomly a guy in ford truck sees me and stops for help. i would just say that, what he did was an act of noble virtue. he literally lied down in that knee high snow to stuck the chain hook under my car and pulled it back to the road. i could just thank him in most polite & friendly manner.
so is this what we call a chance? if it takes the sh** out of you then i guess. otherwise its fun, exciting and something to share...