Aside from my parents there were three mentors in my life who helped me along my career path by sharing their gifts and passions with me as a child. Karima T., was my go to teacher for everything sewing. Latifa A. shared her gift of fine arts with me and gave me pointers to develop as an artist and Kerris W. taught me about textiles and entrepreneurship. All very strong women with kind spirits, all whom passed away.
In February of this year Ammati (Aunt) Karima lost her battle with cancer, Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji`un—(To Allah we belong and onto him we shall return). May he forgive her sins in this life and grant her eternal paradise in the hereafter.
Her passing made me question how I want to be remembered and my life’s purpose. She shared her gifts with me and helped shaped me into the person I am today. What will I leave when I pass? Who will I have helped on their journey of life? I have been blessed with the gift of artistic expression. How am I sharing that with people, like these three women have shared with me? Ammati Karima’s passing confirmed that what I am developing with www.zahiyya-local.dev.cc is exactly what I am supposed to be doing—share what I’ve learned with others in hopes it will help them on their journey.
I bring this up as I reflect on this past year and analyze what happened. What went well, what didn’t, what to improve on and what’s the next step.
What went well
I became more comfortable with saying no. Granted, I still need to work on HOW to say it in such away that people are not offended, but I say it any way and often. Not to be mean or unsupportive, but saying ‘yes’ to someone is saying no to something else that I may be doing already. I can’t do it all, which brings me to my next point.
What didn’t go so well
My health has to improve. I took a series of test, I have seen multiple doctors and it all boiled down to stress and taking better care of myself. Stress shows up in our bodies in many ways. In my case, it is my lower back, digestive system and high blood pressure. I will work on handling stress better and make a habit of exercising more.
What to improve
I will work on my consistency. I can improve on a lot of things but if I improve on being consistent no matter the obstacles, it will open doors in every area of my life.
What’s next
I am looking forward to building this company so that it empowers women to achieve their personal and professional goals with confidence, while looking and feeling fabulous, of course. With this self-assurance, I pray that the women I inspire pay it forward and help someone else. Also, more personally, I plan to spend more quality time with my girls, husband and family. And to build a community that makes all of us better.
What do you want your legacy to be? If you could choose one goal for next year, that in achieving it will make everything else easier, what would that one goal be?
Leave a comment below!
