cats lover and human too....(^_^)

“I’m just going to finish this in 30 minutes” “My teammates need me to do this so I’m just gonna finish it”

There have been times where I’ve tried to continue to complete all of my work, however, things didn’t really work out and I felt extremely burned out afterwards. If you think that you need a break, then please consider taking it. 

• clean ya room (just do it). also, check those pinterest boards you save for “one day” and actually go through them and draw some inspiration, even if you just end up rearranging the books on your bookshelf or putting some flowers from your garden in a mason jar on your desk. this is your home, make it feel like it is.

• do your laundry (also, don’t forget your bed sheets). if you’re in the mood, look at next week’s weather forecast and think about what you’re going to wear. go through your drawers, check the back of your closet. that hat you bought some time ago and forgot about because you didn’t dare to wear it? well… new week, new you, right? 

• call a friend/family member you haven’t talked to in a while, tell them you miss them. tell them you love them. remember and appreciate that they are a part of your life even if it doesn’t feel like it all the time.

• draw, paint, journal, write or make some music. something you know you love doing but “never find the time”. sunday is “finding-the-time day”. if you’re not feeling creative, read a book or watch your favorite show. or watch a new show. a scary show. a funny show. laugh as loud as you want. listen to music. listen to your favorite songs, or listen to new songs. even a new genre if you dare. turn the volume all the way up. take a second to consciously feel the music. you can always get up and dance. or sing. or both.

• the great, but still really effective classic: take a bath or a really long shower. if you have this special face or hair mask you’re saving up for a special occasion: congrats, you’re the special occasion today. use it. also, body lotion. we all know you’re going to be running late during the week and skip it one too many times. make yourself feel like the goddess you are. 

• sit in silence for a few moments. listen to your breath. listen to your heartbeat. for the love of god PLEASE listen to your thoughts for once in your life. don’t make them feel like they are wrong. or bothersome. they too just want to be heard once in a while. what are they trying to tell you? what could be soothing for them? be compassionate to yourself. it’s okay. you are okay. you are okay.

• think about things you can be grateful for next week. even if you feel like your life sucks atm, think about the small things you take for granted in a different way. for example: “next week, i will have access to clean water. CLEAN. WATER. 844 million people don’t have that.” or “next week, my legs will take me wherever i want to go. not everybody has two fully functioning legs, so i’m lucky in that way.” you’re allowed to feel bad about your life, but you’re also allowed to feel good about things. 

• if you’ve stayed home most of the week, go out. go for a walk. go swimming. go to a party or dinner with friends. even if you feel like you don’t need to see the outside world, chances are you’ll feel great after you do. if you feel like you’ve been running around all week, maybe you’d like to stay home today. put on your ugliest sweater, comfiest leggings, and fluffiest socks and curl up under a thousand blankets. you a sloth today and it’s okay. 

• eat. i mean honestly: eat THE THING. i don’t care if you’re on a diet. if there’s something you’ve been craving all week that has turned you into the veiny-neck-dude meme just trying to resist it: EAT IT. you deserve it. not because you worked out or ate salads or did well in school, but just because you’re a human and you love to eat and life is short and you should be allowed to eat yummy things. it’s okay. you won’t gain 5 pounds or lose your brain cells no matter how unhealthy it is, i promise.

• plan plan plan yo week. it doesn’t matter if you use a planner, bullet journal, the calendar on your phone or the notes app: write everything down you have going on next week. appointments. events. coffee-dates. when are you going to the gym? what are you going to eat? (meal prep if necessary) also, create reminders on your phone for everything. “i won’t forget it!” is a sweet thought, but oh honey you will. schedule reminders for every event. let your phone remind you that you need to buy toilet paper when the store is nearby. schedule daily reminders for your medications. (once you’ve done this it honestly feels like you just cleaned out 38GB of your brain, you simply don’t have to worry about that anymore, space for more important info, like your new favorite pun to annoy everyone with)

"The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told us to read Surah Kahf on Fridays, and on some Fridays, you breeze through it. It doesn’t seem to relate. You read it and vaguely remember the stories. You get the big picture, and just like that, you move on. It’s Friday after all. You have plans after work, or are excited for the weekend.

But there will be Fridays where you need Kahf. Because it will hit you.

There is a part in Surah Kahf where Khidr is destroying a boat. Utterly destroying it. Breaking it apart. And this boat belongs to a group of poor individuals. People who are just getting by and need this boat for their livelihood, to fish and to travel, perhaps even to live in it.

