What you’re reading now, I wanted to write a long time ago; before I even could. However, over the last year or so, a lot has changed (hence the late blog). 

Currently, I’m just over a month away from completing Uni. 4 years. Gone in the blink of an eye. I still remember my first day. I don’t think it’ll properly sink in until after my last exam because right now, I’ve got 6 exams to revise for and a dissertation to complete by the end of May. It’s a lot. At times, law can be a very demanding course. Right now, it’s more demanding than ever before.

Let’s jump right in. On September 3rd 2020, I went to a local brunch place (‘The Dispensary’) for food with some of my closest friends. As we sat down and waited for more of us to arrive, my phone rang – unknown caller. Deep down, I knew what it was, I had been envisioning it for the past 4 years. In that moment, I became deaf to everything being said around me, picked my phone up and walked straight out the restaurant. I answered. As soon as I heard the voice, my thoughts were confirmed. It was a law firm I’d done an internship with in the summer (they don’t ring if you’ve been rejected, a simple email does the job – I know because I’ve been there too). They told me how impressed they’d been during the internship and that they’d like to offer me a training contract. 

For all you non law students, the training contract is gold dust. It offers a career in one of the most competitive fields – for me, corporate law. The top 82 Law Firms listed on Chambers Student altogether offer 1,357 training contracts a year. They receive over 70,000 applications for those 1,357 places. That translates to a 2% success rate. This success rate can be further hindered if like me, you’re state school educated and have no lawyers in the family. Oh, plus I’m brown and muslim. Also, not attending a Russell Group Uni can seriously work against you. (I remember I missed my Uni of Leeds offer by 1 grade and I rang the Newcastle Uni law department during clearing. The exact words he said to me, “we don’t think you’d be cut out for law, it’s very demanding”. This lit a fire under me.)

The next 4 years I spent studying law and thriving. I was appointed onto my law school honour roll for being in the top 10% of academic achievers. I was appointed onto the contribution roll for outstanding contribution to the success of the law school. I achieved first class grades in some of the toughest modules we studied. As well as this, I spent over £1000 on train tickets to London to attend various law events at different firms (sometimes subsidised by the firms). The journey from Newcastle to London was horrible. I’d have to wake up at 5am to catch a 6am train that arrived at Kings Cross for 9ish (this was if I didn’t have an early start). When I had an early start, I’d travel from Newcastle to home in Leeds the night before so that I could cut time on the journey the next morning. For my return, I’d get the 8pm train back to Newcastle from Kings Cross and I’d be home by midnight. Sometimes the firms would be kind enough to pay for a night’s accommodation in London. It was hectic, it was busy, but, I loved every moment of it (I was born in Karachi, perhaps one of the busiest and loudest cities in the world – busy keeps me distracted and my mind occupied, I like it). Looking back it was pretty amusing. I only had the 1 suit so I’d have to get to London in my normal clothes (so I didn’t crease the suit sat on a train for 3hrs) and get changed in the toilets at the law firm. When the event would finish, I’d change out of my suit, into my normal clothes and get on a sweaty tube back to Kings Cross to go home. Some days when I was lucky and had time, I’d explore London and go try delicious food places or go shopping. 

As I’m reading over this, it seems more and more like a brag post. It’s not, I promise. I want to show you that despite the odds being stacked against me in every aspect, I went out and achieved what I was told was unachievable for someone in my position. I had something to prove. Deep down, I always knew I would do it. My faith in God and the power of prayer was never forgotten. The connection with my true self and my religion was never truly lost.  

So, I achieved what I’d set out to achieve. It took me 4 solid years, but, I did it. For you to see what it took, I’ve painted a very little part of the picture, very little. (By the way, the training contract wasn’t a be all and end all. There was/is always more to life.) Post training contract offer, I shared the news with my family and friends. All of my family and most of my friends were genuinely happy for me, they’d been there for the journey and they’d seen the effort that was put into it. Unfortunately, not everyone shares your joy, that’s just the way the world works. It’s something I’ve learned more about over the past year. Who to share with and who not to share with. I pay very close attention to detail so naturally I pick up on more than sometimes I want to. Recently, I’ve took time to reassess who and what matters most to me. At the end of the day, looking after those that matter to me is what brings me fulfilment. To me the training contract is an opportunity for a brighter future where (انشالله) I have the chance to change lives for the better.  

