Give praises, accept critics.

Everybody like praises. After doing a difficult task, I feel half the exhaustion is gone if the work is appreciated by others. That's the very reason why I like to praise my colleagues. And of course my kids too. Or anybody around me for that matter. A praise will raise a smile that will lit the world. But praises must be given sincerely. What it means is that there must be a real basis to give the praise. An achievement, a job well done, giving the best effort in doing something, a good intention, anything praise worthy. No string attached. Sincerity must be the base of anything that we do. It is the foundation of a strong and lasting relationship.

For Muslims, we are taught to say Alhamdulillah or 'praise be to Allah' whenever we receive a praise. Nothing is possible without Allah' will. Allah has created human kind in its fitrah or original self - good and pure. Deep down inside we are good, if we didn't listen to the devil or give in to our greed.

On the other hand, we must open ourselves to critics no matter how hard or painful it is. It's the basis to improve ourselves. As an experience teacher, I have stop looking forward to praises from my students on how good a teacher I am. I have had enough of that already, having taught for fifteen years now. What I want to hear is where did I go wrong, how I should do it differently, what makes me unreachable to some students. I value negative comments from my students more than comments from my superiors since my clients are students, not my superiors. Superiors see from outside the window but my students are the one who can see my real weaknesses. I guess this one of the many reasons why I never teach the same way year after year. After all I get different sets of students every year and each one of them are real people; people with different background and exposure. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I am good. What I'm saying is I just want to do my best. That's what Allah want me to do.

Well, I hope whatever I say make sense to you. Please pray for me and I will pray for all of you too. May Allah bless us with wisdom. Amin.