Goal Update.

I totally forgot that yesterday was goal update day so I'll do it right now and will remember to do it on Monday for the following week inshallah. The results are in, drum roll please... (update is written in red)

Mind

• Work on blog daily
• Have been writing regularly except for this past weekend when I was in Michigan.
  
• Find work from home job
  
• Called prospective jobs. Need to email my resume.
• I have also called some dental offices, I'm thinking about working as a dental hygienist on Saturday mornings. I need to fax them my resumes.
  
• Listen to Islamic lecture every other day, take notes
• Did not listen to any lectures this week. I plan to implement this goal this week. I will have to leave house chores while Isra is sleeping and listen to a lecture instead.
  
• Find online Islamic courses
  
• Emailed Al-Huda application have not heard back from them. Need to follow up.
  
• Read a book monthly from book list
  
• Currently reading "Does my head look big in this?" On pg.112 Should finish book by Aug 31
  
• Look into getting educated in the field of homepathy/naturopathy
• Had a phone appointment with a counselor at Clayton School of Natural Health
  
• Browsed through catalog and need to decide which program I am interested in
• Waiting on scholarship packet
  
• Need to discuss financial aspect (tuition) with Ahmed
  
• Get involved with Al Maghrib on a voluntary basis
• I have accepted a voluntary position as financial coordinator
  

Body

• Lose and maintain healthy weight by February 2008
  
• Workout at least 5x per week for one hour each day
• I am working out 5x per week for 30 min each day (even when I went to Michigan :) Isra only lasts for 30 min at the gym and gets cranky after that. So I'm going to start weight training for 30 min at home, that way I will achieve my one hour a day workout.
  
• Achieve ideal measurements and fat percentage
  
• So far I have lost 15 lbs.
  
• Enroll self in a weekend yoga class
  
• Called yoga studios. Beginner classes all start when I leave for California and they are on Monday nights. I will have to wait till the next class and hope its on the weekend. Need to call some more places to see what is available.
  
• Take time (1.5hrs) out for self weekly
• I try to relax after I put Isra to bed for the night, I try to do some reading before I go to bed.
  

Soul

• Read at least 2 pages of Quran daily
• Have not done so. Need to fix a designated time daily. Maybe I should to this before I go to bed instead of reading a book, it would be a nice way to end the day.
  
• Memorize suras
• Memorized one sura
  
• Improve salat by -
• reviewing fiqh of salat
• Have to take out a few hours of the day to do this, it's a one time thing that needs to be done
  
• give myself unlimited time to pray
• Definitely need to pray with more kushoo
  
• learn meanings of the components of salat
• This will be done when I review fiqh of salat, again it's a one time thing
  
• pray sunnah
• No excuse, I have to do it.
  
• Donate monthly from own income, find institute to donate to
• Decided to donate to the Islamic Foundation Masjid. Donation will go out every last day of the month.

Ok so there it is a run down on what I did and did not do. Looks like I need to improve in the area of Islamic goals, it is sad that this is the area that needs most improvement because this category should have been number one in achievement, Islam should come first before anything. Inshallah at the next update it will be number one! I think everything else seems like it's on track alhumdulilah.

One more puff please.

Addiction = Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance.

It's scary to think that something, anything, whether it be alcohol, gambling, or cigarettes could become an enslaving habit. All it takes is that first sip, rolling of the dice, or a single puff, and before you know it you're addicted.

I was in Michigan this past weekend at my parents house. I noticed a sudden deterioration in my father's health. At 48 years of age he is having a bit more trouble breathing than the average healthy 48 year old. Why? Because he smokes. Only god knows how long he has been smoking but all I can say is its been a very long time and it's catching up to him. I worry. I worry a lot for him. I have tried everything in the book to try to make him stop, I have been doing so since I was 10 years old. But still he has not kicked the habit. Is a damn cigarette more important than me?

I know it's easier said than done. Not only are you psychologically dependent on it, you're also chemically dependent on it. But in either case there are ways to stop. I hear stories of people's life taken away by lung cancer, emphysema, COPD, etc. And these people were all young and smoked. I wish there was something I could do to make my father understand that he is no different, it could take his life as well. There are times I have caught him wheezing and having a hard time breathing, and still it makes no difference to him. Who ever thought that something so small could literally take over your life. Something must be done before it's too late.

It scares me. Scares me that I may lose my father over a filthy cigarette.

Random.

