Stay patient. The best things happen unexpectedly!

🌈 1372 – Thursday, 11 September 2025, 23:38

London

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful day today!

Just flipped the radio channel just as it started talking. Across from me, in the opposite window, the beautiful girl who lives there had her blinds wide open keeps an eye on me. She had just finished a massage, got up from the bed, and was waiting for her masseuse to leave. I wondered what it would take for me to be able to call out from my window when the masseuse was leaving and ask if she’d be happy to give me a massage too.

I wish everyone could treat themselves to a nice, warm massage.

Woke up early today with just one thing on my mind, I had to get to work. I debated whether I should go in because there was a tube strike. I’m not a tube user, but I thought maybe no one would come in. On Tuesday, I skipped going in, but a lot of people still made it to the office. So today, I decided, “Let’s go.”

Still in bed, I read a rukuh of Surah Kahf, then checked the family group chat – everything was fine. I ironed a light blue shirt and light blue trousers, got my bike out, and headed to work. It was wet outside, cloudy but bright, and I didn’t take a jacket.

At work, only a few close teammates were there, which was nice, and I was glad I came in.

For lunch, I went up to the terrace, had my bike tires filled with air, and ate lamb shank with salad—twice. Then I went back to my desk. In the afternoon, it poured heavily outside, the rain came twice in bursts, but it wasn’t yet time for me to leave. I finished most of my tasks, left a few for tomorrow, and looked forward to the weekend.

As I was leaving work with my bike in hand, my mother sent a prayer in the family chat: “Jazakan Allahu Alhasani Wzayaadah”, which means “May Allah reward you with goodness and increase it.”

• Jazākallāhu = May Allah reward you

• al-ḥasana = with goodness (or a good deed)

• wa ziyādah = and more / and increase

I called mother right away to see how she was. She’d just eaten dinner, Papa had gone to bed, and she was about to as well and now just scrolling her phone. We talked – she told me she had spoken with my dearest sister earlier and dear brother around lunchtime. She said, he phoned her asking, “Kaisa hai Ammajaan? How are you feeling today, dear mother?”

Then I flipped the camera to show her I was leaving work. Holding the phone in one hand and my bike in the other, showed her the way home, starting from Parliament Square. I turned the camera to show her the Gandhi statue, then Green Park, then the big government buildings near Downing Street. We passed Horse Guards Parade, a building overtaken by nature with creepers all over it, and Buckingham Palace Road. She noticed many flags, and I told her, “That’s the Palace!” went closer to show her. Then turned back onto Marlborough Road, Pall Mall, St James Street, and Piccadilly Road. I showed her the Ritz Hotel, and she was happy to see women in burqas walking nearby.

We passed Green Park Station, then two lanes down to Clarges Street – our street. She was happy. Soon I was home. I parked my bike, opened the door, and she said “Beautiful.” I walked up the stairs – she loved the carpet – came to the third floor, opened my door, showed her my desk, my musalla in the dressing room, and then sat on my bed. We chatted for another half hour. Her hair is slowly growing back after chemo.

I felt so motivated and inspired by her kindness – spending time with me, sharing joy, and enjoying seeing where I live and work. She was grateful. She also told me about our cousin sister, who had been separated from her husband for a year, but had just reunited with him and moved into a new home. That was wonderful news for all of us.

We said goodbye, and I relaxed for a bit. It was 18:30. By then, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared.

I got ready for the gym – still owed myself a workout. As I was heading downstairs, my brother texted, asking about my day, still chatting with him, a mate I hadn’t spoken to properly in at least five years (since Covid) called. He was incredibly sweet and invited me to his birthday in Spain, Torremolinos, from October 24 – 27. I told him I’d check my calendar. We had a long, long chat for 45 minutes – so today I had two long conversations, one with my mother and one with a friend.

It was 20:00 by then. I left for the Piccadilly PureGym, biked partway, but traffic on Piccadilly Road was heavy, so left bike on the street, locked to a pole, I walked through Jermyn Street. At the gym, I had a solid evening workout: 4 sets of 11 reps of pull-ups, flat bench dumbbell presses, incline machine presses, and some ab work. Then walked home, picked up my bike along the way, and returned.

For dinner, I made chicken with pita and salad. Now I’m sitting down to write.

Tomorrow is dear brother’s day off in Riyadh, and Friday will be my last working day of the week. The best feeling right now is that the weekend is coming – time that will be my own. I can rest, relax, do nothing, or maybe do something. I’ll let the future arrive on its own.

“For a lot of us, I think we shouldn’t stress over things that haven’t happened yet. Tomorrow doesn’t exist yet – why feel anxious about it? Why fear unpredictable things in the future? Just as a fruit is most delicious when ripe, so too are moments best enjoyed in their proper time.

Tomorrow belongs to the unseen, a bridge we don’t cross until it arrives. Perhaps we’ll cross it safely. Being overly attached to future expectations ties us too tightly to this world. Many of us worry this is only caused by the thoughts fueled by negative chatter in the mind.

Since you’re already busy with today’s struggles, leave tomorrow until it comes. Don’t cling too hard to what might happen in this world.

The rest of the world today:

• Russia–Ukraine war: NATO countries, especially Poland, condemned Russian drones entering their airspace. Poland vowed to strengthen its military after repeated drone violations near its border with Ukraine. (Kyiv Independent)

• Israel–Palestine war: Israel carried out an airstrike in Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas leadership in a residential area. Multiple people, including Qatari security officials, were killed. The strike came during ceasefire talks and was widely condemned for undermining the peace process. (New York Post)

• AI advancement: Researchers created an AI system called SeeMe that can detect signs of consciousness in seemingly unresponsive patients. It spots subtle facial movements days earlier than medical exams. (TS2 Space)

3 x things I felt grateful for today

• Grateful for a good workout this evening.

• Grateful for long conversations with two people I love most: my mother and my friend who called after five years.

• Grateful for an unplanned weekend ahead.

What would it take for me and you to wake up tomorrow ten x times more energetic, bigger, muscular, confident, happy, grateful, and strong? To wake early, have a good workout, everything to be okay with family, friends and everyone around us, then have a relaxing, relaxing, relaxing yet a productive day tomorrow?

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Goodnight, good luck!

Ash Khaleem