🌈 1381 – Saturday, 22 November 2025, 00:37
London
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day today.
It’s 00:37 now – just past midnight from Friday night – so I mean yesterday (Friday) went well.
“Message in a Bottle” is playing on Virgin Radio. It’s 2 degrees outside, the heating is on, the neighbours are still awake, and there’s some loud music coming from the right-side top floor. My neighbour friends in the front window are also awake.
A flight is passing overhead right now, at this time of night. And a last train must have gone by on the underground – I can feel it from my bed. The whole building shakes a little when it passes. I quite like it. I once knew a girl who used to be scared of it, and it was funny to me then as it is now. I’m sitting in Mayfair in my top-floor flat, feeling serene and grateful, just hoping and anticipating my dear brother’s arrival soon end of this month or next.
Feeling good right now.
How was your day? What did you do?
When I woke up, I felt like there was time. I stayed in bed reading and ended up finishing the whole chapter; usually, I only read part of it, but today there was still time after finishing. Time moved slowly this morning. Usually it runs like anything. This is my experiment with not looking at the time before going to bed and then waking up and doing tasks without checking the time – just seeing when it naturally shows up.
I slept well last night and woke up at a decent time. I meditated for a bit, read Dad’s prayer message on the group chat, then sat at the desk and logged in Friday’s work. It was around 08:40. Good or not, still grateful to Covid and working from home – the day went well.
Around 10:30, I got a call from a girl offering some investment property. I chatted with her for about 15 minutes; she was very pleasant. It was cold outside, and I stayed at the desk working until 12:15. Then I had a shower and left for Friday Salah at the Mayfair Mosque, offered Jumma Salah. Friday afternoons have always been a big deal since growing up with family, parents, brother, and sister. I should celebrate it myself now.
Around 13:30, returned home, ate a piece of toast and a hot drink, and sat at the desk again. I called Mother around 15:30 – it was already 19:30 for them. Mother and I had a brief conversation.
The radio just reminded me that there are 33 days left until Christmas. For all of us, it’s a reminder that the year-end is getting closer, and these are our productive days of life – I mean our youth – so use them wisely and finish all the tasks you want done by the end of the year. Run!
“Now just relax for a bit, take a deep breath, and think about what I can do now that will take me one step closer to my goals. For me, that means finishing this writing quickly, going to bed, and starting the day actively tomorrow.”
The last time I wrote something was last Thursday. I had the next 3 days off and planned to take control of my time and do things freely, but again, nature had its own plans and I surrendered to it. I was given rest in the form of a funny pain in my left leg all of a sudden, almost right after Friday Salah. The next 3 days I stayed in bed, followed by the whole week, where I only left home on Thursday evening for a walk to see how I felt.
A dear sweet friend came to check on me and brought some food, then went to the supermarket to get groceries for me for the week, which was sweet.
People need people. So let’s be good to one another.
The rest of the workday went well. I logged off around 18:00-something when my dear sweet sister phoned to check on me. The call lasted about 30 minutes, and we had a long catch-up. She told me how to make dinner at home. We said goodnight – it was past midnight for her.
Heading to bed now. It feels like it was a long week. Tomorrow I’ll start with reading, then gym. I’ve planned to speak to my parents and brother tomorrow on a group call. I’m sure you will do something fun this weekend, and I’m sure you will have that moment I always talk about – where you take a deep breath, notice the nowness, and feel its gratefulness.
Have a great weekend!
Around the world today –
COP30 Climate Agreement Moves Forward – At the climate summit in Belém, a major city in northern Brazil, nearly 200 nations reached a deal to at least triple adaptation funding by 2035 – a major win for vulnerable countries facing climate impacts. (The Guardian)
New Anti-Malaria Drug Shows Huge Promise – Novartis and the Medicines for Malaria Venture announced that their new drug, GanLum, was over 97% effective in a major clinical trial. (Reuters)
Patagonia Gives $180 Million to Nature – Outdoor brand Patagonia, which restructured so the planet is its “only shareholder,” has donated another $180 million to environmental causes through its nonprofit trusts.
3 things I felt grateful for today
Grateful to parents.
Grateful to siblings and friends.
Very grateful for this thicker leopard-print throw – a gift from a friend who visited Brazil many years ago.
What would it take for me – and for you – to wake up 10× bigger, thicker, stronger, leaner, more energetic, happy, confident, healthy, wake up early, make it to the workout, have a good workout, everything to be okay with family, friends, and everyone around, and then have a relaxing, relaxing, relaxing yet productive day tomorrow?
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Goodnight, good luck!
Ash Khaleem