Leaving the Dark Side
You may have noticed my absence in posting recently. And Insha’Allah, I hope to be writing more frequently now, but here’s the story…
I admit, I have no moderation in anything I do. It’s a bad trait, which I am earnestly trying to improve. So anyway, I sat down a few weeks ago and thought how I don’t really have any proper recreation. Something to relieve the weekly stress of homework and such. So, I got hooked up to an on-line game which I had quit months ago. (Not going to tell you which game this is 
) SubhanAllah! I became so addicted, that I ended up not signing into any of my websites. Long story short, after a few more days of playing that ridiculous game, I pondered over life in general.
Games are fun, but it doesn’t have the same satisfaction as to when I do the dishes or write an article/blog post. At the end of the day, you feel like you’ve thrown so much time in the trash. Indeed, it’s a whole lotta fun, and I don’t have any intention to preach to you guys that playing games isn’t good. In a matter of fact, sometimes games can be educational and stress relieving. HOWEVER, there’s two main conditions:
1. The game must be clean (you know what I mean) and appropriate
2. Moderation! Have some self-control.
How do you have self control? That’s something even I’m still trying to figure out. I’m guessing it has something to do with the fear of Allah and time management. Allahu Alam (Allah Ta’ala knows best!)
Dua’s Requested!
Subhanallah I was just thinking about how I always complain that there’s not enough hours in the day to get things done and I realized that the hours that I am blessed with, I end up wasting more than half of em.
Trust me, it takes a LONG time to actually get yourself to manage time.
I’m sure a lot of us have told ourselves “I won’t procrastinate this time! I’m gonna go home and get to it!” In reality, how many times does that happen? Instead we’ll be watching tv or surfing the internet… wasting time while we could be using it to finish homework or whatever else needs to be done.
When I didn’t have a computer, I have to admit, I seriously got things done on time. I’m pretty sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that I really had nothing else to do, but that’s not the point.
We should moderate ourselves in what we do. Playing games or anything else for that matter is okay as long as you don’t waste the whole day playing ‘em.
It all boils down to moderation. Not as easy as said though.
Masha Allah.
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf says that we are not people of fun. “Fun in English means activity of fools.” I take it seriously.
How to self-control: As per Hazrat Mufti Taqi usmani, the best way to this problem is making a time-table and forming a routine. It cannot be absolute. Randy Pausch made a valid point: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
I have a question for you:
Do these games sometimes harden your heart? Does it happen?
May Allah help you with gaining control over your nafs.
I hope my response helped you brother, Insha’Allah. I enjoy answering questions, as long as it’s not Fiqhi or Aqeedah related.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that as well, if you’ve been reading my posts long enough. Jazakumullahu Khair!
Which game was it? Runescape?:p
No, not Runescape lol. I had a feeling someone was going to ask that. That game is SO boring. I tried it a few years ago, but it’s just not meant for me. It’s not world of warcrafts or maplestory either, if those were your next guesses.