Keep Yourself Busy!

You know, all the lectures and books that I read that talk about how to get closer to Allah all have the same advise [more or else] : make a schedule and get organized. We really need to get organized and have a schedule, otherwise we waste so much time. Ever since I was little my dad would always yell at me and my siblings to get organized, don’t waste time and make sure that we have a schedule. So the summer is in [well it's been in for a while, actually sadly classes are like a month away :/ ],  I’m not taking any summer classes and the economy is terrible so I haven’t been able to find another job. So Monday-Thursday I teach at the Qur’an classes that I usually teach at, and then after that I’m free. It’s pretty awesome having free time, I haven’t really been doing much besides getting my lesson plans ready, staying outside, chilling with my youngest brother and reading mad history books. So it’s been good hamdulillah. I try to keep myself busy all the time. I’ve realized that the busier I am, the better I am, does that make sense? I’m more organized, productive… when I’m busy. I get to go to the library/Borders/Barnes and Noble and I juss stay there reading books and getting work done. I love the library, I think my library card is the most abused card in my wallet- well technically it’s not even a card anymore and not in my wallet, it’s this little tiny plastic thing  attached to my car keys so I don’t even have to carry my wallet anymore Books can be so expensive, and whenever I go into Borders/Barnes and Nobles I always see something that I want but can’t afford. So I go to the library and then check if my library has it, or my county or the next county over or I tell the librarian that I want the book and then the library buys it and then I can check it out, hamdulillah It’s quite simple and helps my list of “books to read” move along. But don’t get me wrong, I think books are the best of investments, I juss can’t afford any investments right now.  I recently started studying for the GRE’s and since I’m pretty broke I juss spend time either at the library or the bookstores and then I use the books there. I read the books, take as much notes as I can take the practice tests and answer it on a separate sheet of paper. It’s a pretty sweet deal, I get to use the books for free, so du’as that this stuff actually sticks in my head and inshaAllah I will get a good grade!

So where is all this rambling going? I guess the point of this post is that if your someone who isn’t so good at planning or sticking to schedules try it out- I know it’s hard, I can make plans but sometimes it’s hard to stick to them. Sometimes I juss sit and try to think of a plan and it takes so long that I end up wasting more time!  A good example is say that you decide that from now on you’re going to start working out or running, you keep on saying it and keep on saying it and then one day you actually do it! [ta-da!]  Once you do it you have to keep on forcing yourself to do it, thinking of some kind of motivation to get you to go again, and again… sure in the beginning it seems hard-your muscles start to cramp, the next morning you can’t move, you feel like you’re gunna get stuck in each position of Salah, you feel tired… it’s all new to you so it takes a while to get used to it. But then after a while it becomes second nature and you begin to start a habit to continuously do it without having to drag your feet. Your body will become accustomed to the habit. So once you think of a schedule play around with it, see what works for you, what motivates you to keep on going etc… and don’t start off with an absurdly ridiculously hard schedule that’s impossible to stick to, because then your juss setting yourself up for failure. Get a simple one, then tweak it a little, then add more, tweak it some more and remember that there is always room for improvement, and that we all have “off” days, don’t be too rough on yourself, and not too loose either. I mean when I’m at Borders/Barnes and Nobles it’s so hard for me to force myself to sit down and study because there are so many other books around me that I would rather juss sit down and read. Distractions are all over the place, I live in a small town so the chances of me running into someone I know are high, or there will be someone talking loudly, someone playing their head phones obnoxiously loud or [my worse habit] I tend to sit by the windows in the cafe because I’m weird and like to look out the window, but then I tend to start looking at the cars, and then I’ll hear a car and look to see what car it is and….yes… I know,… I am really, really, really weird, my mother still doesn’t understand whats wrong with me, khayr inshaAllah.  But anyway, you juss have to learn to fight yourself, your nafs, as Shaykh Khalid said, your nafs is like a baby, it juss whines and wants to play and have fun all the time, but we can’t always play can we? You may say yes, but you know you can’t, everything has to be done in moderate proportions. The GRE review book I was reading today said “someone famous once said, ‘know thine enemy’…” at first I thought it was funny that it actually said “someone famous once said” [I am easily amused] but  I got over that and the book went on to say how we need to learn the math material for the exam. So figure out what works for you and what works against you. For me, the summer is always a time for reflecting on what kind of person I was throughout the year [school year]. Have I changed? [for better/worse?] Should I change? Am I happy with who I have become? Do I need to become a better person? How am I deen-wise? Did I try to become better? Did I learn anything new? How can I help others? etc… Hamdulilalh I think this summer was the most reflective one for me and I have made some changes, inshaAllah for the better and inshaAllah I will get closer to Allah. If you’re thinking of doing something like this too, I have one guideline: be very critical of yourself. It can be a bit hard but the only way you can get better is to be super critical, examine each flaw and see if it’s juss a flaw that isn’t doing anything to you, or a flaw that can lead you astray or lead you to trouble. Someone once said, “To be humble is to accept the truth and submit to it even if you heard it from a child or someone who is uneducated or ignorant.” It’s easier said than done, so test yourself out and strive for the best.

Make sure to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, play with a younger sibling(s), or niece or nephew, or grab some friends and act like little kids because you’re never too old to act like a little kid :] Go climb a tree, I love climbing trees!

Khayr, that’s all for now, take care inshaAllah and get organized, have fun but not too much, be productive but leave some room for fun. Confusing? Yeah, I really am confusing, I confuse myself all the time and often times everyone else around me as well, khayr, it happens.

Take care inshaAllah, and keep everyone in your du’as.

-radf

Allahumma sali ala sayyidina muhammadin an-Nabbiyil ummiyi Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salim.

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