Another Day, Another Week, Another Routine

The Weary Heart #11

Jul 06, 2025

Salam, Friends

I hope the past week has been gentle on your soul.

But if it hasn’t — if it felt like *just another blur of errands, meetings, meals, and scrolling* — then today’s letter might be exactly what your heart needs.

Because today, I want to talk about something that so many of us have silently accepted, week in, week out, month after month, year after year…

That life has become a cycle of days we don’t even remember living.

We wake up.

We do what we always do.

We go to sleep.

And then we wake up again.

Same to-do list.

Same complaints.

Same “maybe tomorrow” promises.

Same empty coffee cups and tired eyes.

Is that all there is?

The Curse of Repetition

You know what’s worse than a hard life?

A lifeless one.

A life where your body moves, but your soul doesn’t. Where you’re surrounded by people, but still feel like no one *sees* you. Where you do everything right, yet nothing feels real.

You can be grateful and still feel flat.

You can pray and still feel like your heart’s not in it.

You can smile and still ache for something more.

That ache isn’t greed.

It’s not selfishness.

It’s your fitrah calling out to be awakened.

To be reconnected with meaning. With purpose. With life.

Life Doesn’t Need to Be Loud. It Just Needs to Be Alive

So what do we do?

How do we breathe life into the routine?

How do we stop “surviving Mondays” and start looking forward to them?

We start small.

And we start now.

1. Set a Bold, Beautiful Intention for the Week

Before you plan your week, decide what it’s for.

Most people make schedules based on obligations.

Meetings.
Deadlines.
Pick-ups.
Payments.

What if, instead, we set our week based on intentions?

“This week, I want to become more present with my children.”
“This week, I want to return to solat with more khushu’.”
“This week, I want to be kinder to my spouse, even when I’m tired.”
“This week, I want to reconnect with my curiosity — to learn, to read, to think.”
“This week, I want to live as if I mattered to myself.”

Write it down. Say it out loud. Feel it sink into your chest.

Let your calendar serve your soul — not the other way around.

2. Break the Pattern. Just Once.

You don’t have to run away.

You don’t need a six-day retreat in the mountains.

But you do need to shake yourself awake.

Take a different route home. Have breakfast somewhere new. Pray Maghrib outdoors instead of in your room. Say yes to that spontaneous invite. Or say no to the thing you always say yes to.

You’d be surprised how one small rebellion against routine can make your week feel like a story, not a script.

Sometimes it’s not that you hate your life.

You’re just bored of it.

You’ve been playing it too safe.

3. Do the Thing You Keep Postponing

We all have that thing.

A task.
A conversation.
A project.
A goal.

The one that’s been sitting in your chest like a rock.

The one you avoid by watching another reel, replying to another message, or finding just one more thing to do.

Do it this week: Book that medical check-up. Send that apology text. Update your CV. Call your parents and actually talk. Finish your taxes. Join the class you keep thinking about.

I promise you — the completion will set you free.

Not just mentally. Spiritually. Emotionally. Energetically.

Because one thing I’ve learned in life, is that completion clears space. It’s like spiritual decluttering. It makes room for new joy to enter.

4. Look for a Reason to Celebrate

Not everything needs to be dramatic.

Not everything has to be #milestone-worthy.

You didn’t cry during Fajr this morning — that’s okay. You still prayed. That’s worth celebrating.

You got out of bed without snoozing five times — amazing!

You had a tough day, but you didn’t yell at your child — that’s strength.

You resisted the urge to check your ex’s profile — that’s growth.

You didn’t give up, even though your soul wanted to crawl into a dark hole and disappear — that’s faith.

Celebrate quietly. But celebrate. Allah is Ash-Shakoor. He appreciates the small things. Why shouldn’t you?

5. Don’t Just Breathe Through the Week — Live It

There is no rule that says this week must be the same as the last.

There is no divine decree that you must stay stuck in the energy of exhaustion.

We are allowed to feel joy.

We are allowed to choose meaning.

We are allowed to want more, even if the world thinks we already have “enough.”

Here Are 5 Questions to Help You Reflect On and Add More Life to Your Life This Week

1. If this were your last week on earth, what would you finally make time for?

2. What’s one “unimportant” thing that secretly brings you joy — and why haven’t you done it in so long?

3. What kind of person do you want to be remembered as? What will you do this week to reflect that?

4. What are you avoiding — and what freedom might lie on the other side of finally doing it?

5. Where in your life have you been too passive? What bold step could you take — even if it’s small?

You don’t need all five answers today.

But pick one.

Act on it.

Then come back next week and ask yourself: Did I live, or did I just get through it?

An Apt Reminder from the Quran

“Say: Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.”

[Surah Al-An’am 6:162]

So friends, even our living can be an act of worship. Even joy. Even laughter. Even a walk by the sea. So live this week with your heart in it. With your soul awake. With your intention alive.

Don’t let another week be “just another week.”