What I didn’t accomplish in 2020

Last year on the 1/1/2020 I wrote a blog post about what my 2020 goals were. This was 3 month before the pandemic, before the world shut down. Non of us could predict what year this would become but I’m sure everyone is happy that we’re saying goodbye tonight.

Last year I had this on my new year’s resolution list:

• WRITE IN MY GRATEFUL JOURNAL EACH DAY
• FAST IN RAMADAN
• WORKOUT & FINISH 5K RUN
• FOLLOW THE 12 HOUR FAST
• TRAVEL – AMSTERDAM, ISLAND…?
• KØBENHAVN BOAT TRIP
• MAJOR 25TH BIRTHDAY PRESENT 
• CONTINUE MAKING YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• POST ON IG AGAIN…? (BIG QUESTIONMARK)
• BUY LESS IN 2020
• SEW A DOLL FOR MY DAUGHTER
• SEARCH FOR A FULL TIME JOB
• GET MY MOTORCYCLE LICENSE IN 2020

I can honestly say that I did not accomplish all of these goals. Some I were unable to do because of the strict travel ban & I didn’t feel safe travelling otherwise. Others I was too hesitant to try and scared of the criticism I would receive. My list for 2021 is not long, in fact – I didn’t write one for this year. I always seem to fall short of them anyway and I don’t want to disappoint myself. I do believe I would benefit from more routines and structure in my life next year. Like having specific days to workout, filming youtube videos, bed time routine and so forth.

These are the things I didn’t accomplish in 2020:

• I did not write in my Grateful Journal every day (but I came very close).
• I did not finish a 5k run.
• I did not travel this year.
• I did not take a boat trip to København.
• I did not post on IG again.
• I did not buy less in 2020, unfortunately.
• I did not sew a doll for my daughter (but I bought her one).

I am however very proud to have fasted in Ramadan, having a great 25th birthday where we went to an amusement park and rented a tiny house on Airbnb. I searched for more jobs at the end of the year and also went on interviews. Most of all I’m proud to finally have my motorcycle license. A dream of mine for as long as I can remember.

Let’s look forward to a brighter future & hope for a great 2021.

Elizabeth

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This saddens my heart

I miss the nights in Ramadan. When the night falls deep into a sleep and you are alone with your Lord. I miss the feeling of completely serving my Lord with the intentions to only please Him.

It saddens my heart that for each year it seems like we lose more and more people to this dunya. Don’t feel tempted to follow the footsteps of Shaytan. He only sits on the Straight Path to send you astray. And his whispers are only filled with lies and deception. 

Hold on to that last string of faith and recharge your imaan. Trust me, I know it can be hard. How tempting isn’t this world, with all it’s beautifications. But one thing is for sure; it will end and everything you have left are your deeds. So make them many and make them good. God willing, the good will overweight the bad on the day of Judgement and our faces will be shinning bright. 

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Elizabeth

Your purpose

Make your purpose to strive for success
Paradise where you’ll rest
And make the Angels know your name
Prayer is the only thing separating a believer from a disbeliever
Fight the urge to fall in love with this worldly life
Because it will end for each and everyone of us
No one can escape it, so you tell me; what are we striving for?
Success and recognition from strangers?
Or the supreme goal with our Creator?
Faith can be the anchor to our core belief
But often invisible to the outside world
But I carry my faith on my head every single day
And I’m never going to do it for anybody else –

– than for the purpose of saving myself from this worldly life.

Elizabeth

Premier jour à Paris

A week ago I was strolling the streets of Paris. I was finally travelling again, even though it was only for 3 days. A little getaway is always nice – no matter the length. This was also the last month for me to travel since I am in my last trimester, as we speak. So here I am, a week later with lots to share with you.

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11th of March 2019 – Notre-Dame & Crepes

My day started a little bit after 5 am, way too early for my inner clock, but since I knew I was being picked up in an hour I made my way out of the bed. I packed my last belongings and ate a bowl of fruit. Right before 7 am I was in Oslo meeting up with my mum. We were finally on our way. At the airport everything went smoothly and we awaited to arrive Paris at 11.05 am. Starving we went to a cafe at the airport in France. After a short break we found our taxi driver and arrived to our hotel at 1 pm. A cute, modern hotel called ‘Hotel Pratic‘.

We freshened up and after an 1 hour nap we wanted to explore the streets of Paris. We weren’t far from Notre-Dame so we decided to take a city map and get on our way. The sun was shinning and the wind blowing. We saw the beautiful church from outside and decided to save our 10€ for a late lunch.

