Dua (supplication) is amazing!

The first time I probably prayed qiyam-ul layl, I was fourteen and I was realllllyyy worried. It was because something wasn't right with my body and I was really freaking out because of that. I learnt about this prayer at school and really wanted to try it. I remember it, though not as vivid as I'd wanted it to be the time I made the prayer and right after I turned my head to the left and said assalam alaikum wa rahmatullah, I felt my body return to normal, I was better.

 I don't remember telling anyone this story because I don't want to really say what was wrong with me. What I wrote wasn't  even accurate as to what happened but that's besides the point. The point is after making dua in prayer,(I'm not sure if your're allowed to make dua in prayer, especially when it's not in Arabic but I did it then) it was answered super quick! I made it apart of my nightly routine to make always make dua's.
And I lived happily ever after right?

Nope.

 Fast forward to today, the dua I make is basically me in my auto mode much like my prayers.

One day, right before  RIS conference in Toronot.(Shout out to Torontonians ^u^) I was looking up on Google about the types of  prayers,  and there I saw something, Salatul istikhara . Why it got my attention, I don't know.Maybe it was because it was the only one the I knew nothing about. (See!! I forget a lot. That's why I need these blogs to remind me.)  

This prayer is made when you're making a decision and it so happened that I had a lot of decisions to be made. I was stressing out for many reasons: I had to send my university applications before the deadline, Had to try to find scholarships so I wouldn't have to borrow from the government, had to make money and pay for my own stuff like phone bills because I didn't want  to further burden my dad -My younger siblings were asking for things like phones and other stuff. Getting a phone means continuously paying for the line. There are 7 lines in our house and that's just cell phones!! No one else seems to care but it really hurts me to be apart of the 7- I also had to study and my marks in chemistry were slipping. Not to mention upcoming projects to be handed in! >.<

Why am I talking like that's the past? My chem marks are presently at 77% and I have one last chance to bump it up in the upcoming exam!  (I picture no one reading this blog up to this point, but if there is, please make dua for me and others if you can.)

So as you can see, the time I discovered this prayer was more than a coinkidink.  I decided to pray one for the first time one night, based on what I learnt from online. it was to ask if I should bring this girl, a friend of mine, with me to RIS or I shouldn't. I wasn't sure if it would help her or if it would bore her or maybe worse. After praying I went to sleep half expecting a dream as the website said but I didn't remember anything so I just went along with my original plan which was to take her.
It was all right in the end. :)
And so the phase of Dua's begin.

My stresses are still there weeks later and with school opened again, they escalated with the pressure of exams. Another upcoming problem was my university application. I didn't know what to choose as my third. This sounds lame now but ever since I noticed my marks weren't increasing , I had to change my original plan to universities more likely to accept me. I reluctantly put in my third choice another friend of mine  suggested and was about to press send when I decided to go pray istikhara first. I went and came back feeling better  to find my friend suggesting another University I never really looked into and that actually interested  me. Plus it was withing my range of average. I switched my previous third choice to this new one and then pressed send. I felt like a lifted some weight off my back.

Then there came this other time where I was completely stuck. After leaving school, I stood still on my tracks as I assessed what I should do. I argued in my head on what to do and where to go. I don't like to go home directly after school and if I do, it feels odd. But on that day, I had to go home but at the same time, I had to go to the library. There were three paths to go and I wasn't sure which to go. I had strong valid reasons why I had to go home, there was something I needed from there before I could study, but I also needed to go to the library and study because my exams were (still are) creeping close.  You can't really understand this by simply reading this. Just know that I really really realllyy, needed  to (still do) pass. Going to both home and the library was not an option and so I stood there like an idiot pretending to look for a friend.

Flash back 3 min before standing outside:
 The question,

 "What are you going to do?" 

Kept ringing in my head and guess what I did, I made dua. There was no super quick answer so as I stood outside wondering what to do, I decided to stall myself before going anywhere, to go to the  dollarama to get my thoughts sorted out.  There I decided it was a good opportunity to buy stuff for my project and then leave but then I saw exactly the thing I wanted that was at home!  I took it and cashed it out and headed off for the library, happily.  On top of getting my answer, I got things I needed for my project!

Dua is amazing! That's why, now I try to use it for everything. I'm still getting into the habit of asking even for little things. It funny how in the past, when I looked at that little black dua book that most of us know(and yes, I forgot its name), I saw all sorts of dua for, like everything and thought that it was a bit oppressing but now here I am  thinking the opposite.