Your presence is the best gift

Have you ever wondered what would be the best gift one could give?

Was reading recently that one of the most important gifts you can give someone is your presence.

And this presence then of course would have to be minus distractions that is with no mobile and social media interruptions.

The busiest of people can be lonely and wealth is no remedy to this problem. Thankfully Ramadhan brings people together.

A friend said that she loves cooking when she has guests. And that is what makes iftar an enchanting experience as people come together to break the fast.

Mother Teresa once described loneliness, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

Sometimes loneliness is caused by circumstances and at other times it is due to personalities. The difference is that some might enjoy their solitude, while others might long for someone to have a conversation.

A simple presence would not do because the person also wants to be heard. And for that we need to be good listeners.

Listening is an art and a skill at the same time. Students need to have this skill to take down notes in class. In life too, being a keen listener makes a difference. We know more, and we can understand better just because we are good listeners.

The key element is to stay focused and the best assurance for it is to face the speaker and maintain eye contact. Listening to a person does not just mean hearing the voice and the words but watching the body language. If you must really make the conversation a special experience then we must listen without judging. We are quick to judge and come to our own conclusions not knowing how much we lose out never knowing the real story and the person.

When a person tells us about his/her problems we quickly want to provide suggestions and solutions. This is even before they complete their story. The fact remains that solutions will always come from within. But for the person to reach that stage of revelation that person would have to attain trust. There is no worse thing than letting down a person’s trust by revealing their personal details to others.

Everyone goes through being vulnerable at some point in life as it is part of life’s journey.

It is the month of Ramadhan, and we are at yet another gathering for iftar. Many nationalities have come together and every one breaks the fast together.

No matter from where you come, everyone requires water and dates to break the fast, and the rest is personal preference. We can also experience the energy levels go up slowly when the fast was broken.

It makes us feel gratitude to nature, farmers and the people who prepare the food, reminding us how interdependent we are.

Everyone prays together no matter where you are in your journey of life.

At one of the biggest community iftars in Oman, hundreds of women sat together and when more people turned up than expected, they decided to share their food. The mother with two daughters on either sides told her children to share their food and gave her food to the newcomers. And the best moment came when the call for prayer filled the air and everyone drank water and ate dates. Then two hands from either side stretched out to the mother with food for her. Where there is love for parents, humanity stays intact.