This blog I wrote completely off the top of my head, the idea came to me in the shower. It’s unstructured and is really just a mental freestyle. I don’t know if there’s much to take away from it but that doesn’t matter. I write these for me. Self expression is key in my world. After reading back over it, I think I’m gonna title it ‘Reminder’. Sometimes you must remind yourself of where you’ve came from, what you’ve done and what you know you’re capable of doing. You know how the saying “you can do anything you set your mind to” is made fun of? Well, I fully believe it. Realistically, to achieve what I’ve achieved so far, I genuinely don’t think I’ve put all my effort into. So I wonder what will happen when I start to fully apply myself? Do you apply yourself as you should? Would your life be much different if you did? If you don’t, why don’t you? If you do, how do you consistently?

Shaaf 

Pancakes!? 

I love football

Humankind is more sensitive than ever before, why? 

Prince Phillip didn’t seem that bad

Why are people ok with disrespecting the dead? Am I being sensitive? 

I hate loud noises, they don’t let me think. My music stays boomin 

I can’t stand still when I’m waiting for something, I must move 

Good people finish last, or first, depends on where you’ve set your finish line to be I suppose

The less you speak, the more you’ll do (irony)

I like most people. Even those with opinions which don’t align with my own. There’s something to learn from everyone

I said most people. I don’t like narrow minded/intolerant people

If you know nothing about something, do everyone a favour shhhhhhhhh

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend on how to achieve a constant state of peace/contentment in life. I hit him with the cliche “find a balance” line. He made me realise that what I’d said didn’t mean much. It didn’t. He was right. What is it to “find a balance” in life? How do you balance everything? You can’t, sacrifices must be made in some parts of your life. I guess what’s important is to prioritise some things over others (thus creating an imbalance which gives balance?). What’s important to you and why? 

If you’re reading this, I

If you’re reading this, it’s too la 

If you’re reading this, congratulations. You’re alive. You have eyes. You have a brain (probably) (also probably not genius like mine) and a little voice in your head, reading these words (my words, your voice). You are also part of 35% of the world’s population in that you own a smartphone (it knows you better than you know yourself ;)). You’re probably sheltered and have food to eat. A bed to sleep in at night. Clothes and shoes to wear. Freedom (to some extent, s/o hmrc).  Some days you will gain. Some days you will lose. Appreciate today, tomorrow isn’t promised. Gratitude 

Every year I renew my domain name/website with no idea what I want to do with it; cool to have I guess 

I’ve had time to explore recently. I don’t mean going on a physical adventure, but rather a mental one. A mental adventure; that sounds pretty cool. The coronavirus lockdown coupled with the fact that it is Ramadan means that I have a lot more time to relax and reflect than usual. I can’t say that I’ve been as productive as I would’ve liked, but, I set high standards for myself and me falling a little bit short in this moment doesn’t bother me too much.

In my spare time, I’ve started studying ancient Greek philosophy. This wasn’t something I one day decided to wake up and do; this little endeavour of mine was sparked due to a PlayStation game that I’ve been playing. The game is set in ancient Greece in the years 431-422 BCE, the plot tells a mythological history of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. In this game, you encounter a philosopher called Socrates, you’ve probably heard the name. This is something that Socrates said (in the game and in real life) that caught my attention:

“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing”

I sat there for a few moments and really thought about what Socrates meant by this. The way I see it, what he means is, know that you know nothing and try to learn as much as you can. My further study into Socrates’ work proved to me that I wasn’t far off in my assessment as he also said:

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”

You will never complete your journey of self development in this world. I delved even deeper into this and that is where I found ‘eudaimonia’. The word ‘eudaimonia’ derives from ancient Greece and appears in many philosophical texts. Most famously, Plato (student of Socrates) and Aristotle (student of Plato) use this in their publications. Socrates also spoke of it (he never wrote anything). Historically, it has been translated as “happiness”, however, in the more modern context, many historians (whom I agree with) believe this to be a constant state of being. Literally, the parts of the word translate into well (eu) and spirit (daimon) – living well.  In other words, eudaimonia means self-fulfilment. I think that in today’s society especially, reaching true eudaimonia/self-fulfilment is a near impossible task and it requires a lot of sacrifice. I couldn’t tell you how to get there because I’m not there myself (quite far off actually) but I do believe you can make plans now and start working on them to achieve some sort of long term self-fulfilment. I can give you three key pieces of advice that I believe could help you on your journey:

(1) Have a set of core beliefs to guide you. In my opinion, these give meaning to your existence and provide you with self-realisation. Personally, mine come from a mixture of (a) my religion, (b) my upbringing and (c) my own experiences in life. For example, my religion has taught me to be kind and non-judgmental, my upbringing teaches me to be respectful and my personal experiences in life have also taught me a valuable lesson, to never feel regret. When I went on a spiritual journey to the cities of Makkah and Medina in Saudi Arabia last December, I thought about everything that I regretted from the past. Many things came to mind, but, when I actually examined how I felt about it, I didn’t feel genuine regret for anything. I realised that regret is a very unproductive emotion. Rather than dwell on what you can’t change, why not analyse that situation to see what you learned from it and how/if you’d tackle a similar situation differently next time. From every single thing you do in life, there is a lesson to be learned and a quality to be gained. Most people feel regret. You probably do too. Right now, as you read this, think about one thing that you regret. When you’ve thought about it, instead of feeling distraught, think about something you gained from the experience. This is just one of my many core beliefs that I use to guide me through everyday life.

