"Days"-section

'Don't count the days- make the days count' - goes the saying.

There are countless sayings that focus on every day, such as - "seize the day" or "save the day" or even "Rome wasn't built in a day".

After all, a day is the lego block of lives. So every day should ideally be just as important as any other.

But we have somehow classified days into categories. I was going through some article that actually said that 11 am on a Tuesday is the least productive time of a person's life.

And it got me thinking if it was just about a day and what it was named and the order in which it arrives that determines how it would go.

Why can't a Tuesday be just as awesome as a Saturday?

I was thinking all this on a Friday as I sat at my desk at work. I could see my colleagues dressed up in brighter colours(Yes, people always wear dressier clothes to work on fridays!) and suddenly I turned around and asked one of my colleague what was his favorite day of the week and he picked Friday.

I immediately made a office-communicator-poll out of it and 5 out of 8 picked Friday, 2 picked Saturday and 1 actually picked Sunday.

So the clear winner was Mr. Friday! (I just generally gave the days a male title and it means no offense to ladies, so all the feminists out there - steer clear!)

As my curiosity grew, I checked out on-line polls. 

Here are the stats :

     - Website 1

         Friday - 23%

         Saturday - 38%

       ** Clearly Saturday emerged the winner here and Friday came a close runner-up. The other days got measly percentages of votes and aren't worth mentioning.

     - Website 2

         Friday - 31%

         Saturday - 10%

       ** Clearly Friday emerged the winner here and Saturday came a close runner-up. There was a poll choice here called "Weekend" which got another 10% of votes and even then, Friday still takes the cake.                         

     - Website 3

         Friday - 26%

         Saturday - 20%

       ** Friday was the favorite here and apart from saturday the other days managed to rake up about 4 % altogether.

Now that I collected enough statistics to satisfactorily and safely infer that Friday was most likely to be the winner of the "Popular-Day Pageant", I couldn't help but wonder why.

I mean, ideally, it should be Saturday - it has got all the ingredients in it to be the winner.

a.) It is the first day of the weekend, so you don't have to go to work.

b.) Again, playing the first day of the weekend card means you don't have to worry about getting up early the next day and feel obligated to feel all charged up for the upcoming week.

c.) You get all the weekend action with bars and restaurants staying open until late.

d.) You can get up late and stay up late - just re-iterating a.) and b.)

e.) and a whole lot of etc. etc.

So why does Friday dominate the title?

I asked all the 8 of my friends who very sweetly did not wonder why I was asking them weird questions, and even if they did wonder, they did not call me "weird" on my face ;o) and let me know their thoughts.

The answers in no particular order (some omitted coz it was getting repetitive):

- I like Friday, because it is the last day of the week. I have the whole weekend to look forward to. Two days of relaxation and catching up of sleep. Even if the week has been crappy it still is the last day and so people are generally happy on a Friday.

- I like Friday. Well, maybe people choose Friday over Saturday because there is a sense of hope on a Friday. A lot of looking forward to the weekend. Saturday is already a weekend and then you know it's going to end.

- Friday is always fun because people are more relaxed at work and look forward for the day to end and party. You know you don't have to wake up early the next day.

- I like Saturday. First day of the weekend. You can get out of bed whenever you want. Spend the entire day with family and friends or alone and you don't have to worry about tiring yourself out or gong to bed  on time because the next day is Sunday and you can sleep in again.

- Sunday - Because Sunday is very peaceful. Saturday seems very rushed because we try to fit in everything that has to be done - kids, errands, shopping, housework. Sunday can be relaxed, can prepare for the next day.

One thing was very clear once I had heard all the opinions an views. Human nature thrived on "hope".

A certain "looking forward to" always has to be there for people to be happy.

Is it because life is turning out to be very monotonous and clockwork for everyone?

Most of us have jobs that we take up to earn money and support our lives. Some of us are fortunate enough, or may I say, courageous enough to have jobs that we love. Artists, media, accountants, whatever they might be, they love their jobs and what they do. But even for them, getting out of bed every single day and going to the same building and sitting at the same work station must get a tad repetitive at times, don't you think?

If not, the word "vacation" would not have made it to the dictionary at all.

Everyone needs a change once in a while. A challenge well done makes a day satisfactory. Pursuing a hobby or an interest helps bring a good end to an "alright" day.

We all need these little somethings to look forward to. Something that makes us move on and onwards.

Imagine, waking up and realising that there is absolutely nothing left in the whole wide world that you might look forward to. Would you even want to get out of bed?

I used to look forward to going to work when I started out. Now, I don't like my job as much, but thankfully, I have other things:

- I look forward to getting back home and sketching something new.

- I look forward to ideas that I might write about in this blog.

- I look forward to finishing up the knit-baby-bootie project that I have taken up - I will blog about that next.

(See - another thing to look forward to *grin*)

- I look forward to getting back to school to get my MBA.

- I look forward to having a family someday.

- I look forward to having a job that I actually and truly love.

