A little over a month ago, I was asked what my resolution for this Ramadan would be.  In my heart, I was aware of what I needed to do, but at the time I wasn’t ready to commit to it. Sometimes you go through things in your private life, and your feelings about those episodes should remain private. I don’t mind publicly stating however, that my resolution was to let go of the guilt I’ve been carrying with me, over situations beyond my control.  The gift of being compassionate is wanting the best things in life for the people you love; the curse of being compassionate is dealing with a great deal of pain when the people you love are in pain.  I do hope that this series of posts has established that, whatever chaos I have going on in my personal life, my gut instinct will always be to use my skill set to promote harmony.

The ‘American Muslim’ series will continue; moving away from Ramadan I see it as being more reactive than proactive.  I don’t see myself as a religious leader; it’s no coincidence that I haven’t quoted any scripture here.  But as I feel the need to speak up, I will.  Maybe I won’t approach the subject again for months.  Maybe a presidential candidate or the NYPD will strike a nerve and I’ll feel the need to say something sooner.  Time will tell.

Anyway, I look forward to a cup of coffee if I need it after I get to work.  I really look forward to a glass of water in the afternoon as we’ve been experiencing a nice heatwave the past week or so.  Next week I’ll get back into working out again which I’ve missed, just for the rush I get.  And yes, I’m looking forward to football season starting this weekend and stuffing my face every Saturday and Sunday for the next few months.

A bonus clip today, the My Fellow American project posted the video I shot for their mission; you can see it here:

http://www.myfellowamerican.us/videos/malik_aziz__my_fellow_american.html

If it looks like my t-shirt is about to fall off my shoulders and I haven’t eaten a decent lunch in a month, it’s because, well, I haven’t eaten ANY lunch in a month!  Jokes aside, I was glad to help promote their cause (since I consider it my cause as well.)

As Brother Malcolm said, All praise is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.

Eid Mubarak to all of my brothers and sisters around the globe.