Hi friends,

I have been thinking about this old man from my neighborhood who passed away two years ago. What keeps replaying in my head is a conversation I had with him before I visited him in the hospital for the last time. At the time of the conversation, he was still fighting his illness, and he had the spirit of a young man. He told me, “Your generation is soft.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Everything is easy for you, yet you complain about everything.”

“How were things when you were younger?”

“Oh, how much you don’t know what being a man is,” he said.

I laughed.

Then he continued, “The first job I got after leaving Yemen was in California, on a farm. Do you know what it’s like to work under a California summer sun for 10 hours?”

I shook my head and thought about the AC above my cubicle in the office.

“Well, hard jobs like that make something out of you. You become a MAN.”

When I visited him in the hospital, he was already in a coma. He lay still, fragile, and small like a child in a king-size bed.

How much I regret not sitting with him more often to talk. He loved talking about his migration to the US from Yemen, his village back home, and the hard times he lived through.

This makes me think about my own death, which might happen much sooner or later than the age my friend reached. Who knows? It also makes me think about how unimportant some of my worries are: a conversation that takes a bad turn at the office, my five-year plan, or the stories I wrote and didn’t get published.

Good things and bad things happen to every one of us, and I think the balance is how much time and energy we put into things that really matter and the things that don’t. Some things in life we will chase and never attain, while other things will be gifted to us without even half the effort. The mystery is in examining our priorities and adjusting our perspective.

— Mohamed

💎 New From Me

I made a video about staying mindful during Ramadan, which starts this weekend. For those who observe, it is the most exciting time of the year. Some might wonder how fasting from eating and drinking can be exciting, and I honestly have few words to explain it. Perhaps it’s because you become more in touch with God, or because Ramadan brings out the best in us, or even because it offers the opportunity to realign our priorities. I don't know for sure. I just know it's an opportunity like no other. Here is a video about making the best out of it:

🔖 Quote I’m pondering

"Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at."

— Kevin Kelly

Source: Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier

📸 Through My Lens

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Thank you for reading!

Mohamed