Life is seldom steady. With the ebb and flow of positive and negative experiences, I often struggle to find consistency in my mental state. At times feeling immensely empowered by accomplishing the smallest of tasks, and conversely dreading the idea of giving up a few meters before finishing a metaphorical marathon.

I started this Ramadan highly motivated, with goals of pushing myself to my limits. As the month progressed, I realized that I didn’t have what it takes to fulfill my aspirations for the blessed 30 days. I had questioned the strength of my Imaan. Now that we have entered the last third, I felt a boost in my capacity to worship. Over all the experience reminding me of the ups and downs we experience in life.

This analogy can be extrapolated to other aspects of our livelihoods. A streak of happy moments are often times overlooked at the occurrence of a single setback. Many people train their bodies to reach their fitness goals, only to become devastated and throw away their progress upon a temporary injury. Students at the cusp of receiving their degree, disregarding all their accomplishments at the sight of a lower grade.

As cringey as it has become, realize that it isn’t about the times you fell but rather about the different ways you learn to get back up. For every problem there is a solution, but you won’t see the bigger picture until you solve the jigsaw puzzle. It is completely fine to feel broken or sad after a setback, for it will serve as a reminder for why you need to maintain effort. Remind yourself that this feeling is simply an emotion and that you are capable of climbing out of any pit. Remember, anything that has been done before can be done again; oftentimes can be done even better.

We mustn’t expect life to be all roses and daisies, as it is the dirt that feeds the seeds.