I have had a roller coaster of emotions this year. At the end of September 2015 I was ready to have what I thought would be the best year ever. I could never have imagined that I was going to go through such a tough time. I can’t go into detail about my hardships but believe me when I say I had a very testing time. I cried almost every night and I questioned myself; was Allah (swt) punishing me or was this supposed to be a test?
As I searched for these answers, I came across many articles comparing the hardships we go through to the growth of a seed. One quote that particularly hit me was:
“For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.”
[Cynthia Occelli]
Reading this quote gave me the idea of trying to grow something so that I could see this firsthand, I chose an avocado tree because many said it would never grow in this climate. In a way I felt like if I could make this tree grow against all odds, then I too could overcome my situation.
I started by putting a seed in a jar of water and suspending it by inserting three toothpicks directly into the seed. Soon enough I saw that the pip started splitting:
The pip continued to crack apart and a root started to push through:
Finally I could see where the green had started forming on top of the root that a shoot was growing from it:
I planted the seed in a pot outside sometime in March and the top of the shoot dried out. There was no growth for a while so I thought that the cold weather had killed it. My dad was hopeful and watered it anyway for a while. During Ramadan 2016 there were many thundery showers and in the last week I came out and found that the plant had survived and grown into the beautiful tree that you see in the picture below:
By the time my tree had reached this stage, I found that my hardships had also resolved. I keep being asked if I learnt anything this year and I feel like I’m still in the process of growing. However I have learnt that the quote by Cynthia Occelli definitely applies to humans too, if you don’t break out of the shell you’re in now then you will never reach your full potential. Also I have realised that hardships don’t come to destroy you, they are there to shape you into a better person than you were yesterday. When Allah (swt) tests us then it can prepare us for blessings, shape us into better people and expiate sins in this lifetime rather than being punished for them in the Hereafter. All throughout the year, people kept quoting the same ayah from the Qur’an to me to give me hope, and now I’m telling you I have found it to be completely truthful:
“Verily after hardship comes ease.”
[Qur’an 94:5]
If any of you are currently going through a distressing time, then please take my advice that it will get better and that Allah (swt) does not test you except that He wants good for you.
The Head Sister 