An Easy Game of Tic Tac Toe?

Tic Tack Toe, three in a row. Just match the three symbols, X or O, and you're a winner I always thought. Notice a pattern and fill in the blanks, it's one of the easiest games I always thought. But play the game now with any intellectual mind, and you'll find a once too simple game something almost impossible to win. Cat's game, they call it. Life is a cat's game: you win some and you lose some and sometimes the winner isn't immediately known. It's not always as easy as filling in the last O--sometimes life places that O before you do and you have to find a way around it. Sometimes someone finds the pattern before you. Sometimes it's harder than just filling in the blank. But, ultimately, you win if you don't think you lose. Love the game. Appreciate the blessings that surround your day to day struggles and remember that life can be simple if you make it so. Remember you destination and your commitment to Allah, and you'll notice that the struggles in your life are either a lesson or a blessing--two things that you can ultimately benefit from. So if you find yourself frustrated by the events in your life or those happening around the world, remember that beauty can be found when we follow the simple instructions that God has given us. They are the answer to every puzzle. No matter the conflict, love the One who can give you strength to get through it all and have faith that Allah is on your side. Love what's around you. After all, it is XOXO.

Today, I got lost.

Eyes on the Destination.

Today, I got lost. It rarely happens these days for us to get lost while driving, but my GPS has been stolen 2 times and my cracked pantech can barely send texts properly. And so, it was just me and the road. When I was first learning to drive I actually used to get lost often...and although I don't get lost as much now I noticed I still do something similarly every time I get lost. I keep driving. I don't pull over and look around. I don't ask anyone for help. I don't stop and think. I just drive. And I get more and more lost. And now that I think about it, I can't help but parallel this to our journey in the dunya. It's easy to keep going on the same path, to ignore the fact that we're lost and continue driving. It's easy to miss those "exits" that are placed so perfectly to help us get back. It takes effort to make that stop: to realize where you are in the world and turn around if you have to. So today I learned that sometimes you have to take your foot of the gas, remember your destination, and just turn around.

“And He found you lost, and guided you” 

[Quran | 93:7]