Musa AS asks Khidr – why? How on earth does that make sense?

Imagine that you are that poor person, with a boat. And it is destroyed. And you wonder to Allah – why? I am in need of this promotion, this grade, this job, this home, this spouse. I am in need of this dua being answered – and I do not have a silver spoon. How can you destroy my boat Allah? MY BOAT.

Why not destroy the boats of the ungrateful, the boats of those out drinking and partying and not once caring about your existence ya Allah. Why did you destroy my boat, my weak little boat, that carried my dreams. Why is it shattered? Did I not take care of it enough? Did I not worship you enough? Did I not wake up for fajr? Did I not do my fasts?

But the story is that there was an evil King coming – and if the boat was intact, the King would take the boat from these poor people and the people will not have a means of sustenance anymore. But a broken boat – Allah knows that the poor people can fix and once again be okay, and the King would not be interested.

So your boat broke, but Allah knows He will help you fix it. He will help you find a way. But He knows a bigger picture, and something bigger He is protecting you from.

It doesn’t make sense to you right now. You cannot see the evil King, you cannot see what Allah protected you from. All you can see is your hard work in front of you – broken. All you can see is the effort it will take to move forward, to move on from this calamity.

So, if the one you wanted to marry was taken away from you – know that it’s because Allah knows what would have happened years down the line, and it maybe wasn’t the right person or the right time.

If the grades didn’t happen the way you wished – know that it may be Allah protecting your imaan. That the grade would’ve lead you to a place, a program or a graduate school where your imaan would fall and you wouldn’t have enough support to get back up.

If the job didn’t happen then maybe that job would’ve lead you into a person you weren’t meant to become. Maybe it would’ve deterred you from your family needs and maybe in a month or two, there’s a job literally designed for you that will enable you to pray your sunnahs with ease and give you more barakat. And after that, another job, with more benefits.

Look beyond the destroyed boat.

Remember that you did make dua, that you did put in effort, and that you are loved by Allah and just as a child does not understand why his mother won’t let him have the sugary drink at 6AM – Allah loves you more than that mother. Allah loves, and Allah knows.

Try fixing the boat, or look another way -- for another door.

You are capable of passing the broken boat test.

You have the sabr: the patience is within you. Allah wouldn’t put you through it if you weren’t capable.

Some tips and advice for managing of having to self isolate or quarantine.

I know this blog is generally kept for Christmas posts but I am posting this based on my personal experiences and the experiences of people I look after as a healthcare professional.

Oftentimes, it hurts the more we resist the sadness. It makes me feel frustrated and guilty when I fight my sadness, so I’ve learned to just ride it out instead until I can feel calmer and ready for happiness again. 🌊

By Shaykh ul –Islaam Ibn Qayyim aj-Jawzeeyah as-Salafi-Rahimullaah-

Translated by Umm Yahya

Shamsuddeen Muhammad bin Abee Bakr Ibn Qayyim aj-Jawzeeyah (d.751 A.H.) -Rahimullaah- said:

‘Indeed a slave commits a sin and enters Paradise through committing it and he performs a good deed and enters the Hellfire through performing it.’

It was asked ‘How is this (possible)?’

Ibn Qayyim -Rahimullaah- answered:

‘A sin is committed and thus does not cease to be before his eyes (causing him to be) fearful of it, concerned about it frightened and weeping due to his regret of doing it. Feeling ashamed due to this action before his Lord The Most High, with his head lowered between his hands, and his heart broken and despondent due to it.

Therefore that sin will be more beneficial to him than numerous acts of obedience could be. As a consequence these previously mentioned matters are the cause for this slave of Allaah’s happiness and success until that sin will be a reason for him to enter Paradise.

A slave of Allaah performs a good deed and he continues to view it as if he has performed a favour for his Lord and is egotistic due to that good deed, and he is conceited, vain and arrogant due to the sin. So he says I did such and such action (boasting) causing to him to inherit the characteristic of pride, haughtiness and adopting an overbearing attitude.

This becomes the reason for his destruction.

Thus if Allaah Ta’ala intends good for the needy slave He trials him with something in order to bring him down and to lower his neck in humiliation and to decrease his importance to himself. However if Allaah intended for him (the slave) anything other than good He (Allaah) would have left him alone and his vanity and pride and this is the deception which necessitates his destruction.’

All the experiences we’ve had have shaped us into the people we are today. 💪