A couple of days ago I was abruptly woken up by a loud bang and the gush of water coming from the en suite bathroom. Within a few minutes, the bathroom floor had been flooded and I found myself stamping on towels to mop up the excess water. Alhamdulillah, I had also managed to awaken my son to switch off the main water supply.
There is a very conscious purpose of mentioning this incident.
Whilst this event was unfolding and I was dealing with the aftermath of the mess, I reminded myself of the situation so many people in Palestine are suffering from – and have been – for many, many months and years. They don’t have recourse to a plumber or an emergency contact to resolve such issues. Indeed, they don’t even have homes left to call their own. I, on the other hand, simply had to leave a couple of phone messages to relevant contacts and within a few hours, the bathroom issue had been sorted and things have since returned to normal.
How fortunate am I that such emergency situations I can see an end to? Despite life’s struggles, there is still a system in place whereby I can call upon someone to help and even if I have to pay for such a service, at least it is available. Alhamdulillah.
How fortunate am I that I have my sons nearby to help and as young adult men, I can rely on them to complete tasks for which they are better equipped to do either physically or mentally? I’m only too aware of women who don’t have any male relatives around to request favours from. Allah has blessed me with sons and I remember this even moreso in these type of emergencies. Alhamdulillah.
How fortunate am I that I have been blessed with the disposition of a Muslim and know that the incident that occurred with the bathroom was one intended to test my patience. Allah had sent me my challenge and was waiting to see my reaction whilst in the midst of dealing with that particular challenge. I recall thinking that even though it had caused me some inconvenience what with the temporary flooding and then the constant drip-drip noise of water whilst I was trying to sleep afterwards, this was nothing compared to what I have been witnessing going on in Palestine in the last year. What have I got to complain about? Alhamdulillah.
There is definitely something to be said about becoming more mellow and unflappable when one gets older. I would never believe I could be so calm in such a stressful situation. I don’t pretend that it wasn’t worrying but I also believed that it would be resolved and the inconvenience would be temporary. It’s not that I wish to be challenged to a greater extent but I am grateful that Allah didn’t give me anything more to contend with.
Time is a great teacher. Going through life’s ups and downs, the highs and lows and all else in between, it imparts on us great knowledge. Inadvertently we learn how to respond to all kinds of scenarios and with the correct measure.
I learnt a lot about myself after the incident I faced recently. I would like to believe that I responded appropriately to it. Moreso, I had remained grateful it was something resolved soon and not lost sight of the fact that it could have been much worse.
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