Instant Connectivity and Low Self-esteem, how do I break it!

We are living in a time where every person that you meet is somehow connected instantly. We are aware of the minute details of our favourite personalities. We are being kept informed of what our colleagues are upto; the holidays they are going to, the additions to their family and the major events of their lives. You’re not just hearing the news but seeing them in photos and watching their videos so closely that sometimes, in fact most of the times it acts as a reminder of what you don’t have in life.

But I am in no way going to stay ‘stop using social media’, ‘stop chatting with friends’ and simply, ‘stop existing’ in the 21^st century. That is not practical and is not realistically achievable. In fact refraining from social media is similar to a strict diet in which you remain determined for a few days and the minute you let your guards down you start binge eating. The same situation occurs during a social media diet.

So what should be done then? Firstly, I would suggest that instead of going on a complete social media restriction limit your social media usage. You can check out tips for limiting social media usage here. Below are some further ways you can limit your social media usage.

Make use of the ‘Unfollow’ option

When you see a post from a friend or a page that reminds you of what you are missing in life unfollow them for some time or select ‘see fewer posts’ from the options.

Though the root cause is still there and we will be working on it as well.

Catch up with your friends

The next thing you should do is communicate with the people on your friends list because most of the time it is only when you speak with people you get to know their lives aren’t exactly what they portray online. That is going to be the first step to realizing that no matter how perfect someone’s life looks over the internet it still has several difficulties that they don’t chose to show.

For the people who don’t respond back or you feel awkward messaging them because they don’t interact with you in person then is there even a point to keep them on your friends list? I have made it a rule that if we are not communicating for over a year, like there is simply no interaction on posts or inbox then I delete them. As long as you won’t be ruining your relationships with your peers or colleagues, hit that delete button!

Remember to count your blessings

Ponder upon your own blessings and the blessings that are missing from other peoples’ lives. Know that your life is special, you are special to Allah and you might be missing the point that your life may be more privileged than the lives of some.

It might be that you must be suffering from a very difficult phase right now but would focusing on other people’s successes and happiness make it any better. If you are finding it hard to be grateful then focus on your skills and assets and how can you productively use them. I am sure you are optimistic enough to find your strengths and utilise them for a good cause.

So remember,

• Limit not restrict,
• Unfollow posts when they become troublesome,
• Interact with your friends list,
• Find your strengths.

Before you leave this page comment below with two of your identified skills and strengths and how will you be utilising them in the days to come.

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Republishing in Pakistan: Reflections From Life

Assalam u alaikum readers.

I hope you are all doing well. I haven’t written anything on the blog lately due to my hectic masters program and job. The remaining time is either spent with my family and friends or in marketing on social networks.

In February 2018 I self-published the book Reflections From Life: A Muslim’s Guide To Inspiration. Several people in Pakistan  asked me if I can make it available here and yes I could but the shipment charges and the duty were increasing the cost price of the book so eventually I did some research and came up with the most suitable solution. Alhamdulilah the book is getting republished in Pakistan.

You can pre-order your copy here: http://gufhtugu.com/reflections-from-life/

The expected release date is 4th October 2018, Insha Allah.

Please support me because your support can be an encouragement for another aspiring author.

You can find out more about my book here: https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsfromlife/

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Jazakillah khair to all my readers since the beginning of my blogging journey, your support made this book a possibility.

Fi aman Allah

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Eid Greetings to All the Muslims Around the World!

Eid Mubarak

Aisha Writes - Inspirational Blog

My eyes open wide as the morning breeze whispers into my ear, ‘Wake up and enjoy the fruit of your patience today for Allah has made this day a gift for its believers after a tough examination.’

The melodious sound of the Fajr Adhaan sounds even more beautiful today. As I sit down to make Dua after the prayer, the fragrance of the mehndi on my hands fills me with more excitement. I can feel coolness in the air today. Like there is peace there is calm. Today is one day when people have no grudges against each other. The long lost relations make an effort to meet today. The busy friends make a move and send you Eid wishes. And the whole family is together to celebrate this beautiful religious occasion.

The yummilicious taste of the Sheer Khorma followed by the other delicious feasts for breakfast makes me crave…

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Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind To Become A Better Muslim

Another year and another Ramadan is already here. I am sure most of us must have entered Ramadan once again expecting to fix their bad habits, get rid of their past sins and to start anew. If you are a practising Muslim then you must be striving hard to become a better Muslim each day and you might even be struggling to get rid of some of your bad habits.

I bring to you some steps through which you will be able to reprogram your subconscious mind to become a better Muslim this Ramadan.

Many of you might already be aware of the 3 parts of our mind but in case you are not let me just brief you. Our mind is divided into conscious, subconscious and the unconscious. The conscious part lives in the now, what you are hearing, communicating right now. The subconscious mind stores the recent memories, incidents and is in touch with the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind stores the memories and past experiences. The subconscious mind occupies the majority of your mind and your habitual actions that happen on a daily basis is controlled by the subconscious part of your mind.

