Ramadan Notes #16: Struggling to Focus on your Intentions for Ramadan? Let's look inwards

As-salamu’alaykum,

Thank you and JazakAllahu khayran (May Allah reward you with goodness) for coming back today.

The focus muscle is one that we must all nurture despite the obvious challenges, some of which we mentioned yesterday from social media to smartphone application notifications to interruptions in the middle of patient care or documentation for those of us in healthcare.

Our ability to pursue productive efforts whether distinctly religious like praying Salah on time with Khushu (deep concentration) or creating a thoughtful note after difficult patient encounter or even spending quality time reading a Ramadan-themed book to your child at bedtime, the denominator is the same - focus and attention and our generation struggles quite a bit due to the onslaught of resources in the attention economy that surrounds us.

So what can you and I do about this?

The first thing is to appreciate that our focus muscle has internal and external dimensions with related distractions.

Today, we will explore some of the core internal component;

Healthcare work often comes with heavy emotional implications because it impacts people’s lives and involves multiple players with different approaches to care that need to be aligned for an optimal patient outcome. This translates to rumination, lingering thoughts and emotions that interfere with our ability to focus on a temporal priority like Ramadan. 

Here are a few things to consider in managing this;

1. Write it out - Journal about your experiences - this act is both cathartic and therapeutic at the same time. It will clear your head and give you clarity to approach your more productive pursuits with intention. For very intense emotions, it is helpful to write in the 3rd person narrative referring to yourself as your name as though you were not directly involved but you were a witness to the events that's weighing heavy on your mind. This step helps to remove inherent biases from our thought process when we approach a tough situation in this manner.

2. Talk it out - Lean on a trusted buddy that will lend you a listening ear and give you undivided attention in this time of need. You will find it similar to writing it out to help you renew your focus with clarity of purpose to approach the rest of Ramadan with a refreshed perspective.

3. Recall the bright spots of your Ramadan so far and express sincere gratitude to Allah SWT. This simple act will not only re-energize you as many studies about the practice of gratitude have shown but it goes with divine favor that Allah SWT has promised to unlock for the grateful ones as indicated in the following verse of the Qur’an;

Surah Ibrahim v7: ‘And ˹remember˺ when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe.’

In a related Hadith, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said: 'A person who is blessed with the Taufiq to be grateful shall never be deprived of barakah and increase in blessings.' [Reported by Ibn Marduwayh from Ibn ` Abbas ؓ - Mazhari]

Recall the Barakah paradigm that we discussed a few days ago, expressing gratitude is one of those values that helps us tap into its endless bounty as the Prophet Muhammad SAW shares with us in the hadith.

Dear friends and colleagues, these modalities are accessible to all of us regardless of how busy our schedules get. Please do not underestimate the power of these tools to help us get refocused on the high aspirations that we have for this month. Until the new moon of Shawwal shows up, this blessed opportunity is all for the taking.  

May Allah SWT keep us focused on seeking His mindfulness and reaping the great rewards of this blessed month. Amin

Sincerely,

Sulyman

P.S. Join like-hearted #HealthCareWorkers on Zoom every Thursday this Ramadan for weekly check-ins at 4.15pm CST/9.15pm GMT/10.15pm WAT . Register and join with this link.

P.P.S. What other suggestions do you have for me and others in this regard? Share in the comments section or reply to [email protected]

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