I always feel like time just zooms by, especially on public holidays or weekends. Saturday and Sunday fly past and suddenly—boom—Monday hits and it’s back to the office. Ouch… totally boring.
But when I’m working, it’s like time just drags... I think it’s already 5pm, but nope—just 3:30pm. Then when 5pm finally hits and I go home, I barely blink and suddenly it’s 9pm. Before I know it, it’s already 11pm—time to sleep, because tomorrow I gotta work again. Work? Oh mannnn!
When there’s a lot of workload, even a simple task that should take one hour somehow takes me the whole day.
And here’s another one—let’s say I go on a four-day holiday somewhere nice. I don’t really feel like I’m enjoying it fully. What I feel instead is that I wasted my money and I feel like a total fool. So now, I feel like there’s no need to go on a fancy vacation. Just stay home. Save money. Still boring, though.
Why is that?
The answer is—how much time do I actually give to God? If you give your time to God, He gives you time in return.
At work, I feel like time moves slowly. That’s actually a gift. God’s giving me a chance to use that slow time wisely—for worship. Not necessarily praying or reading the Quran, but worship as in fulfilling my responsibilities in the office. I work at the Religious Office, and my tasks include educating Muslims about zakat. On top of that, I’m building a financially strong institution. Why? So that with strong Islamic funding, we can help those who need help.
People come to the religious office with all kinds of problems. Some wanna register for marriage. Some need family counseling. Some ask for financial aid. Some come to learn religion. Some pay zakat. And some… got caught doing things they shouldn’t.
But when I’m working, am I actually treating it as worship? Nope. When people ask about zakat, I’m thinking, Ugh, such a hassle…
When someone gets caught for inappropriate behavior, I go off making fun of them with my colleagues.
When someone wants to convert to Islam, my brain goes, He’s just doing it to get married… or maybe for the money from the Baitulmal.
When someone asks for help, I feel like they’re just a burden.
God’s giving me time at work, letting time move slowly, so that I can turn my work into acts of worship—but I waste that chance.
When I’m on vacation, time flies. Why? Because God is trying to keep me from wasting that time on sins. He speeds up my off-time so I’ll return to work—and maybe use that time better.
What do I do on vacation? I go to the movies. Watch TV. Jog while checking out women in yoga pants. Sleep and miss my prayers. Scroll through Facebook reading all the drama and garbage.
Back when I was a student, I never felt like class time went fast. When class started, time moved sooooooo slowly…
Unless the teacher was super attractive—then wow, time flew.
So yeah, it’s clear—when we’re learning, God stretches time for us so we have more space to understand and absorb.
In 2012, I noticed a few changes in me. I lost 16 kilos. So hey, at least there’s that. Something to show for the year.
But financially? Meh. I used to be able to save RM5,000 a year. In 2012? Zilch.
And career-wise? No progress at all. Still stuck in the same place. Means… bad performance. Yup.
I once said to a religious teacher,
"Ustaz, I always feel like time’s moving way too fast. I never feel satisfied with my off days…"
And he said,
"Time isn’t meant to be filled with satisfaction. It’s meant to be filled with knowledge and responsibility."