Know that the song lyrics we are exposed to, the movie scenes and dialogues we focus on and the people we hang out with all have an impact on our subconscious mind which in turn dictates our actions and thoughts on a daily basis. I could go on talking about how the subconscious mind is impacted through our surroundings but that would mean deviating from the real purpose of this article. Hence I am about to list down 4 techniques that will help you reprogram your subconscious mind to become a better Muslim.

Refrain From Listening To Music

Firstly, start off with deleting songs from your gadgets. The lyrics of the songs highly affect your subconscious mind and may even be a distraction for you from your daily Ibadah. Most of the songs these days are filled with vulgar lyrics that may impact on your daily activities if it gets stored as an information in your subconscious mind. I once heard from someone that you cannot expect the verses of Qur’an and lyrics of a song to stay together in your mind and I totally agree to that. You must have also realized it that on days when you are constantly listening to songs you have difficulty in concentration during your Salah and even listening to Qur’an doesn’t seems interesting. That is because your heart has given place to the lyrics of the songs that you listen to.

So in the start you will probably find it difficult but once you replace listening to songs with Qur’an recitation and nasheeds (without music), after a week or so it will become easier for you to not listen to songs.

Get Rid Of Any Material That Symbolizes A Celebrity

The celebrities that we follow are usually not keen followers of Islam and they do things that are most of the times against the teachings of Islam. So following such people can program your subconscious mind to subconsciously act like them. So tune your mind into following people who teach Deen, find inspirational people who are studying Deen who give Dawah, these are the people who will help you reach Jannah.

Set ‘Good Muslim’ Goals

The reason I have only elaborated two points above is because they are common among us Muslims but there will be more things that we do on a daily basis that inhibit our subconscious mind from becoming a good Muslim. So take this as an assignment or homework, sit in a quiet place and reflect upon your current week and try to find out things that may be inhibiting you from become a better Muslim. Make a list of them and then set ‘good Muslim’ goals.

Visualize The Goals

Before sleeping each night and then when you wake up for suhoor visualize your ‘good Muslim’ goals that you will do during the day. Visualization will help to train your subconscious mind into thinking that this is how you should act and behave and that will make it easier for you to attain your good Muslim goals.

Lastly, keep making Du’a so that Allah helps you in attaining your goals for this Dunya and Aakhirah. Insha Allah with determination and persistence you will be able to strive as a better Muslim each day.

Wish you a blissful and a productive Ramadan.

Reflections From Life: A Muslim’s Guide To Inspiration, Out Now For Purchase!

Book Review: Reflections from Life

Jazakillah khair for this beautiful review. 🙂

Muslimah According to Me

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem

I’m so excited to be bringing you the second book review in two months, alhamdulillah! Today I am honored to be bringing you a review of Reflections from Life: A Muslim’s Guide to Inspiration by Aisha Idris of The Bookish Nomad . It is her debut self-help book, and it is full of Islamic inspiration punctuated by real-life lessons taken from her personal experiences.

I was glad to receive a copy of the e-book to read and review; the book was just the perfect mix of spirituality, real life lessons, and personal development, all the things I am so interested in these days!

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Review: Reflections from Life: A Muslim’s Guide to Inspiration

My book’s first review 🙂 Jazakillah khair Neymat Raboobe for your time and efforts.

The Imperfect Muslimah

Reflections from Life: A Muslim’s Guide to Inspirationis a self-help book written by Aisha Idris. It’s her debut self-help book and you can find it on Amazon here. I was sent a soft-copy to review a little while back, which some of you may know as I’ve mentioned it previously.

The author recommends not diving head first into this book over one session but rather spreading out the reading of it. After having read it myself – admittedly, quite quickly – I can understand why. Reflections from Life is packed full of good advice and life lessons and they’re the type that lend well to further introspection.

Despite having read this book fast in order to be able to get my review up, I’ve already decided to give it a reread in order to let myself appreciate it as a whole better – which should clue in…

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Reflections From Life: A Muslim’s Guide To Inspiration (Available for Purchase)

Assalam u alaikum.

This is just to notify my readers regarding my book, Reflections From Life: A Muslim’s Guide To Inspiration is now available on Amazon for purchase.

Here is the link to order your copy now: https://www.amazon.com/author/aishaidris

If you want to find out details regarding my book you can read my blogpost, Everything You Wanted To Know About My Book.

Looking forward to hearing your views. I really pray that it benefits and reaches its purpose of publication. Ameen

Also like my pages:

https://www.facebook.com/aishaidrisauthor

https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsfromlife

Jazakamullah khair

 

Have You Written A Breakdown Of Your Goals?

We all have goals to attain and as simple as it is to set goals, it isn’t easy when it comes to achieving those goals. Not until you are determined and hardworking. Even when you are persistent there will be times when achieving every goal becomes stressful and disappointing. Hence it is necessary to make a breakdown of your goals.

Since it is still the second month of the year, you have time to make a plan but don’t delay it any further if you want to achieve your goals within this year.

