Struggles: our blessings in disguise

When I was little, I used to think this life was eternal. It was all about having fun and being with friends and family. As I grew older, I slowly discovered I was wrong. I learned about death and the hereafter. In my adult life, I often asked those around me why our daily life is seldom focused on the fact that we one day we will return to our Creator. In the back of our mind, we know that one day we will die and be accounted for our deeds, but our daily activities suggest otherwise. It is only when a calamity strikes or through a death of a loved one do we really remember and shift our focus back to the hereafter. And even then, that mindset of living for the next life doesn't last long. We eventually get sucked right back into the routine of the life of this world. This whole concept has boggled my mind and I often complain to my husband and close friends why that happens. Although I enjoy life, traveling, eating at awesome joints, hanging out with friends, I don't want that to be my focus. I need something that will constantly remind me that this life isn't what I'm living for. Last Ramadan, I was asked in a course I took to name 5 things I desperately want. I didn't want all 5 things to be worldly so one of my wants was to always live for the next life and not get caught up with this world. And a few months later, she came: my daughter Maryam. She would have many health issues that forced me to remember why I am living. Today as I write this, I've been living in the hospital with her for almost 2 months. Tomorrow we will discuss her prognosis with doctors and decide what steps we want to take regarding her. I have come to acceptance that even if it means that my life will never be the same again, I will do what I can to have her living comfortably at home with us. That may mean she will come home with a tracheostomy and ventilator. She will need more care and attention than ever before and she may have a 24hr nurse that lives with us temporarily. She won't be able to travel much and go out of the house as much as we like, but her presence will God-willing be the peace in our house. Our constant physical and emotional care for her will be our constant reminder that this life is temporary. 

When our life is lived without any struggles, we may have a hard time living for the next life. But when we have a struggle, whether it be adopted orphans that rely on us, a tiring job we must keep to provide for our family, a mother who lives with us because she has no one else, a sick child who is dependent on our care, a small house that barely fits the family, a home country we are no longer welcome in, or any other physical/emotional struggle, we can't help but remember that life is short. We aren't looking for the perfect life here. The next life is what we are aiming for. When we engrave that thought in our mind, suddenly, our daily struggles seem almost insignificant. When you seek the happiness of the next life, God won't let you worry about living the worldly life many try so hard to attain. 

For this very reason, don't cry over a calamity or hardship, but instead, rejoice. Know that God wants you to remember why you were created. If your life is a constant struggle today, rejoice in the fact that when you live through it with patience solely for Him, being content with little, then you WILL be rewarded immensely in the hereafter. Every good deed counts. Every single one. 

Maryam is my constant reminder to not live for this life, but instead, focus on the next.