I got news that my mom hasn't been feeling well. I decided to make some last minute plans to head to Michigan tomorrow afternoon. I'm gonna stay with her for the weekend to help her out and make sure she stays off her feet. Inshallah she'll feel better soon. I spent most of the day cleaning up, doing laundry and packing. I also went to the gym in the morning. I am really starting to enjoy working out. Before I use to workout because it was a duty, something I just had to do but lately I want to do it. I feel great after a good workout, I can feel all of the happy hormones getting to work .

Speaking of the gym. I got a random call today from World Gym by my parents house. They were calling to tell me that I won a free 2 year membership to their gym. I was like uhhh excuse me? They said they had the sweepstake boxes all around town so someone else could've put my name in the drawing. But who? Anyway it was pretty cool I won because I usually never win things. So I asked if I could transfer the free membership to my brother since I don't live in Michigan anymore, my brother was pretty happy.

So off to Michigan for the weekend will be back on Monday, will try to do my best to blog, not sure how busy things will get at the rents house.

Breakdown.

Minutes after I finished my last blog entry the lights went off. It was a bit strange because there was no thunder or lightning, so it was very unexpected. There I was in the dark trying to light some candles. Isra had gone to bed a few hours before, which I was grateful for. I decided to head to bed since there wasn't much I could do. As I get into my bed I hear Isra getting uneasy. I pray that she doesn't get up until the lights turn back on. She has been getting up in the middle of the night for the past few days, not really sure why. Just as the lights turn back on Isra starts crying on the top of her lungs, I try everything to calm her down but nothing works. I get very frustrated and worried not knowing what to do. Finally I started nursing her which calmed her down a bit but she was still uneasy. And that's when I broke down and started crying. I cried and cried until all the tears came out. I'm usually not the type to cry about things, but it seemed like this was building up for sometime.

It's at times like this I wish my husband would be home with us. As a consultant he's not home much. Leaves before the sun rises on Mondays and comes back in the afternoon on Fridays. So what does that give us? Two and a half days and three nights. Alhumdulilah that is better than not seeing him at all. But it's difficult. Sometimes you just need a breather after nights like this. It took me about an hour and a half to put her back to bed and calm her down. Don't get me wrong, I love motherhood and I love Isra to death but sometimes its nice to have help and support, I'm sure many mothers out there understand. At the end of the day I guess you have to look at the brighter side. My husband has a job whereas there are many people out there struggling to find one, and alhumdulilah I do get to see him every week. You have to remember that you will face different levels of hardship, but if you focus on the positive things and the blessings in life it will be very easy to overcome times of difficulty!

Wow, I feel 100x better. Goodnight.

Another Day

Today was a pretty low key day. I had a chiropractor appointment in the morning. Oooo do I love going there. I feel so much better after Dr. Mitchell adjusts me. After that I get to lay on the roller bed for about 15 min. It is probably the most relaxing 15 minutes I get all day. It's really nice because the front desk people take Isra and play with her so I can truly relax. After that Isra and I went to Whole Foods to get her baby food. I grabbed myself some yummy sushi and a Bottlehouse fruit smoothie for lunch. On our way out we sat in their little eating area and had lunch. Just as I was feeding Isra the girl who lives above us popped out of nowhere and asked if she could join us. I thought it was pretty cool of her, because knowing myself I probably wouldn't have done that. So she sat with us and we chatted and got to know each other. Her name is Ocean, she's probably around the same age as me, also married. They moved to Chicago from Montana for her husband to go to medical school here. We probably hung out for a good half hour. It was fun.

I was checking out my calendar of events and started getting excited, there's a lot to look forward to until the end of the year. End of August is my cousin's wedding in Michigan, then we come back to Chicago for ISNA and right after ISNA we will be going to California for two weeks. Then in October we'll be going on vacation to Florida for a week and in December we'll be going to Houston for TDC inshallah. How exciting! I love traveling. I think I should start doing some research to figure out what things we can do for the places we'll be traveling to.

Oh, I have another goal to add to the list. And I think this one is going to be the hardest one to accomplish...get Isra off the pacifier! I told myself I was never going to use a pacifier for my kids, and here I am giving her a pacifier. I think she's grown attached to it now. There's times where I'll leave her on the bed and her paci would be right above her head and when I come back it's in her mouth! Today we were sitting on one end of the couch and the paci was at the other end. She was staring at it with her eyes really wide and her mouth open as if it was going to fly into her mouth lol. As I brought it closer to her she started reaching out for it, ugh. The pacifier has become her best friend and I'm going to be the one who's gonna have to break them up, sigh. It's gonna be tough.

