Blogging from A to Z Day 5: Emotional Health

E is for Emotional Health

This is a message to all of my fellow Muslims:

Please, take care of your health. Not just your physical health.

Your emotional health.

Life is tough. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and fall into a hole. Especially today with news of all of the tragedies going on in the world being shoved in our faces on social media, it gets emotionally tiring. You work day in and day out trying to be the best person you can be only to go to a Jummah khutbah and hear that what you’re doing isn’t good enough and that we all as an Ummah should be doing better.

While it is true that you should never stop trying to improve yourself, pausing and doing a self-check is also important. Yes, keep doing the work you do for the mosque, but don’t overwhelm yourself. Know your own limits, and work around what you cannot do.

I have attended lecture after lecture in which they tell you all of the different good things that you as a Muslim could be doing. Yes, those are all great things to do, but we are all only human. A person can only do so much. Just because there are 100 things that you could be doing, if you through your own means are only able to accomplish 75 of those things, focus on those 75. By trying to do more than you are capable of, you are sacrificing the quality of your work for the quantity.

I am trying not to get too specific because this message could mean something different for each person, but the bottom line is the same: no matter what you’re doing or what you’re trying to do, you won’t be able to work at your fullest potential if you’re mind isn’t in it. Take a break. Make sure your family is okay. Keep track of what your emotional triggers are. Then, once you know yourself, use your assets and continue doing the good work that you do.

This message really goes for anyone, but I have noticed that in the Muslim community in particular, this is a problem that is so rarely addressed as a problem.