Fixers

It’s been a hot minute since I have given thought to my blog. Life took a turn into a hectic highway. Yes, that is how I want to describe it, and I have been stuck in a traffic jam since. Too busy to get anything done, and it’s an unfinished loop circle. While typing this, I have racing thoughts that I have to get so much done, and I have many unfinished tasks, but it came to a point where …. STOP. Just STOP breath and relax. Life is all about balance, and I guess this is an underestimated, I’d say, skill that many (including myself) haven’t mastered yet. I’d start by saying that I am thrilled to have come back to my blog and share my thoughts to help our minimalist community grow with less. 

In time of truth, I weakened and fell into the trap of capitalism. I have purchased many and a lot. I felt guilty, but I did not regret what I did. I guess it’s an unskippable stage of life that I have to pass by in order to value what’s coming. Some of us can’t even afford a pair of jeans, whereas some have a whole department store right in their house. It’s a reminder that we should not take anything for granted, even if it is a penny on the floor. The value of anything only comes in times of crisis when necessity and lack arise, which reminds me that the forbidden fruit is the sweetest. We can feel guilty, we can feel ashamed of decisions we have made in our life in times of desperation, but it all comes down to fixing. Fix what has been destroyed, which also brings to my grounding lifestyle “Islam.” ALLAH mentioned in the Quran and in Zabur, the holy book of ALLAH sent by Daoud peace be upon him,

  وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ 🍉❤️💚 🤍🖤

with the emphasis on the word SALIIHH in Arabic. Several English translation texts may say pious or righteous, but the SALIHIN in Arabic means fixers. The word Salih comes from the verb SALAHA, which literally translates into “To fix.” Fixing anything, even if it is a stone on the ground on a highway that you move with the intention to make the traffic smoother, you are a fixer, and your space on the planet is mandated. I want to fix our planet, but I don’t want to do it alone. Our power comes from our unity. Humans are wonderful creatures, and if we have a fixer’s fixed mindset, we can make the impossible “I’m possible.”

Every word I am typing literally now is sparkling directly from my heart, and I have rivers of tears flooding through my eyes as I am typing this. I guess what is going on in the world is making everyone’s emotions unsettled. You have the angry, you have the spiteful, you have the neutral; there’s a whole ocean of emotions and feelings. There’s so much hurt and cruelty in the world, sparked mainly from pride and misinformation. I am exhausted from being in a world that doesn’t fit my nonbiased standards and truthfully wishes I could pack and move out to another universe if only there’s a way. However, running away from a situation won’t FIX it. I consider myself to be from ASSALI7UN (the fixers). I try to fix as much as I can by standing up to the bus for people, by reusing my coffee mug instead of getting a cup each purchase; I try to smile in the street a lot to FIX someone’s mood who possibly is having a messed up day already. Volunteering, donating, spreading kindness. I am a fixer, and I am striving to lead my life that way, but I am on this bittersweet journey in the hope of motivating others to join me. PLEASE join me in my FIXING journey. Many destroyers are out there. Some destroy buildings intentionally, unalive humans, steal lands, and harm whatever is in their way. Those are destroyers. We are fixers, and it is an emotional war, it is indeed. But we, the fixers, have more power than the destroyers. I know it sounds candid of me to say, but I have no other way to describe it other than to put these simple words into a very simple sentence because life is all about simplicity, not complexity. It’s two teams, fixers and destroyers, weak and strong. Choose yours wisely. It doesn’t matter, as I said, to fix a small or big, but you are fixing. You don’t know whom you encounter and whom you inspire.

Yesterday, I helped FIX someone’s issue. Let’s leave it at that point. That person turned out to be amazed by my skills, my honesty, and my kindness. He’s a lawyer who wanted me to keep in touch with him in the future to help me FIX something I have personally in my life. My point is FIX as much as you can. You really don’t know whom you are inspiring and those who you inspire around you. You don’t know who they are, what their power or to whom they preach your FIXING skills. Fixing is contagious. Do not undermine your power. As I said, small or big, just FIX what’s around you and MINIMIZE the amount of harm around you. An example sparked from the core of my personal life. Today, I am taking my neighbor’s dog to get him professionally groomed. I am paying. My neighbor can give a damn about that dog that I have been feeding and taking care of since. Not that I am bragging about it, but I am giving a pure example from my personal life. I know I am not doing too much, such as taking care of 20 dogs at a time, but I am doing what I can. I am contributing within my means. I understand some people may not have the means to even afford themselves, let alone another creature, but there are some FREE FIXING things that won’t cost you a penny, such as smiling at people’s faces, standing up in the bus, giving a nice compliment to someone you know or even a stranger, As ALLAH says in the Quran, 

ألم تر كيف ضرب الله مثلا كلمة طيبة كشجرة طيبة أصلها ثابت وفرعها في السماء تؤتي أكلها كل حين بإذن ربها ويضرب الله الأمثال للناس لعلهم يتذكرون، ومثل كلمة خبيثة كشجرة خبيثة اجتثت من فوق الأرض ما لها من قرار يثبت الله الذين آمنوا بالقول الثابت في الحياة الدنيا وفي الآخرة ويضل الله الظالمين ويفعل الله ما يشاء

Opening the door for another person, giving up your place in line to someone else and the list is endless. PLEASE FIX and help MINIMIZE the harm to our planet. Minimizing isn’t about the quantity of physical stuff you own, but it’s also the quality of goodness you contribute to this planet in every single aspect. FIX the load of harm, MINIMIZE the harm. Exterminate the harm. Your FIXING message will be indeed heard.

Plant a tree of goodness. It will be fruitful. 

Thank you for reading my post. Every word I typed is genuinely coming straight from my heart.

Remember, less is more, and your goodness is enough.