The One Thing That Got Me Through All My Difficult Times
There is one thing that is so vitally important when we are going through an emotionally difficult time because it is the only thing that keeps us going, that makes us seek help, that helps us heal and helps us to ask ALLAH for help and support.
That ONE THING is HOPE. Without hope, there is no path to healing and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
So today I want to share with you a reflective piece I wrote and a painting I did while I was healing and it is about hope:
A REFLECTION:
The other day I was reflecting on life and I saw this picture in my mind. I took the cue and started painting.
It represents hope.
It’s about looking upwards to ALLAH, appreciating the light around you that comes from HIM and shining bright in the darkness. It’s about standing tall and standing in your your own power and beauty regardless of what surrounds you and what the naysayers say. It’s about keeping faith in yourself and in ALLAH.
It is remembering that “surely...
Calm Stands Alone
One of the habits I have really cultivated and held on to in my journey to self-improvement and self-discovery is journaling/writing.
Sometimes though I can’t find the right words to express what’s inside myself and so I do art instead, and once I do that I miraculously find the words for it too.
So this is a piece I did on ‘calm’ or ‘my calm’ and as I look at it, ‘calm’ speaks to me.
Calm stands alone. It doesn’t need support and it's powerful. As I was doing the page I intuitively felt that the word ‘strength’ had to go on the page too and maybe that’s because ‘calm’ is strength. Maybe our strength comes forth when we’re calm or maybe we need to be calm to be strong but strength definitely leans on calm.
The white flower is so delicate yet it stands alone so calmly. It has a dignity and strength in its calm that says ‘I’m strong, I’m scared. Don’t touch...
Have You Ever Said ‘I’m Ok’ When What You Really Wanted to Say Was ‘I’m Broken’?
I get you, sis, I’ve been there and this message is for you my dear sister:
Those moments of ‘I’m ok’ when what I feel that ‘I’m broken’ remind me of this quote by Rumi:
‘When I’m Silent I Have Thunder Inside.’
RUMI
It reminds me of this quote because sometimes you really do have days when you have thunder inside but you’re silent. Those days when there’s not only thunder rather a storm that is raging inside but you’re with people who are not ‘safe’. They’re not safe enough to see your real emotions. They’re not safe enough for you to be your true self and express yourself as you really wish you could. I want you to know that ‘it’s ok, it’s normal in fact’ and that that there is nothing ‘wrong with you and that what ‘they do, or what ‘they’ say or what ‘they think is not your primary concern and neither is it in your control....
When You Feel in Need of Support But Don’t Get it
When you ask for help and people refuse to help you.
When you feel vulnerable and in need of emotional support but none is coming.
When you feel in need of support for your decisions but you don’t get it.
When you feel weak, sick and physically unable.
When there is so many uncertainties that you wish you knew the outcome of or could resolve but can’t.
Don’t think of it as doors closing. Think of it as ALLAH opening new doors for you; the doors of tawakkul and trust in ALLAH.
HE is directing you away from reliance on the creation and even from reliance on yourself and taking you towards reliance on HIM alone.
HE is opening the doors of reliance on HIM and only HIM and in that moment remember that HE, THE OPENER, is most capable of bringing you out of your situation into something better and indeed these doors that build your soul, your faith and your inner strength can never compare to any...
3 Painful but Powerful Lessons I Learnt From My Divorce
As I reflect on this, I can feel the tears welling up inside my eyes and my heart, and it's not because it's the first time I’ve thought about it. I’ve actually thought about this many times and I have a list of 100 lessons from my divorce that I’ve made and picked 3 feels like such a challenge.
However, that’s still not what’s making me emotional, the tears are coming because, despite the sting of it that I still feel at times, I feel immense gratitude. I feel a powerful wave of gratitude to my LORD arising from deep within my soul for the growth HE has granted me and for the person, HE has made me as a result of my divorce and I am overwhelmed by it all. I am overwhelmed by the gifts and treasures that came wrapped up in the pain, brokenness, and hurt.
I asked my LORD for strength, the strength of faith, I asked my LORD for sincerity, sincerity to HIM, I asked my LORD for love, love for HIM and I asked for a million other things but never did I...