(2) Know what you’re good at, and set goals based on that. This will ensure many things such as (a) long term happiness/satisfaction in your career, (b) the opportunity to reach the true potential of your individual qualities (c) self-actualisation. For example, don’t pursue a career because of the status/pay. You want to enjoy going to work (it’s possible, if you think not, perhaps a change of career may be needed). If your passion is caring for others and you are hard working, by all means, become a doctor. Personally, I enjoy analysing difficult situations and helping others. However, I’m not a huge fan of blood and sharp tools so I decided to pursue a career as a lawyer rather than a doctor. I believe that in my field, I’ll have the opportunity to reach the true potential of some of the qualities I know I possess. Self-actualisation is key, it is one of the most difficult states to master and to reach this I feel like I’m going to need to do more than just be a corporate lawyer. My moral compass always directs me towards helping those in need. Whilst practicing as a lawyer I plan on setting up an initiative to help budding lawyers to break into the profession. Many similar initiatives pre-exist, however, I believe that I will have something unique to offer as mine will be focussed around teamwork and collating ideas rather than promoting competition and further division. I also have many other long term goals, however, I’ll save that for another blog because I realise that I’m straying away from the topic of discussion.

(3) Plato believed that in order to achieve eudaimonia, you need to find what I’m going to call “the missing piece”. Think of yourself as a jigsaw with a hole in the middle. Your partner in life must be that missing piece. In other words, they must possess qualities that you lack and you need to be open minded enough to embed them qualities into yourself. This will help you reach your full potential. I don’t think that love is about finding someone that wants you just the way you are. Instead, work on educating each other and embark on the endless adventure of education and self-development.

Become a philosopher like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Subject your ideas to examination rather than simply acting on impulse. Strengthen your self knowledge so much that you no longer get pulled around by feelings. Plato compared the role of our feelings to being dragged dangerously along by a group of wild horses.

Studying these philosophers’ work has truly broadened my scope of thinking and opened my eyes up to a lot. I’ve learned more about myself and continue to do so gradually. I also do not believe in the current model of democracy anymore. I speak more about that in another blog I’ve wrote which I will publish soon. I hope you enjoyed reading this one and as always, feedback/opinions are much appreciated!

It’s been a while since I last published a blog. I never stopped writing; but, in late 2018, just as my blog entries were beginning to flourish, I stopped uploading. My second year of law school had begun and I diverted my creative efforts into that. I was also volunteering at the local Citizens Advice which took up a substantial amount of my time.

To give you an idea of the viewership this blog used to receive, I have attached a short statistical slideshow below. It really was incredible to see my blog entries being read all over the world (shout-out to that one person in Guam reading my blogs, I still have no idea where your country is, by the way).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What can you expect to find on my website going forward? You will read about personal, thought-provoking experiences I have had (I have not decided on a name for this series yet). Also, you’ll receive my views and opinions on a range of matters/topical issues (I will call this series ‘The Way I See It’). I might even upload some rhymes/poetry that I have wrote (The ‘Freestyle’ series)…

A key contribution to the blog’s previous success was the style of writing. The blogs were personal, conversational and relatable. I feel as though I am versatile enough to vary my writing style and future entries will differ depending on the topic. There are two characteristics of my blog that will remain present in every blog as they have done since the beginning. These are (1) the ‘Stream of Thought’ element and (2) the ciphers. Let me explain…

(1) Everything you have read so far and will read comes from my “stream of thought”. When I have an idea/thought, I begin to build on it and apply structure to that thought, that is just how my brain functions. Everything you will read on this website is exactly that. Think about the idea/thought as a firework and my inquisitive nature as the lighter needed for the spark. The blog itself can be the explosion. That one little idea gets the spark it needs and explodes into a hundred different ideas. When I started writing this exact piece which you are reading right now, I had no idea that I would end up creating three different series of blogs, that I would insert a slideshow or (2) that I would reveal the cipher element of the blogs. The ciphers are there for you to discover and decipher. They wont require much effort and it just makes writing more enjoyable for me.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, I find myself with more free time than I am used to. In other words, I have no reason to not write blogs. The purpose of this blog was to act as a sufficient update. I hope you enjoy reading the blogs to follow and are keeping safe.