Stirring Personal Growth Post-Ramadan 2020

Pandemic Flavored

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It’s been a month since our blessed month of Ramadan.  We all go into the month, hoping it would save us and put us on track.  As the month ends, many of us eventually start tuning out of the habits we built and phasing back into our usual lives.  

In a world with a pandemic, if you’re blessed enough to be at home with a job, there may not be much stirring you to improve yourself post-Ramadan.  How much good can one do from home? A socially active world just seems to have so many more opportunities to do good and challenges that push us to improve ourselves. The world has come to a still, but we don’t need to be still and wait for the post-pandemic world to better ourselves. Sharing here are some easy ideas I jotted for myself this lazy Sunday afternoon, on how I can adapt my post Ramadan goals of doing good deeds to the realities of pandemic world where I am still pretty blessed – at home and virtually.  

 

Charity begins at home: And voila, we are at home! 

 

• If you live with someone, give them the gift of a smile… or more.  I once read in an article that people put up their best behaviors for the outside world, for coworkers at work etc. Sometimes this drains them to an extent that they run out of their best mood with people who matter the most.  We drop the effort in our natural habitat – but with those who possibly love us the most and deserve our happy energy the most.  Lets start bettering our at home attitudes.

• Wear that chef hat and cook for your family or roommate if you haven’t already.  

• Refill that jug of water for your family or roommate.  

• Clean your surroundings.

 

If you live alone:

• Send something you cooked or baked at home to your neighbor. Banana bread seems to be a quarantine favorite. 

• Send food to someone struggling to make ends meet.

• Water your plants or just leave out some water on your balcony so birds can drink from it. 

• Plant a tree.

• Send us some easy naiki from home ideas ;) 

 

Take advantage of being virtually together: 

• Call that distant or elderly relative and lend them an ear.

• Share your knowledge: If you have expertise in something; post a video or write about it, so your community can learn too. 

• Share to support: On the other hand, if you have a friend who is sharing their expertise, support them!  Support small businesses too, and encourage your friends who are trying to set up businesses.

• Form a virtual club to meet your post-Ramadan goals during a pandemic.  If you’re someone who gets more motivated in a group, thank Allah you can form virtual connections in 2020. Sometimes we need a support system to help us get closer to our goals, not just friends and family but people who have the same goal.  If you had set a goal to read a certain translation of Quran, or to pray more regularly, take the initiative to check and see if someone would be your partner; someone you can discuss things with that you hold you back, bounce ideas off of, to send you inspiring videos of scholars.  Lets create this no-judgment zone in our post Ramadan goal pursuits.  Set aside a time once a month, to really talk about your goal with this group, so your goal stays on the table and is not forgotten three months from the month of Ramadan.   And if you don’t know anyone in Dallas, AMPD can help you connect with the community!

 

We’re all learning how to adapt to the new, and always changing normal! If you have any self-growth ideas for the pandemic world, please share with us too.  

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