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Life is a journey and a gift

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It is 1219am. I just woke up and there is no current (electricity). I only have 27% battery left on my mobile and I do no not have mobile internet. I do not want to spend $30 dollars for a day pass of mobile internet. The place is silent except for the odd car that passes by or the barking dogs in the distance. I need to conserve the battery on my mobile because it is the only source of light for me but I also want to write. It is Sunday the 8th of June. It is so quiet that I can hear myself think. It is so dark that it is cold. I am thinking about the Hajj pilgrims. What it must feel like. A once in a lifetime experience. A dream come true. A pillar of faith completed. A prayer answered. A challenge conquered. A journey of a lifetime. A calling of God.

I do not think I have the health or braveness or means to undertake such a journey. I do not see myself as being that religious. I would rather spend the money differently if I had that amount of money to begin with. I am willing under the right conditions but not at the moment. Right now I need to get fit (gift) and strong and healthy and concentrate on the basics of my religion. I am trying to be more active. I am trying to eat healthy. I am trying. God knows that I try. I think about what God wants for me. I think about my circumstances. I think about the obstacles that I have put in my own path. I think about my own self limiting beliefs. I think about the system and the world that seems to be against us. That seems not to care. Then I think about the upside. I think about my potential. I think about living in the moment. I think about gratitude. I think about being grateful that I have come this far.

What does the darkness teach us? What does the silence teach us? What does nothingness teach us? It teaches us gratitude. Things could be better but things could also be worse. We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing. The world will go on without us. Life goes on. All we can do is make the best of our given circumstances. Life is a journey. We never know where this journey will take us. There are things that money cannot buy. Peace of mind. Contentment. Happiness. Freedom. Godliness. There are a bunch of things that money cannot buy because they are free. They are a gift from God. They are also priceless. No one can take these away from us and no one can keep these from us. Hold on to this world and we have nothing. Hold on to God and we have everything. This world will turn to nothing and everything will turn to God. At this moment, I feel peace and that is a good place to be on this journey called life.

Not everyone gets to experience the journey of Hajj but everyone gets to experience the journey of life. If we cannot go to Hajj we can make our life a journey of Hajj. My phone battery is now 19%. I closed my eyes and selected a random verse from the Quran app. I got surah 95 (the fig) verse 6. This talks about paradise for those who believe and do righteous deeds. We all want the end of our journey to be paradise. Life is really a hajj if hajj stands for "have a journey (to) jannah". Even the word jannah (Arabic word for paradise) has the letters of hajj with two n's added to the middle. What could I make from these letters? I see the word gift from "the fig". Life is also a gift. The letters nn stands for nothing. We come with nothing and we leave with nothing. In between we are given the gift of life.
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