Eid and its festivities are now over. It's amazing how despite the long fasting hours and the struggle during the holy month, Ramadan is missed when it's over. It brings blessings and gives us the feeling that this month is a gift from God to replenish our souls and provide us time to reflect and meditate.
For the second year in a row, I spent Eid in the UK. It's our last year here and I thought that going back and coming again is not worth it, so I decided to have Eid here. I bought new clothes and shoes for myself and my children and we bought gifts for our friends and neighbors and I decided to go for Eid prayer despite not having a very pleasant experience the previous year. (See the piggy sweet incident article http://www.arabnews.com/news/448182).
To my surprise, Eid prayer was an amazing experience. It was conducted at a big park and attended by hundreds. I and my children enjoyed the feeling of unity between Muslims and seeing children from different cultures all wearing new bright clothes was truly refreshing.
The day went on and I took my children to Alton Towers theme park. I love this place, it has state-of-the-art rides and at the same time it's located in the heart of the countryside — what an astonishing combination. Well, I kept on telling my children that the days when I used to ride all of those thrilled rides are gone, and now I only enjoy walking and riding family friendly easy rides. And then out of nowhere, my son suggested a ride promising me that it's an easy one. When we arrived, I discovered that it's one of those rides where you are twisted around and has endless loops.
The boys were thrilled and really wanted me to ride, I just wished that I would not get sick and embarrass them and I went to the ride, and to my astonishment , I enjoyed it to the max. It was like traveling back in time when I was a teenager who wanted to try everything. Among my sisters, I was the only one who enjoyed these rides, but as time passed I thought I don't any more. We ended up riding all thrilled rides and we screamed like maniacs feeling the adrenaline as it rushed. I just asked myself, how much enjoyment are we missing in this life because we are not bothered to try? Really life is too short to waste in being board and joyless.