Light Bulb.

As you know one of my goals is to find a job I can do from home. So I did some thinking and listed somethings I would like in a job...

1. Something that will enable me to help people.
2. To become a businesswoman.
3. Homeopathic and natural health

Put all these things together, shake it up and what do you get? A holistic health coach. I want to have my own health consulting business! I think this would be the coolest job in the world, everything I'm interested in and enjoy all in one. Ya, not many people know the tree hugger side of me! Now nothing happens overnight, it's gonna take some educating and planning in order for me to accomplish this goal, so I would have to say this is definitely a long term goal.

I looked into some online masters and doctorate programs on natural health and homeopathy. Found a few and contacted them for some information. This is the best way for me to gain knowledge in the field since I stay home with my daughter. Thank goodness for distance learning. I also looked into some programs that offer life coaching certificates. There is one that has caught my interest. It is going to be a week long conference taught by Muhammad Alshareef in Canada sometime in February 2008.

I really hope to start the natural health program within the next few months inshallah. After I complete my studies and get my coaching certificate I can start my own consulting business from home! I myself go to a homeopathic doctor who gives homeopathic medications for things such as the common cold, aches and pains, etc. I believe it is much better than taking over the counter and prescription medications that could harm your body long term. Homeopathic medications have no side effects. I to would like to help people find healing through homeopathy and natural health. Yes I'm a hippie, but a modern one .

So I decided that I would discuss the progress of my goals every Monday. So far I have been doing pretty good. There are still a few I need to work on. I am just having a hard time touching base with all the goals daily just because I don't have solid blocks of time during the day. My daughter is about 6 1/2 months and she is starting to require a lot of attention. She always wants me to entertain her, hold her, or just be there with her. I'll try to give her some toys which she plays with for a little while then throws them to the side. I have to find time to get all the things I want to get done in the day. Any suggestions? Only solution I have is either get up at the crack of dawn and have a few hours to myself before she wakes up or stay up late after she goes to bed.

Before I end my entry tonight I'd like to give some props to my husband for being supportive in everything I do, he is the one that helps me make my thoughts reality. Thank you.

On your mark. Get set. Go,

"We find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve."
-Maxwell Maltz

I was reading through some quotes today and this one in particular really hit home. When you don't have goals in life, life starts to lose purpose. I have had many goals I wanted to accomplish but it seemed like I was never reaching those goals. I think it was because I would just think of things I wanted to do but never wrote them down and planned them out. I'm the type of person where if I write something down it will get done, otherwise I just forget about them and loathe about how I wasn't able to accomplish any of them. I finally told myself that I have wasted enough time not getting anywhere, it was time to put an end to thinking but not doing. So I recently jotted down some goals for my mind, body, and soul (no particular order).

Here we go...

Bismillah.

Mind

• Work on blog daily
  
• Find work from home job
  
• Listen to Islamic lecture every other day, take notes
  
• Find online Islamic courses
  
• Read a book monthly from book list
  
• Look into getting educated in the field of homepathy/naturopathy
• Get involved with Al Maghrib on a voluntary basis
  

Body

• Lose and maintain healthy weight by February 2008
  
• Workout at least 5x per week for one hour each day
  
• Achieve ideal measurements and fat percentage
  
• Enroll self in a weekend yoga class
  
• Take time (1.5hrs) out for self weekly
  

Soul

• Read at least 2 pages of Quran daily
  
• Memorize suras
  
• Improve salat by
• reviewing fiqh of salat
• give myself unlimited time to pray
  
• learn meanings of the components of salat
• pray sunnah
  
• Donate monthly from own income, find institute to donate to
  

Habits to acquire to achieve goals...

• Do prayers when they begin
• Stay up after Fajr
• Go to sleep early
• Make dua frequently
• Check back on your goals and record progress
• Write out daily, weekly things to achieve
  
• Pray complete prayers-Fard & Sunnah
• Be optimistic about life, there is nothing you cannot do
  
• Limit time and be aware of how much time is spent on aimlessly browsing on the internet
  
• Look for Quran teacher

So these are the goals I have set for myself and inshallah with the help of Allah will achieve. I am going to print out a calendar and put it up somewhere where I will always see it. On it I will assign each goal a start and end date and will inshallah make sure I accomplish each goal. I will update my progress every so often on this blog. Blogging is actually really helping me get my thoughts out and organize them, sometimes I even feel like I'm going to be held accountable for the things I said I would do in my blog-it's kinda funny.