Have you already set your goals?

I hope by now you have already set a list of goals that you want to attain in 2018. If not then I recommend that you set your goals as soon as possible before the start of March. Below is a picture of my vision board. You can follow this method.

Or you can follow some of these examples.

Breakdown your goals

Once of you have set your goals, the next step is to break them down into short headings. You can see my example. Since these are simpler goals so I have just written a line or two to describe how I am going to achieve them.

But for more complex goals you can make use of a flowchart diagram or bullet points to describe each step that you will have to work on in order to reach your goal.

Use a planner diary

I have emphasized on the use of planner diaries various times on my blog and on other websites. So instead of writing about it again I am sharing the links below.

• 4 Hacks To Keep To Your Writing Goals
• Helpful Tips To Multi-tasking
• http://www.muslimahbloggers.com/5-ways-to-keep-to-your-goal
• http://www.muslimahbloggers.com/effectively-use-planner-diary

Keep track of your goals as you accomplish them

Have a separate section in your diary or a spot on your wall where you write down your goals and achievements. This will help you keep a track and as the months pass you will know where you stand. Also getting to see that space get filled with the passage of time is motivating.

I pray that you achieve your goals for this year and may you attain success in this world and the Aakhirah.

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Tragedy Of Living In A Superficial World

Something I have been pondering on for days and thought it is time to voice it out. Unfortunately we live in a world where the outside matters more than the inside and this is the tragedy of living in a superficial world.

We are more concerned with how someone looks than what kind of a person they are. Self-care in this superficial worlds means that we look after physical needs thus forgetting to resolve our feelings and emotions. Our relationships are more about finding the benefits we could get than providing them with what they owe in a relationship. Marriages are based on looks and financial status rather than a person’s character and goodness. Family gatherings are about looking at our best than greeting each other with a clean heart. Even when it comes to hygiene we care about wearing clean clothes and lots of scents but forget to physically keep ourselves clean.

I call all this the tragedy of living in a superficial world and sometimes I feel tired of being a part of it. Sometimes I am tired of battling to stay true to who I am and becoming what others want to see in me. This is one of the reasons why my friend circle is small because I like to remain among people who are honest and loyal in their everyday dealings. I like staying among people who are my friends because of who I am as a person and not to fulfill their own motives. I admire friendships that comprise of meaningful conversations rather than only enjoying the glitter and glam of this world together. I prefer people who have guts to say whatever they don’t like about me.

Tell me what are your views about this world? Are you and I on the same page? Do you find yourself a loner when it comes to this superficial world?

Jazakallah khairun kaseerun

Please support me by liking my book’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsfromlife/

Unsuccessful and Happiness! Can They Exist Together?

Unsuccessful and happiness, can they exist together? If we are going to rely on the society for the answer it will be a ‘No.’ But let me tell you, never rely on the society to define your success and the terms and conditions of your happiness because people’s idea of success and happiness is built from their perspective and from what they have been blessed in the journey of life. So your and someone else’s blessings are never going to be exactly same, in fact at times they will be totally opposite so how can we follow a plan of success and happiness that everyone else is following.

You Define Your Own Happiness

The few months that I had spent working in an orphanage taught me that happiness is a choice. Their beaming faces showed me that if they can be happy without a proper family and without the many luxuries of life then I too can. It was that turning point in my life when I decided that I will make happiness my choice and not some state that can be only achieved when I achieve a certain criteria in my life. That was the day I redefined happiness for my sake. For me happiness was then about being able to spend a quality time with my parents, getting to work in the field I was passionate about and was able to submit my university assignments in a timely manner. The criteria I had set were according to what I was doing then. Since I have graduated now, happiness for me is having a lot of free time on my hands so I get to focus on my hobbies. The money in my bank account is close to nothing right now but even then I am happy because for me money isn’t a criterion for my happiness. But let us just say that I do get a lot of money in my bank account, then that too will become a source for my happiness but not a source of sadness when it declines again. Putting it in a simpler way, our happiness depends on how grateful we are with what we already have and not what we are yet to have or desire to have.

Though I do agree that sometimes sadness or depressed feelings are inevitable since we are human beings and it is this sadness that helps us to think clearly at times. But your goal should always be to break this circle of depressive thoughts and focus on the blessings you have.

You Also Define Your Own Success

Just like happiness, success should also be defined by you only. The world will tell you that success is when you have a lot of money, when you are famous, or at a high position in your career or someone who is doing a lot in life. But I say that even a housewife who is happily cooking meals for her family, looking after her children and husband and is constantly trying hard to give comfort to others is success. A father, who may not be earning a lot of money, but each day he comes home and does things for his children and wife that brings a smile on their faces is once again success. Or let us take the example of a child who may not be able to do well at school but is a well-mannered child at home is yet again success. So you will never be unsuccessful if you define success for yourself.

You may be unsuccessful for the world but you can still be happy because it is you who should be defining your criteria for success and happiness. Hence unsuccessful and happiness can exist together.

Please support by book by liking my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsfromlife/