And so, the end is near....

What are you doing with your time?

I once gave the Stephen Covey example of imagining your own eulogy, to try and put your life into context and sort out your priorities; and  never have I needed that advice more. With Easter break just around the corner and exams looming in the distance, procrastination rears its ugly head in various forms. However, exam period, deadlines…any tangible form of work that is required of us, just serves to further scare us from accomplishing this task! Why is that?

I cannot possibly revise for exams, seek solid knowledge, dwelve into creative ventures and make a positive change in my life, all the while enjoying some much needed free time: there are only over 2000 hours left till my first exam! Summer time brings with it longer days, and there is no better time to stick to a resolution than the vacation time. So go for a run, burn off those extra pizzas that students live off, read a book, write a book, learn a language, and study. If this seems daunting, then it only supports my theory that labeling a form of work for yourself gives you more motivation to procrastinate. Manage your time; make a list of goals that you want to accomplish over the next month, and a check list of how you want to achieve them!

- Ahem

- Yes, Little Timmy, did you have something to say?

- Nope, just caught a cough because of all the planning I’ve been doing, and the check lists I’ve been making

- Atta boy. See kids, you can all be productive too, just like Timmy!

In the spirit of sticking to this minimalistic ISoc blog, it is important to note that our term as an Executive is almost finished. The climax of the year was certainly our Discover Islam Week, and with an array of events, ranging from proven formula techniques to innovative ventures, we tried to take DIW to a place we never had before. There have been, and will always be failures on our part, and for that I sincerely beg for everyone’s prayers, but all in all, it was a smashing success. A real community formed, rehearsing for plays, working hard to put books in the right bags, transporting and arranging food for hundreds of people a day, singing in the middle of the Portland building, and pioneering what can only be known as….MMMMA

Indeed, many people shone and it is that time of the year where we eagerly wait and see who will form the next committee. It is quite exciting, to see your young ones blossoming into fine individuals, flapping their wings for the first time, and growing up right before your very eyes – metaphorically of course.  This is then a further challenge for us as well, because it is of the utmost importance that they are handed a Society which is in better shape than the one we were handed, and that the skills we have developed through experience are equally transferred to these new soaring birds.

So I previously questioned how we all spend our time. The fundamental point there is whether we have time, and if we do, then why do we have time. Most of us have visited graveyards at some point in our lives. The tombstones will always take us by surprise though, because the birth years are not just from sixty years ago, seventy or eighty. The people in those graves are of all ages, ranging from infants to old men, and so why do I take another breath while someone younger than me is dying right now? To think that we cannot account for ourselves in the next few seconds should tell us about how little control we truly have in our lives. I take another breath because I have been blessed with another moment to repent for what I have done; and if each moment is a blessing, how should I spend this time? A wonderful quote I read was ‘Make sure you do something useful today, because it has cost you a day’

We all have an allotted time span. Be that five thousand days, ten thousand, twenty thousand…our time is limited. Every soul shall taste death, and that is the one fundamental fact that none can ever discord. Do I really want to give one of my precious days up in exchange for sitting in front of a computer and watching some videos, or looking at someone’s pictures, or even reading through someone's blog? 

So what now?

So what now?

I wonder where we go from here, and what a modern day Golden Age would resemble. I sit with adequate roofing over my head, the latest technology in front of me, a glass of warm milk to my side, and think…much like how the Great thinkers did.  My brothers and sisters in Syria, I am calling out to you.

I used to think at the age of 16, that I had reached the peak of my maturity. Even in the last few months, however, my views have changed drastically. I would think about Egypt and wonder how people could equate that with Amy Winehouse’s passing, or why people would still care about Manchester United when the other side of the world was in a shambles. I feel that I understand these situations better, yet I realize that I do not understand said situations at all. ‘If the world is about to end and one of you has a palm tree plant in his hand, he should plant it’. Looking back, I do not think I was wrong. I think we all reach our intellectual maturity capacities early in life. What aids us further is experience, and God knows best

Yes, I remember that this is an ISoc blog. No, it doesn’t matter that I’m its writer and its sole reader

Since our last adventure together, we have gone through many endeavors. We raised almost 7000 pounds during a successful Charity Week, hosted an array of scholars, ended the year with a social, and went through the most wonderful time of the year….exam period!

-Umm…excuse me, Mr. President, but you always just skip through all those interesting details. We wanna know HOW you guys did all that

-Well,Little Timmy, lack of space does leave us constrained for time

-Aww shucks….

-Well, alright, if you insist…but don’t call me Mr. President

So in a nutshell, Charity Week was organized by a whole separate committee to our Executive, so that we could take on more of an overseeing role. Keeping that in mind, the fact that Fresher’s, and people with very little experience, organized an entire array of events from scratch, including a screening of Malcolm X, selling thousands of doughnuts across campuses, and a massive Gala Dinner , all by themselves is absolutely incredible.

-Gosh Golly, that’s awesome

-It truly is, young Timmy. They deserve a majestic round of Cyber Applause

Hosting a speaker is not too difficult, particularly with the contacts that you develop in these roles, and your relationship with FOSIS. The best thing to remember is just to take care of the little details. Confirm and reconfirm dates and times. Play the entire event in your head, and keep asking yourself who is going to take care of each little thing. Now with socials, we have definitely learnt one thing. It does not matter how simple the event is, guys like to chill. Get a room, an Xbox, a deck of cards, and a few pizzas, throw them in a room and eons of people will flux in, through osmotic diffusion.

-Sounds like you’re a busy guy, Mr. Pre-; I mean Shehroze

-Not at all, all you need is a dedicated team, and the rest is in Allah’s hands

-Gee, thanks Shehroze. Can you leave us with something poignant, philosophical and epic?

-No, sadly, I am not JK Rowling. I can however, give you some food for thought

I touched earlier on the different ways in which people look at situations. There will always be your Mother Theresa’s, and your slackers. The Muhammad Ali’s, and the people that just want to be Ali on the PS3. The people who fight for change will always be a minority, because by definition, they must defy the norm. Hence, the norm must be the anti change. There is a risk of my point getting lost in all this technicality, but do bear with me.

We are a generation that people have ridden off. Partying, fun, living in the moment, lost causes…and maybe that was further supported by this summer’s events.  Who is this generation’s Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X? I have asked myself that same question, and hence, I have fallen into the trap of judging millions of people. But it is our generation that fought for something in the Arab world. The generation that is sick of politics because they have grown up listening to the grown ups bicker about it day and night. We are the people who demonstrated in Tunisia. We are the people who marched in Egypt. We are the people who fought in Libya. Yet I sit in front of my valued piece of technology, sheltered from the ever bitter cold, sipping away at my warm skimmed milk.

Change always begins from the mind of one person. We cannot judge the rest of mankind for not immediately jumping on board. Rather, we can coax. And wait. And through that patience, we can supplicate, because the Malcolm X of this generation might just be your flatmate, playing FIFA, whom you have labeled as ‘Slacker’