And the list is long and un-ending and I am glad it is, cause that means I am set for a long-time and it will be a while before I have to worry about waking up purpose-less and life-less.

We all need a drive, a momentum to keep us going forward.

Even if it's as silly as a poll to pick out a favorite day and then dissect it to find out why.

So what's your favorite day and why?

         

Have a little faith

It's amazing how much of a difference it makes just to believe. To have the flicker of faith in your heart and to know that it will remain steady and guide you through the toughest of roads. It will keep you warm and safe and lead you along the right way. Suddenly the realisation dawns and you are peaceful and free because you know you don't have to worry.

I am not a very religious person, but yes, I am very spiritual. I believe that the existence of a world so beautiful and complex such as ours must have been the result of some sort of power. I do not believe that all of this was just a chance. It has to be something greater, something divine that created such intricacies and made it look so simple and wonderful.

I call it my God. I don't believe God can be contained in any religious boundaries or given any forms or restrictions. But yes, I am and always have been intrigued by the different religions. That is mainly because I feel a religion shapes a person and his/her outlook to a certain extent.

Few years ago, I witnessed my closest friend, who is a Muslim, fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. He went 30 days abstaining from food or water from dawn to dusk.
As I watched him, my curiosity was tickled and I started reading about it.
As I got to learn more and more about this, I realised that this was all about self-control and being a better person.

In our day-to-day lives, we do so many things and speak so many words that we tend to forget the purpose of being alive. We forget to think if we hurt someone, we forget to stop and ponder if we did any good deed today and we forget to feel thankful and grateful for being a part of this universe.
There are so many people who are not as fortunate as we are. People who have to go without food and water because they are poor and they are weak. People who have been trapped in the vicious circle of struggling to be alive and need to fight for every drop of nutrition and nourishment.
In the holy month of Ramadan or Ramzan, Muslims observe abstinence. They remind themselves of their good fortune by understanding and accepting the fact that food and water and other things that we take for granted otherwise, are a grace of God.

I found myself believing and it felt to me like I had to be a part of this.

This year, I observed the 30 days of Ramadan and I thank God for seeing me through it.

There are three pillars of Ramzan and the first and most important is "Niyyat" or intentions. You need to have the right intentions. You fast for God and to understand his grace and in obedience to that power which is responsible for this beautiful creation.
I had my intentions in the right place and though I was nervous because this was my first attempt at going without food and water for the duration of 15-16 hrs for 30 whole days, I had the faith that God will guide me.
I used to wake up every morning at 4:30 and have my Sehri or Suhoor. Most of the times it was the night before's left overs with a glass of milk and some fruits or dry fruits. Sometimes, I would just drink Milo and have a toast and go back to sleep.
Trust me, you do not feel hungry at 4 and it is very difficult to keep everything down specially with so much water. You have to have water because there's the risk of dehydration during the day otherwise.
First few days were difficult and I am not very good at staying hungry, but somehow, I never had any problems.
Post sunset, around 7:30pm, I would say my prayers and thank God and pray that the food and water provides me the nourishment if my God wills, and then eat and drink.
Every time I had someone to break my fast with. My friends supported me throughout this month with so much love and understanding. I shared my Ifthar with all of them.
I love you all and all this just made me realise what an amazing set of friends I had.
My sister was extremely supportive and caring and thanks to ramzan, I value her even more if possible.
I always had good food and good thoughts and my faith grew stronger.
Even though I felt ill a couple of times in the morning, and feared if I would be able to pull through the day, my belief never wavered and it was because at the end God did help me sail through with ease.
It felt as if He was physically holding my hand and guiding me, just like a parent looks after a child.

I celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr on 30th of August. I celebrated the joy of the new found faith. I celebrated life.

Now, I don't feel hungry during the day. Sometimes, I forget to drink water. At other times, when I eat something, I try to spit it out and then realise that no, wait a minute, I can eat during the day now. Things are now getting back to normal, but this is an experience that I would cherish.

I controlled my anger, my hunger and my thirst. I now understand what value a simple thing like a glass of water holds. I understand the value of food and hunger and the great feeling associated with helping a person in need or feeding a hungry soul.

There is nothing in life that will seem impossible to me, as my faith that all troubles will be resolved has now been re-inforced.

If you feel let down and your shoulders feel heavy,
Look up and shrug it off, have a little faith
If you think your problems are here to stay,
Smile and let them go, have a little faith
If your health fails you, you feel you won't be able to go on,
Let your God heal you, have a little faith

Our life may not be smooth, and things might not always go as planned. Happiness might be elusive and peace and satisfaction seem like something unattainable.
But a little faith goes a long long way. When you believe in good, you believe in hope, love and what you do and how you do it, you just need to keep walking. Things will work out.
To appreciate the cool quenching nature of water, you have to be dying of thirst. Just like that, the trials and tribulations that life poses, is necessary. Only as you pass through those, would you realise the true worth of peace and happiness.
And when everything seems too hard to bear, just count your blessings ... and you will realise that it is a wonderful world after all!