What goes around, comes around?: Fellow Iraqi turns tables on Bush shoe thrower.

Fellow Iraqi turns tables on Bush shoe thrower

So if what they say is true, I guess what goes around comes around. What are your thoughts on this?

The Fat Man At A Picnic

The Fat Man At the Picnic

Carbon, oh Carbon

How you react.

You love to change your conformation at the tip of a hat

You make rings and chains and helixes and sheets

You like stability and seek it so earnestly.

I hope that one day I can really love you.

But at the moment I’m having to make decisions,

about how you are going to react and making you what I want.

Certain reagents eat you up like a fat man at a picnic,

and thanks to Dr. Brown I will never look at it any different.

But due to this analogy I actually understand how you react.

I know your basics, that you like 4 bonds,

you are happy when you are surrounded by others and protected from harm.

You comprise so many molecules its really insane,

from epoxides to benzenes to amino acids,

I’ve learned more about my biochemistry this semester than sometimes I ever wanted to know.

I have gone from calling Organic chemistry “art on crack”

to “the class with all the pretty shapes”

maybe one day I will be proud of you–

but for now I say good bye for a month

dear Organic, I will return to you in Biochemistry.

Please don’t make me hate my life. =)

I have no where to turn, so where do I go?

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem

**Disclaimer**: This is one of those “I-just-thought-of-this-let-me-write-it-down-before-I-forget” type things. Enjoy!

We all get to that point in our lives where we think, where do I go? That point when we think we’ve reached our wit’s end. I’m going to speak candidly of my past experiences with this–and what I feel is the solution to it.

I tend to do this thing to myself where I think too hard; I overthink and over analyze sometimes (or a lot of times). The only person I end up hurting is me and what do I usually get out of it? A headache and sometimes some heartache. But there is a solution to it–reliance on Allah (SWT). Whenever I start to think too much I pray Istikhara. Istikhara has been my key solution to letting go and clearing my mind. It offers me peace of mind and direction alhamdulilah. A little explanation for those who do not know what Istikhara is:

• It literally means “to seek goodness from Allah”
• It is made up two voluntary ra’kahs (cycles) of prayer and a supplication
• The supplication is : Oh Allah! I seek Your guidance by virtue of Your knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power; I have none. And You know; I know not. You are the Knower of hidden things.
  Oh Allah! If in Your knowledge this matter is good for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs, immediate and in the future, then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge this matter is bad for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs, immediate and in the future, then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it. And ordain for me the good wherever it may be, and make me content with it.

For more information check out the awesome blog post I took this from: Salatul Istikhara

So that was taken care of: think too much, take a step back pray Istikhara, relax it will all go fine. Easy as washing your hands. Right? Sure…

Other times I think too much and then I cause myself to get scared. Scared of what you say? Oh goodness, so many things! Scared of getting hurt, of making the wrong decision, of opening up and..getting hurt. It’s hard to trust people so much when you know, since I’m hoping and assuming all my readers are human (no offense to any other er…umm..yeah anways), that humans are capable of hurting beyond reproach. Sometimes its unintentional other times maybe intentional, Allahu Allam the intentions of others. Personally I have a fear of being betrayed, of being led on a certain path and only to find myself stranded. But there is, again, a remedy to this feeling…going back to Allah (SWT).

A close friend of mine, whom I look up to as a sister, told me once after praying Istikhara to read Surah al-Duha and reflect on it. So taking her advice, I did. This is what I discovered:

• Allah (SWT) never deserts us.
• Do not push the one who asks of you away, because when you ask of Allah, He does not push you away.
• Allah does not cease to give; his bounty is endless.

I will go into how I found this in a later blog post, trust me it will take a blog post on its own. But the main point is Allah never leaves us–if we turn to Him, He will not leave us. Even if the decision is not what you were looking for, there is infinite wisdom behind it. And that my friends, I can guarantee. I can’t count the number of times where I felt so strongly about something and in the end it did not work out. While the outcome was not what I hoped for (like Bush’s re-election in 2006), it, for one reason or another was best.

Allah (SWT) is always there for us to turn to, it just takes the effort..no rather the sincere effort on our part to turn towards Him. And if you see someone close to you who is going through a rough time, having doubts left and right about issues–don’t turn away from them. In fact bring them closer to you, because they need it, they need the support and guidance. Because remember at one point or another you will need that support, whether they provided it for you already or they will in the future Insha’Allah, and remember don’t turn away from the one who asks because Allah (SWT) did not turn away from you.

Life is not a simple road, it is not a straight line. It is a twisted complicated road of cause and effect that leads to more cause and effect. The best way to deal with it, is to take a deep breath, have faith and take a plunge. Whatever happens, happens for the best. I would wish everyone the best of luck on finals, but I don’t believe in luck. I pray that you will all do well and earn what is best for you. May Allah ease your struggles that lie ahead and make you a stronger person because of them.