We stopped at a restaurant just next to the well-known church and enjoyed our first proper french meal. Even though I had a greek salad and my mum had a hamburger. Later we made our way back to the hotel. But before the day was over we stopped at a local boutique where I was gifted a Paris mug from my mum. We also stopped by the supermarket before we got our dessert at ‘La Cedrerie du Marais‘. A lovely lady catered us with nutella crepes and a steaming hot coffee. What a great way to end our first day.

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Elizabeth

Always a mother first

A sick little child is fast asleep and I’m hoping and praying that my little boy will get well soon. Tiny bodies like his shouldn’t have to go through being sick three times in less than two months. Especially when his illness lasts a week or more.

All three of us have caught some sort of cold, one worse than the last. I even took a late night drive to the grocery store to buy lemons and ginger. If only I could be sick for him, but I know it doesn’t work like that.

But I’ll always be a mother first no matter job I have or how old I get. Very reassuring in a way but with a great deal of responsibility. There’s nothing more comforting than to know that I can hold my baby boy and he’ll feel safe right in my arms.

Elizabeth

Reminder to all reverts out there

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Sometimes it can be hard to see how far you’ve come when everyone around you is pointing out your mistakes.

Remember the time you didn’t wear the hijab. The time when you still ate pork or drank a glass of alcohol. The time before Islam. Before you change you’re life.

I used to read a lot of forums on fb and at first it was fine but soon it began to drag me down. Every notification made me question my faith and there were times I wanted to cry because I felt like I was a bad muslim. That my afford wasn’t enough.

But do your best and that will be enough. Be proud of yourself! Be proud of how far you’ve come and pray that Allah will help you become the best muslim you can be. We are all on our own journey and for some it’s easy and for others it takes longer.

Find a balance and don’t lose yourself. Your faith should make you stronger and lift you up.

Elizabeth

Worst week in my life

Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’ve not had the best 48 hours. Everything went downhill since Wednesday night and now I’m sitting here on the living room floor with the worst headache since this afternoon.

I don’t want to keep on dragging this complain wagon any longer, and I will try to look at life from a more positive way.

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Even though we don’t celebrate Christmas, I do want to give something back to my family, especially my mum. And since this is a time of year where people usually meet, I ended up buying some gifts for my family.
It was most natural for me to buy something hair related since I work at a salon. So both my brothers will receive a shampoo. My oldest brother will also get a 3D puzzle I thought was so cool, maybe even something I should have bought for myself. And my brother in between will get a sports t-shirt. I still have my parents but I’ve got them covered with something.
I’m off to bed hoping to sleep away this awful headache. I have to be up, ready and back at the salon by 9 am, so good night.

Elizabeth

In desperate need of sleep

What was suppose to be a stressless evening turned out to be far from that. My own fault really, cause I always get so invested in projects I do and have zero patience with myself. I always wish that I can learn everything at once and it just works right away, but it usually never does.

Today I spent my hours from 8 pm till now in front of the computer. Actually two computers. Photoshop on one and YouTube on the other. I was determined to finish a new profile picture, channel art and a watermark.

I’m only 100% happy with the new channel art, the other two I still have to tweak and fix. Other than that I have a headache and I’m in desperate need of sleep. But I guarantee you, I’ll be laying in bed another hour before I fall asleep. At least that’s what happened last night.

Good night

Elizabeth

Don’t lose your self respect

self-respect
noun | self-re·spect | self-ri-ˈspekt |
a proper respect for oneself as a human being

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Don’t dress up to seek the admiration of other people.
The glances and looks or even stares.
Do you really want this?
You say you want respect but how can you get it,
when all you do is showing your beauty to the outside world for recognition.
You say you want to fall in love with your mind but you only display our body.

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Elizabeth

Colorful wall decor

I got this idea about a year ago and made an inner promise to myself that I wanted to finish it before this year is over. Never did I think that I would spend the last bits of summer trying to be a painter.

I bought some watercolor, which I’ve never used before, 3 canvases and some brushes. The first time around I actually managed to buy the wrong type of brushes which were not meant for watercolor. And getting the design onto the canvas was a whole different problem but with some good help from my talented friend we managed it.

First we scathed out the wanted design onto a piece of paper drawing lines horizontal and vertical. These same lines were also drawn onto the canvas so that it would be easier to copy it.

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The biggest painting took me quite a long while to finish but I also took a week break in between. Taking a step back and not getting to sucked into your project is the key to any masterpiece. And then you can come back with fresh eyes and a new look on things.

I’m so happy with the end result, especially of the world map. This can cost up to 100 dollars online but making it yourself definitely gives you a greater appreciation of the artwork.

The paint job on the two pieces down below went relatively easy since it was a smaller canvas and not too many colors to work with.
Comment down below and guess which countries these are:

Elizabeth