Practice culture
Outside the realm of responsibilties and commitments that affect the other people in your life (think, feeding your pet, helping your parents, waking the kids up for school on time)... there are those responsibilities and commitments that begin and end with you.
Our mindsets - no doubt - are powerful tools. But when drive and motivation slip (and we can attest, we slip way too often), we need to pause and reflect.
Sometimes, we need to stop and honour the break that our minds and bodies are reaching for.
Other times, all we need, is to keep up the practice. And most times, it's just in the smallest of ways.
Continue your daily adhkar. Continue to pray. Continue to read Qur'an at your own allocated time. Stick to that slot you carved out for your morning/evening walk or training session.
At times, all we need, is to do. And sometimes, keeping up the practice means being prepared. We need to arm ourselves with pieces that help us practice our Deen, so that we can fortify our Deen.
Do you get spurts of inspiration to start reading the Qur'an but then realise you don't have a hard copy anywhere in your home? It's time to just do. Head to the Islamic bookstore, order one online, or download an app. Just do.
You're always last minute. This afternoon, making Asr on time is the goal. You've just showered, made wudhu; you're feeling revived. Then you spend a good few minutes looking for a long enough skirt or dress, and a loose enough hijab (and non-transparent one at that), but nothing's in the right spot - or it's in the wash. The adhan for Maghreb sounds. Negativity kicks in; you tell yourself you've "failed" again. The familiar shade of guilt washes over you. Throwing in the towels feels safe and familiar too...
Instead, keep up the faith in yourself and continue your journey. Keep moving. Keep your pact, and just do:
Let's find the pieces we already have in our homes, take them to the spot we find ourselves praying the most, and keep them there. But I need them for going out. Yep, we can relate. Let's then equip ourselves with an easy salaah set and mat. But it will take a week or more until everything arrives. Well, if we don't act now, it will take even longer. True? True, but they're too expensive. They are, so let's make a savings goal and with the best of intentions, do our best to reach it. But... We can keep the excuses rolling!
Simply, and collectively, let's make changes to move forward.
Once we're at this point, we can start tackling those initial 'hurdles', and keep moving toward the next ones.
This is practice culture. Part of it is doing. Part of it is keeping it up.
Set your intention. Take action. Always with, Bismillah.
