Ramadan

Ramadan is coming! Ramadan is coming! It’s almost here. Oh, when will it get here?

As you can probably tell, I’m excited for Ramadan. It’ll be here before we know it, be gone far too soon.

Ramadan is a time of year to better oneself. It’s a time of year to begin good habits which we must keep throughout the course of the next year. Of course, that’s easier said than done once the atmosphere wears off. It is so much easier to be good during Ramadan. There’s a multitude of encouragement and the people around you encourage one another. Sadly, that dries up once Eid has come and gone.

I’ve thought that to myself on more than one occasion – wouldn’t it be great if we could keep some of the atmosphere of Ramadan? Some of the spirit of encouragement? Well, why not start keeping it alive ourselves? After all, if we all think it but none of us do anything about it, all we get in the end are some vague thoughts in the back of our minds.

I have said this before and I will most likely say it a thousand times again – I am far from the best Muslim. But, I want to keep trying to improve. And so, I think I’ll start this Ramadan by embodying a quote that I love:

Be the change you wish to see in the world…

– Mahatma Gandhi

I have that quote on a (chipped) mug, given to me by a very good friend of mine. I remember reading the quote the day I got the mug and loving the sentiment behind it. I remember thinking about all the ways I could improve whenever I sat lounging around drinking a cup of tea from it. And, now that it’s been retired to live on the windowsill, I’m going to use it to remind me to not only make the most of this Ramadan but also to try my best to create sustained good habits that I can carry on for the rest of the year.

I can’t wait for Ramadan to get here. In Shaa Allah this Ramadan will be a good one for us all.