A date

So its almost half-way through Ramadan. It feels so good to have actually made it this far, because it actually is a struggle in the beginning to train yourself to not get frantic when your body is hungry.

Better yet, learning what hunger feels like really makes you empathetic. Especially here where so many people go hungry, daily. I usually feel HUNGRY at least once a day, usually around 2:00 in the afternoon. Then its hard to concentrate. But its like running, you push through it and the hunger fades within a few hours and you feel fine again. Even stronger then before. And thinking clearer.

I guess most religions in the world (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism) all speak of doing fast for the health and mind. I wonder why we stopped doing it? Maybe we love food a little too much?

Coming from a person that loves to eat... I have to say learning to control bodies and desires, is maybe what the US lacks the most. My collegue Aileen says, "if you can learn to control your body's hunger, you can learn to control any part of yourself, because it is the stronger and deepest urge". Maybe this is why it is so fundamental in many spiritual practicies. Anyway, I highly recommend it.



The traditional way to break fast (break fast= eat something small after not eating all day, then you are supposed to pray out of thankfulness for food, then you eat a proper dinner) during Ramadan is with a date. Probably because dates grow all over the Middle East.

I decided to try the tradition and bought some fresh Iranian dates.