Written by: Anwar

Hall of Famer, John Wooden once said, “Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.” Recently, and I mean roughly 3 months recent, life, as always, has been a whirlwind (to say the least) except unlike other months since starting this blogging ordeal, school started, basketball is back in full swing, and I’ve finally learned how to commit to my own health and well-being.

Let me tell you something, if you haven’t noticed the obvious, life FLIES by. We find it so hard to catch up with time (even with the extra hour we received a few weeks ago).

Here is my point… a few days ago, when driving home from basketball practice, I happen to glance at my dash board, in which not one, not two, but THREE service lights were lit and glaring in my direction. GREAT! On top of all this craziness of life (and I wouldn’t want it any other way), I now have to figure out why my newly replaced breaks were triggering the BREAK service lights to appear. Not only that, but my GAS service light was glaring at me too. Usually my gas light appears when it’s near the last hash mark of the meter. THIS was DIFFERENT. It appeared and I still had well over 1/4 of a tank of gas left. This can easily take me to downtown and back roughly 2 solid times, no joke. Lastly, my tire pressure light went on! Oh my goodness! What did this mean???? Tires are low on air… 🤷🏽‍♀️ most likely because of the cold weather, but if you’re from Cleveland YOU KNOW that this is not the only cold day of weather we’ve had, but why today? Why did all these service lights decide to shine all at once?

At first, I did what I typically do when anything happens to my car…. nothing 😆. I was so confused, and finally after really thinking it through, my first action was to call my brother, who is my go-to for cars. Although, before acting upon instinct, I literally stopped at the next stop sign (how about that for irony LOL), and thought, “my little Subaru is giving me indirect advice about life.” Why else would my break light flash, my gas light stare me down, and my air pressure tire light glimmer in my direction?

Before we go on, if you don’t know me, sorry because you’re missing out 😝. Just kidding, I’m just feeling a little sassy today… but really if you don’t know me, you don’t know that once fall and winter entertains my daily schedule, I DO NOT STOP and I seriously have no clue about time. This is clearly by choice. I probably take on more than I should or maybe I need to manage my time better. I’m definitely thankful either way because it’s all about life’s learning experiences and the relationships you build along the way. Although, day by day thoughts run through my head like, “I hope I don’t miss my niece or nephew uttering any new words” or ” I hope I don’t miss my nephew take his first crawl”, or “my best friend is in town and I need to find an hour this week to be able to see her”, or even simply thinking about gathering with my family. These are all thoughts that ponder through my mind and I know I can’t be the only one feeling like this. This is daily life for most of us. Most times it’s rough, but that’s just the reason why we must learn to cherish every moment.

This is what brought me to share advice from my Subaru. She’s absolutely right. School matters, work matters, friends matter, and family is always first, but we live in a world where we are taught very young to make sacrifices in order to make a living. Don’t get me wrong. My job makes me happy, and so does basketball, and I love my friends and family, but don’t wait for advice from a car to remind you that you need to slam on the breaks, refuel on the importance of life, and to just breathe for that fresh air we often yearn for. Give yourself time, the time that you earned to keep close ties with those that rely on you, and to create endless memories with those who matter, and to never forget how and where it all started.

Now I’ve always believed that there’s no such thing as coincidence, so here is what I gathered in short:

Slooooow down, take a BREAK because you’re running out of GAS. Lastly, if you feel like you’re running out of AIR due to life’s PRESSURES, just take it easy, and breathe. Like me, if you’re feeling overwhelmed with life, I recommend taking the advice of my car.

Ladies and gentleman, no matter how crazy life gets, make time to stop and refuel. Make time for yourself, your family, and the people in life that matter. We often hear that LIFE is TOO short, but those four words could not be more true. Therefore I remind you once again of basketball great, John Wooden’s wise words, “Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.” AND, check up on your cars every once in a while. They need to be maintained too!!!! 🤣

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***Listen to the audio for a real feel of my meaning. ***

By Esra 

I can sit here and give a million and one reasons why it’s been months since you have had the pleasure of glimpsing into my exciting thoughts. The bottom line is life happens, but this strong headed bull doesn’t back down from a commitment made even if it takes me longer then I prefer. It’s so tempting to give up sometimes, life keeps pushing you down, and you just start to feel like what’s the point? How much more can I handle? So many questions and doubts we have every day, but we gotta keep pushing, gotta keep coming back. 
This blog is a little different than my norm. A glimpse into my spiritual mind and troubles of the heart. An overview of the struggles we all face, questions we all have, with only one way to turn. 

