{2} Chasing Away The Heavy Heart: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

"Life is prettier when we thank our Lord for what has passed, what has remained, what is to come."

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Some days I wonder why I am not thankful enough for the abundant blessings I have been given in  life.

Every day that I live and breathe is a blessing.

My loved ones are a blessing.

The eyes that I use to see are a blessing.

The ears with which I hear with are a blessing.

The hands and feet I have been given are a blessing.

My existence and everything around me is a blessing.

But when I think about it, I notice that I do not appreciate each and every one of these things enough. I spend so much of my time thinking and complaining about what I do not have that I am completely at loss when I realise that I have been blessed with countless wonders which I do not give a seconds thought to.

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What is Shukr? 

- To be thankful/grateful

- To recognise the generosity and kindness given to us by Allah (swt)

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When times get tough, I forget the blessings of my Lord. I let the pain overtake all the beauty that is around me. The sadness in some way blinds me from seeing the plentiful I have.

How do I remember to be thankful to Allah in my moments of pain?

Those moments where everything seems to be falling apart, what I do is get myself to list on paper my many blessings. You could make this a daily or weekly thing where you note down all the great aspects of your life. You could stick the list up and look at it every so often as a reminder.

Remembering Allah during the day (Dhikr) is another way to always have that constant reminder of your blessings. For example, even something as small as saying the du'a for before you go to sleep is being thankful to Allah. You are remembering that Allah is the only one with the ability to give and take life. That is being thankful!

Even just saying Bismillah and starting an activity in the name of Allah is acknowledging the kindness of your Lord.

بِسْــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِالرَّحْمَنِ اارَّحِيم

A positive effect of being grateful in this way is that you are remembering Allah in most moments as well as pushing away the unwanted negative thoughts that want to evade your mind. 

I hope this is another practical way in which you can chase away the heavy heart. Counting your blessings is easy and simple, and there are endless number of things in life to be thankful for. Find them and be appreciative!

Till then, we shall all continue to strive. 

To read the other posts in this series of sorts, just click on the label at the end of the post that says 'Chasing Away The Heavy Heart'.

{1} Chasing Away The Heavy Heart: KEEPING YOURSELF BUSY

وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَضْحَكَ وَأَبْكَى 

"...and that it is He alone who causes [you] to laugh and to weep." 

[Surah an-Najm 53:43]

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One thing I seem to find frustrating from time to time is that I can not find solutions to my problems straightaway. I thought maybe I should collate some of ways I attempt to block away sadness so that others can find solutions here.

So I decided to write a string of posts around 'chasing away the heavy heart'.

Instead of just writing about feeling down, I thought it would be much more practical to share how I drive the misery away.

One way in which I chase away the heavy heart is by keeping myself busy.

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Some days are easier to get through than others. I think we all have those days where everything seems to be weighing down on our shoulders, and it seems like too much.

Kind of like drowning.

What a lot of these moments have in common is that we are lonely at the time. It might not be the same for everyone, but I have noticed that with myself. I tend to dwell in sadness when I am alone or am doing nothing.

Well the number one thing to do is, STOP DWELLING OR OVER THINKING.

When I am alone, I get lost in my thoughts.

Over thinking is much like digging a hole and throwing yourself head first into it. I like to think of it as the poison of my mind.

Usually I know I am over thinking and I never do enough to stop it.

The best thing to do is to stop spending so much time in our minds.

But how do you stop spending so much time in that place up there?

By keeping yourself busy!

There are so many different ways to do so.

Some of the things I do include:

- Reading a book: Fiction, non fiction, why not even a revision textbook! Books are good at capturing your mind, it allows you to have time to just indulge in something else other than those sad thoughts that run circles in your head.

- Helping around the house: I have been doing this a lot recently. Tidying up maybe your room or helping out in the kitchen. If I am honest, it's not all that fun at times but I find that if I really put my mind into cleaning, my mind kind of creates a barrier against other thoughts. Not only that, there is a satisfaction to seeing a job well done by yourself.

- Friends: Being around my friends is a fab way to keep myself busy. They never fail to make me smile and they are always there for me when I'm low.

And FINALLY keep yourself busy in general, whether that is helping around at school/work, getting involved in new activities and classes. I am planning to do more of that, getting involved with new things. In'Sha'Allah I can start doing more soon!

I hope this post helps in one way or another, even if you take only one thing from it. I hope to write more posts on chasing away the heavy heart soon.

Till then, we shall all continue to strive.

To read the other posts in this series of sorts, just click on the label at the end of the post that says 'Chasing Away The Heavy Heart'.

My New Beginning

"Verily with every hardship comes ease"

[Surah Inshirah 94: 5]

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In life, you try and try till there comes a time where you are stripped to nothing but your weary bones. You've somehow stumbled and fallen to the lowest of the low, lower than low can possibly go. Desperately, you search for a single crack worth clinging onto. The one thing that is your reason for breathing.

Breathing in and breathing out - Inhale and exhale. Searching for what keeps that pattern going.

Where is hope? Where is faith? What are you living for?

There is nothing you see that will help you regain balance. Not a single strand of lifeline. You watch as the spiking lines on the heart rate monitor begin to lose momentum. So weak at this point, barely pulsing, barely breathing, and barely alive.

You imagine the moment the beep beep sound becomes only a single elongated note. Only a never ending line of nothingness visible.

No heartbeat. No lifeline. No cracks to cling onto any more.

The world will fade and turn to darkness. You will be no more. You will have departed - and there will be no ticket back to this world.

It'll be too late.

It'll be too late to realise that Allah is your only hope, Allah is the one you should put all faith in. You live to only worship Him alone.

Do not let hardship make you forget so.

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I created this blog for myself, and in some sense to help me find my way. Words have always been my form of output, especially writing. So I wanted to do something I love, in this case writing, but also teach myself about my religion, expand my knowledge, all the while finding ways to ward off sadness.

This dunya is ever-so tempting, but I am going to attempt to push it away.

At some point in the past few years, I lost my way to Allah. I lost the focus of my life. And I noticed, along with that came overwhelming moments of sadness. But now I want to work towards shaking that off.

I want this to be a way to strengthen my love for Allah, to strengthen my Deen, and also be a continuous reminder to never fall into the trap of depression.

If Allah wills it, I can do this.

I am learning from my mistakes. I am learning from my losses. I want to always be learning.

With all my heart, I make du'a for beautiful things to come out from actually using this blog. I pray that myself, and the rest of the Ummah is rightly guided. In'sha'Allah we can all find the strength and courage within ourselves to be better.

Till then, we shall all continue to strive.

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ 

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you.