Turkey, paragliding, self development, Ramadan…OH MY!

You know, this trip really was something I needed. With such a crappy semester and just so much I completely lost myself as a person. I went from being this confident chick to someone with big self esteem issuesy. I went from being pretty outspoken and very passionate about my views to compromising for the sake of compromising and making others happy. It’s true that traveling is a self exploration journey. I found weaknesses I never thought I had and strengths I never thought I would even build. Today for an example I ended up going with my room mates to Oludeniz after school to paraglide. I honestly didn’t want to go. I had so many nerves and a dream of someone dying from it last night. 6000 feet up in the mountain. It was the most scariest thing I have ever done in my life. Not paragliding but the 30 min drive to the mountain. The wait to be strapped on. The view. The slope of the tip of the peak and how it made me you trip with every step. My pilot didn’t speak to me at all when strapping me so I didn’t even know what was going on. I thought we would wait a few minutes but this dude freaking blows up his parachute when I’m looking away and tells me to run off the mountain to fly. I thought it would be terrifying. But It was the most peaceful thing I have ever done. Just chilling 6000 feet up in the air watching the world. The sea. The mountains. The neighboring villages. The islands. The sun setting. The beach town. The world is so vast and so wide and we are a small portion of it. The mountain we flew from became so tiny as compared to the rest of the view. What are my issues compared to the world. And who am I to say there is no solution when the world is so vast and beautiful. This trip made me realize that. My views on things would be so narrow. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t open minded, by narrow I meant it was either one way or there was no way at all. I had to be on this career path. I had to be with this person. I had to dress a certain way. I had to act a certain way. I had to pursue these connections to advance in life. Yet it’s not about that at all anymore. I remember Nouman Ali Khan told his audience in a lecture to just look at the sky. By looking at the sky you’ll remember the greatness of Allah. And that’s what I’ve been doing in this trip. It’s not the traveling, or doing spontaneous things that’s helping me cope with certain things but it’s just enjoying the environment around me. It’s looking out the bus window and taking in the mountains. It’s smelling the scent of the water. It’s hearing the waves. It’s also not having wifi for half the day lol. It’s safe to say I think I found myself as a person during these few weeks. I’m a nervous risk taker but end up going with the flow when I’m finally on the mountain top. I think way too much into the negatives of things but when I find a positive the good out weighs the bad. And most importantly I am much more stronger than I ever thought I was or would be. So Alhamdullilah to new experiences. To new friends. To new places. To new adventures. Alhamdullilah to bad experiences. To insecurities. To fears that finally been confronted. And to finally being selfish for once in my life.Ramadan inshallah starts tomorrow night. Flying off a mountain was just what I needed to feel secure and to kick off this blessed month. May Allah accept our fasts inshallah. May we be amongst those who get to see His Noor during the Day. May all our deeds he carried out with us into the next world and may they multiply by a ton during this blessed month. May the character we development in these following weeks be the character we develop throughout our lifetime.
May we be united with our loved ones In Jannah inshallah.And most importantly May Allah accept what’s good from us and forgive what’s bad. Ameen ya Rab!