"AND THE RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL JOURNEY GOES ON..." in "WRITER@WORK"

Who says that after Ramadan, everything stops? We still need to pray. We still need to work things out much harder than before. Make more effort to become better. Improve our lives. Create progress.

The journey doesn’t stop here. It never does, for as long as one lives. It all depends on one’s strong will.

An old friend once said: “We often forget that This Holy Month of Ramadan is actually a religious and spiritual boot-camp. The big question is what we’ll be doing for the other eleven months.”

It’s true. Every time his words are remembered, they feel like a direct, personal slap in the face.

Ramadan has always shown us what we’re actually capable of doing / accomplishing on a regular basis. Pray more. Eat less or at least enough, never too much. Restrain yourself from negative things, like getting so angry that you just want to hurt others. Refrain yourself from useless activities. Be more helpful.

Empathise with the less fortunate. Speak kinder words. Hold no grudges. Be more forgiving. Make no judgments. Be good, or even better as can one be.

The question is: how far one can go to improve themselves in life? How willing are they to keep working on it?

Good questions. We also still need to deal with the possibility of falling into setbacks…once again.

Life will always be full of tests. That’s how it is. Whether you fail or succeed, it’s always up to Allah to decide. We can only do our best.

We may suggest others to start doing things our way, but in the end…it’s each to their own. It’s everyone for themselves. No coercion works well. Maintaining peace is sometimes better, even better than winning an argument at all costs. Even worse if the argument is pointless.

I’m still far from perfect, but I guess we all are. None of us will ever be perfect. May we still be able to get along well today, despite our differences and those who keep on trying to turn us against each other. Once again, we can only do our best.

Happy Idul Fitri to all who celebrate. Peace on earth to everyone.

And the religious and spiritual journey goes on…

R.