Taking Advantage of Health & Free Time

"There are two blessings which many people waste: Health and Free Time"

I clearly remember this being one of the first hadeeths I studied in my fourth grade Islamic Studies class (A hadeeth is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH). After all these years, this one hadeeth really stuck with me. Why? Perhaps because it is such a profound reminder not to take these blessings for granted. Health and free time are two things we don’t properly appreciate until they are gone.

I’ll give you a personal example—I’ve recently developed symptoms of early onset carpal tunnel, and for the past couple months I’ve been experiencing discomfort in my hands and wrists. The simple task of writing notes in class is one that I no longer can do with ease. Writing, texting, and typing are tasks that I never thought twice about in the past. Now these simple activities cause my hand to hurt. Overall, this is just a minor setback; there are people out there that really are suffering from serious health issues. I am not complaining, but I'm sharing this with you to prove a point: that I appreciate now more than ever the capability of my hands. Our hands are significant tools that help us live a better quality of life. With the dexterity of our hands we are able to chop veggies and move around pots so we can cook food and feed ourselves.  With our hands we are able to dress and groom ourselves so that we may look presentable. With our hands we can build sturdy walls for our homes, and it is with hands that surgeons operate and save lives. We are able to accomplish amazing things with our hands. Subhanallah. Allah fashioned our bodies so perfectly. There are millions of things that can go wrong internally, and yet we are alive and healthy. That in itself is a miracle.

We must take advantage of these blessings while we are still in possession of them. Our health will not last forever, so make the most of it while you can. Let us stop wasting our time—remember, every second that passes means a second closer to death.  When we stand in front of God, how will we answer him when asked what we did with our time? We waste so much of our time on social media—we spend hours and hours on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. I myself am guilty of being a part of this—we all are because this is a worldwide phenomenon. Think of how much time we’ve wasted on Netflix marathons (*cough* summer break) and watching random YouTube videos. Now I am not saying let’s delete all these apps, destroy the internet and live like cavemen.  That’s unrealistic, and you can’t cut all the fun out of your life. But we need to balance our lives. Let’s make an effort to cut down on the amount of time spent on unproductive activities and move onto productive activities.

It is a Muslim’s job to manage their time correctly. Read a book, help your mom, pray more. Utilize this time correctly and gain points for the akhirah. All of the self-help books out there nowadays emphasize that the key to success is managing your time properly. Subhanallah, 1400 years ago our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) understood this concept clearly and told us to do just that. Each and every one of us holds unlimited potential, but we can only release it when we take advantage of our health and make use of our time.