Category: SISTERS articles

The day I converted to Islam, which happened to be the first day of Ramadan, I whipped myself into ‘shape’ immediately. On that first day, I began to pray 5 times a day, wear hijab, fast and read Qur’an. My first 30 days of Ramadan whizzed by, leaving me dizzy and exhausted. Not eating or drinking from dawn to dusk and struggling to meet my religious obligations was a balancing act to which I was not familiar. It left me staying up all night, sleeping during the day between classes and skipping one too many meals. I even passed out in the middle of a science lecture! Frustrated with my ‘failure’, I vowed to do better the following year. In retrospect, my unrealistic expectations put me on the fast track to spiritual burnout.