This one’s for those who have embarked on a journey of some sort – a reminder that you should never lose heart, and if you find yourself losing heart, then take a few minutes to step back and remind yourself of the ‘why’, because it’s easy to get lost in the ‘how’.

A year ago, I made intention to memorise as much Qurān as I possibly could, and the ups and downs were unreal. Some days would be amazing, I could memorise entire pages in one sitting and even remember it long-term, but other days were awful; I’d struggle to memorise even one verse, and if I did, I’d have forgotten it a few hours later.

I cried some days – because now that I had embarked on the journey, I couldn’t close the door on it, and I didn’t want to either. It just became difficult. Some days I’d sit to memorise and before I could even open my Qurān, my mum would call me to do something (I say something, I mean about ten things). And so, even the days I had a plan in place, sticking to it was becoming increasingly challenging.

When things become difficult, it’s so easy to lose heart in what you’re doing. But often that’s because we become so engulfed with the how we’re doing it, and seldom remind ourselves of the why. So once I reached a new low with my memorisation, I had to take a day off, just to re-remind myself why I started memorising, and Who I started it for.

I didn’t memorise that day. I just reminded myself of the incredible value of the Qurān, the numerous ahadith (prophetic sayings) about the Qurān being a light, an intercessor, a means of elevation in the hereafter, and even personal stories about the power of the Qurān in peoples’ lives.

“[Finally]…upon you is the Remembrance of Allāh and the recitation of His Book, for it is a light for you on earth and [a means by which] you will be mentioned in the Heavens.” (Targhib wa-Tarhib no. 4/24, Jami as-Sagheer no. 5495 – [Sahih])

When I reminded myself of the why, I was, once again, prepared for the how, no matter how difficult it was proving to be some days. I was up to the task once again, having renewed my intention and reminding myself why I embarked on the journey to begin with.

Though my example is specific to the Qurān, the ‘why’ reminder is always a good thing to turn to when your journeys become tough and you find yourself deflated.

If you’re doing a degree and it becomes difficult, and you’re struggling with essays – remind yourself why you’re doing the degree, what you wanted out of it when you started, and keep the end goal in sight. If you’re a talented founder of a start-up, and you’re losing heart at the numerous hurdles that you’re facing, remind yourself of the vision with which you started.

If you’ve embarked on a new endeavour – gym, a new sport, cooking – and the bad days seem to be becoming more and more frequent, go back to the why; sometimes, you just need to rekindle the fire that you had at heart when you first started something.

I hope you all see better days in the journeys you’ve embarked on – I hope you always remember the why, because the why was powerful enough to drive you to start the journey, and it’ll be powerful enough to see you through to the end.