I always believe we need references to live a good life. As Muslims, we’ve been given the ultimate source: the Holy Quran. We are also blessed with the best human reference through Rasulullah SAW.
We can also have more references through any other means. Through people around us, through stories, or anything that can give insight into what a good life is, according to one’s definition.
I picked this book up a few weeks ago, and it feels like reading the wisdom of someone who has been through the life cycle I am currently in.
As I enter a new seven-year cycle, I find many chapters in this book personally relatable. The writer and I share a few similar habits from growing up, as I noted on some pages I captured on my phone while reading, from MBTI and money habits to the same self-defense mechanisms and how we handle them.
There’s also a major difference between us, such as how we translate the concept of spirituality.
But overall, it’s quite an insightful and interesting read, as expected of the famous author.
Entering the sixth cycle of seven years gives me a profound understanding of why the first thing we ask Allah in the dua at 40 is the ability to be grateful.
Humans are not elephants. We often forget.
We’re often blinded by the many eases bestowed upon us during good times and only remember how it feels during bad times.
One says the formula of happiness is reality minus expectations. It can be true, but I beg to differ and quite agree with a page in this book.
Real happiness is available when we are in a continuous, mindful state of patience and gratitude, meaning we take nothing for granted.
We often underestimate the blessings of ordinary things: waking up without pain or worry, a comfy bed, a roof over our heads, food in the fridge; even the ability to fart can be considered a blessing.
We don’t know what we got until it’s gone.
When the fourth seven cycle taught me patience during the low, the fifth taught me the other side. It turns out we don’t just need to be patient during storms and turbulence. In reality, we actually need more patience during the rainbow and sunshine, which is harder than I imagined.
The dua when one turns 40 is the dua from Prophet Sulayman. One who had been bestowed everything beyond wealth. Kingdom, power, authority, influence, everything.
Then He showed the lesson of how to have everything without allowing everything to have you.
The real test of patience isn’t when you have nothing; it’s when you have everything.
The youth, good health, great wealth, leisure time, and other khair that we currently enjoy are just another way for Allah to see what we will do when those things are in our hands and where they lead us. To see how much we take these blessings for granted.
It takes years of experience and reflection to reach such understanding. There are times when I feel we have had more than enough and wondered what these things are for. It came to me slowly that tests didn’t only come in a form of trial and turbulence but also ease and blessings.
Once we fully understand that, living mindfully should be the only way to go. Yet it doesn’t stop there. Knowing the theory doesn’t mean knowing how to do it in reality because it’s really hard to stay in the right state of mind when you have the opportunity to do anything. It really takes constant patience to stay aware and mindful, and to put into practice everything we read and know.
Another thing the book confirms is that, from my experience, combined with reading and observations, if we do things right and get the right training, then, by Allah’s will, it becomes easier to be yourself as you grow older, to live on your own terms, and not seek approval from anyone other than the True Master.
To stay on that path until the very end is, once again, another test of patience.
This book has a similar vibe and impact to Murakami’s What I Talk When I Talk About Running.
A good book always makes you do something about it after you finish reading it.
The aftermath makes me want to rant and write a long post.
