Make this Ramadan your best ever!

Did you know that you have the choice and the ability to make this Ramadan as awesome and positive as you wish for it to be? Let’s explore how.
Each one of us finds something new, different and interesting in the way we experience Ramadan. We are able to distinguish our varied experiences by telling them to each other, and in doing so we find we have similar challenges, and/or differing outlooks.

You needn’t be Muslim to experience Ramadan. In fact if it is your first Ramadan as a non-Muslim in an Islamic culture, this will be a time that you will be able to explore, learn and seek to understand what goes on during this month. What drives people to fast in this heat and what keeps their spirits energized throughout this period.

Being a Muslim, it may be your first time in Kuwait this Ramadan, or perhaps the first time you fast in a summer like this, and even if there is nothing new for you really, you will still have a new and unique experience – an experience you choose to have. Ramadan is inevitable, it’s going to arrive and you will experience it anyway. Why not allow yourself to make this your ultimate experience thus far, an experience that is positive, fulfilling and one that brings joy to your heart and comfort to your soul.

So how can we create this?
Our minds have filter systems, just like an air filter, that filters out the unwanted dust and other muck in order to protect the environment around us, and in turn protect and look out for us. If we understand how our filter works, we can use it to optimise our thoughts about certain things. We have the power to choose if we will filter out negative thoughts and people from our minds, and to what extent we protect our minds from absorbing negative energy. Having positive thoughts translates into us feeling great. And when we feel great, our actions demonstrate and glow in this greatness.

By turning on our filters, we can choose the thoughts we want to have about Ramadan. We can choose who influences them. Would we allow complaints and moans and groans from others through our filters? Or are we going to seek out positive people who illuminate with joy and abundance this Ramadan? The choice is yours!

Ramadan is a great opportunity to seek out its blessings and mercies, as they are abundant. And once we know what they are for us, we can focus on enveloping ourselves in the feelings these blessings bring to us, visualizing how they will assist us in our own self-development and growth. We can grab opportunities to serve others in our communities, and watch how we can create a ripple effect on the people around us.

These are some affirmations that you could choose to rewrite and read every so often, or you may choose to come up with your own specific ones as you find new meanings that this month holds for you.

* Ramadan brings me energy and a new spirit of self-reflection
* My heart is open to generosity and kindness
* As Ramadan grows on me so does compassion and empathy
* I become more conscious about my words and thoughts
* Ramadan propels me to look for creative ways to help others, my environment and Allah’s creatures
* My hunger pangs draw me towards reflecting on my eating habits, towards simplicity and whole foods
* My hunger pangs remind me to reflect on the poor, those in war zones, and the vulnerable
* I am more conscious about caring for and conserving the earth that Allah has blessed me with
* As my fast begins, I reflect on building and enhancing relationships with my loved ones
* I create avenues to strengthen my family ties, through prayer and mealtimes
* As I fast, I gain inner strength and success
* The more grateful I am to my Creator, the more gratitude I am able to find around me
* I am fortunate to be blessed with another Ramadan, and accept it with joy
* I have a powerful inner strength in mind and body this Ramadan
* I release any fears in me and allow Ramadan’s blessings to shower me
* I attract healthy eating and lifestyle habits
* I believe in myself and my ability to fast with complete submission to my Creator
* As Ramadan embarks, so does my level of spirituality and faith to please my Creator
* I choose faith, I choose sisterhood/ brotherhood, I choose community and giving.