Peace of mind is priceless.

🌈 1384 – Friday, 12 December 2025 23:13

London

I’ve just eaten a lot of carbs and don’t feel ready to go to bed yet. Instead, I decide now to sit down and write about the day. I realised the last time I properly sat down to write was almost a week ago, on 30 November, and now it’s already 12 December. Half the month feels like it’s passed without me really noticing where the time went.

“Time – oh dear time – why do you run as if I never asked you to stay?

I call out to you, quietly at first and then louder, but you keep moving without looking back.

Maybe I don’t need to hold on to you. Maybe I just need to learn how not to lose you.

All I really want is time – time to hear my mother’s voice, to laugh with my brother, and to sit with a quiet page where I can pour myself out.

So if you won’t slow down, time, please wait for me!!!”

Anyway, enough of my rant. I’m feeling good and happy, and I ate a lot earlier after getting home not too long ago.

Earlier, around 9 pm, I got a call from a mate saying, “Hey, what are you up to? I’m near Green Park station, just crossing the Ritz, with my parents and sister. We’ll probably pass by your street – thought I’d say a quick hello if you’re free.”

I said, “Yeah – do you want to bring them up for a cup of tea?” He replied, “Probably not, there are too many stairs.” – That’s fine, I can come down to say hello.

He then said, “It’s okay if you’re busy.” But of course I wasn’t going to miss that. They’re your parents – the people who brought you into this world. I didn’t say all that out loud, but I felt grateful. When my parents visit, they’re always happy to meet my friends, and if I were a parent, I’d want to meet all my children’s friends or acquaintances too.

My mate seemed unsure, but I said, “Alright man, I’m coming down – let me grab my jacket.” Cue dramatic background music – tandam, tandam, tandam -, and I went downstairs.

I met them on Curzon Street: my mate’s mum, dad, and sister. We said a quick hello, I shook hands with his parents and gave his sister a hug. Then we walked toward Berkeley Square, onto New Bond Street, and finally toward Bond Street station. I said goodbye to them at the Elizabeth Line entrance. It was really nice to meet them.

After college, my parents put me in a hostel while I was at university. It wasn’t a typical uni hostel – it was a shared hostel with students from many different colleges and universities. It was a big three-floor building with lots of rooms.

Over three or four years, you naturally become friends with many people. Students from different towns, cities, and even countries all live together. I remember how often someone would knock on my door and say, “Hey, my parents are visiting for an hour today – will you be around? I just want you to say hello.”

It always makes parents happy to meet their children’s friends or acquaintances. Even years later, they’ll ask, “How is your friend doing?” or keep them in their thoughts. It reassures parents that their child isn’t alone, that they have company.

I felt the same when my parents visited, and my friends met them. It brings comfort to parents, to your friends, and, honestly, to yourself too. So always make the effort to say hello to family. You don’t have to meet everyone’s friends, but family is what stays forever, so be kind and present.

A few years ago, after university, one of my close mates in London said, “My parents are visiting next week – do you want to catch up?” I said yes, happily. The next thing I knew, the following day they invited me along and we went to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge together – places I’d never been before. What a beautiful way to spend time.

I know everyone has their own preferences. Some people, especially in parts of Europe, think meeting parents is a big deal – but it really doesn’t have to be, unless you make it complicated. It’s your choice whether you open your arms wide or stay closed off in a corner – just kidding. Everything is acceptable, and I’ll still love you no matter who you are or how you are, my dear.

09:25 The roads were crowded as I walked back home. I passed Claridge’s but avoided the busy areas and took the quieter route through Davies Street, then Berkeley Street. On the way, I passed Sainsbury’s opposite the Mayfair Hotel.

I hesitated, but since I plan to spend the rest of the weekend at home – staying quiet, reading, writing, and avoiding the busy Christmas crowds – I went in. I want to hide away on my top floor, look out the window, be still, and have time to myself.

I bought enough food to last the weekend… but when I got home, I ate most of it. What can I say?

I hadn’t eaten much earlier in the day because my throat felt a bit off, so it’s alright. I’ve booked a swim session tomorrow morning – I’ll burn it off.

Overall, today was a good day. It was Friday, and I’m grateful I had the day off. I work an extra hour on another day so I can take one full day off every second week, and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.

I used my time well today. If it wasn’t for this cold and sore throat, I would’ve done a proper workout, but I’ll catch up soon.

Plans for the weekend: There seems to be an error on the website that I need to fix. I also haven’t properly caught up with family all week, so that needs to happen. December has a way of making things feel more relaxed, but there are only a few days left to finish the things I promised myself I’d complete before the end of the year – and they will get done.

Around the world today:

• Youth from over two dozen nations joined peace dialogues in Berlin this week, showing growing global momentum for grassroots peace and democratic engagement among young people. (Youth4Peace)

• The World Food Programme continues to push for sustained humanitarian corridors during ceasefires, helping protect civilians and support peace efforts.

• AI update: Artificial intelligence is moving beyond basic text and image generation toward deeper reasoning, autonomous task completion, multimodal intelligence, and real-world applications – becoming more capable and integrated into daily life.

Three things I felt grateful for today:

• Grateful for having the day off and keeping to myself.

• Grateful for having a weekend ahead – more time for me.

• Grateful for making a plan to step away from public for the rest of the month so I can focus on work. God, please give me the strength to say no to everything except what truly matters.

What would it take for me – and for you – to wake up ten times bigger, stronger, muscular, leaner, more energetic, confident, grateful, waking up early, have a good workout, everything to be okay with family, friends and everyone around us, then have a relaxing, relaxing, relaxing mentally yet a productive day tomorrow? and then the full weekend!

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Goodnight. Good luck.

Ash Khaleem