Ever wake up one day and just think what the heck am I even doing? Life is on repeat, and this dream of happiness becomes nothing but that; a dream. You feel like you have nowhere to turn, alone in a world full of people, the darkness overtaking and you can’t seem to find the light. It’s like you have one good day and then ten bad follow. Hope is lost as we unsuccessfully try to attain the earthly pleasures in a temporary world where everything at a single command; destructed. You start to think, no one knows or hears your desperate calls. But HE does. He hears the Call. 
“And if my servant asks you about me then I am near, I HEAR THE CALL of the caller when he calls upon me.”

This verse plays a constant reminder in moments where that little slither of doubt creeps into my heart. The many times I ask myself is he even listening? Here I am sitting, calling on him day in and day out; HE tells me he hears and answers but I’m not seeing. I’m narrow-minded in my clouded need, focused on the one thing I’m seeking… blind to the blessings seeping. I sit up at night, and I think of all the things missing, all the things I want to make me “happy,” finally. I’m forgetting the roof over my head, my beautiful parents sleeping next door and the warm blankets surrounding me. None of that matters or even crosses my mind as I cry over a broken heart from a fairytale love ungranted. Or as I sit and complain about the new job I wasn’t appointed. God doesn’t want good for me, Everything that makes me happy, taken! I prayed for this, and he ain’t even answering… He tells me “I say be and it shall” So why is it when I’m calling, it’s not happening? What am I doing wrong? Does God even love me? Is he even listening…
It’s that constant mantra in our minds. We want everything now, at a touch of a finger the world is at your command. Were spoiled rotten, we no longer even know what real happiness is in a world so shallow fast-paced and flawed. 
A constant struggle of the mind, a doubting fault in the heart. We are tying our reality of happiness to a fleeting world that soon will end. We, The human, impatient and ungrateful in time of need, prideful and dismissive in moments of success. We return to HIM when things are going wrong, forgetful when everything is going right. Then we have the nerve to be demanding and impatient when last week HE wasn’t even on our mind or sight. 
When you’re raising your hand, and you pray with all your heart because you’re in a desperate moment and nothing seems to be going right. The doubt begins to build in your heart as you come back after so much time apart. You question your self; why does it take a fall for me to turn back? Why does a calamity hit, before I remember your might! 

A hidden beauty and blessing within it all. If tragedy needs to fall for the time stop passing before you knell to HIM, dropping that forehead to the ground, then HE’s saving your life. 
He gives us a simple command to worship and trust. Guaranteeing a reward of the happiness we seek, in a dimension that’s far more pleasing. Maybe that fairytale love wasn’t answered because another one is calling. Open your heart, and you will feel it, an eternal relationship of love between the creator and creation. When that foundation is built maybe then you will find it; that earthly love, that will never replace it. 
Remember the nights and days you stayed up stressing, time went wasted only to miss it. The one opportunity you were always seeking, slipping through your fingers. Everything was going so well, just to diminish. You were on top of the world, untouchable, soon everything is destructed. Where did it go wrong? It cant be all the prayers you pushed aside as you made time for temporary fame, money, and glory. It cant be that you forgot who grants that sustenance. Nah, it was all you. You then want to blame HIM for your low times and failure when you don’t even remember HIM during your high time and success? Well, hello reality check. 
Those internal struggles, aches, and tears that keep you up all night he knows, he hears every single one. Filled with shame and guilt, we struggle to turn back in these times of need, remembering all the days we turned away. Everything was going right, and we strayed, and now when we are weak, we seek. Will he accept? The one whose mercy outweighs his anger, the one who is closer to you than your jugular vein, is waiting. Just call, and he hears, he answers. The answer may not come in the form you wanted or fast enough, but trust that He who created you knows what is best for you. Is it possible that what you deserve is beyond the realm of this world waiting for you in an eternal heaven? 
Every second of hardship or pain felt on this earth is forgiveness on a day where you stand before your Him with no barriers. Every struggle to remain affirmed on His path no matter the obstacles, leads straightway into His garden. Every time you trusted His plan leads you to that moment where you stand before Him, the majestic throne in sight. The call has been heard and answered.