Cloak of Misery

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Salawat

I've been kicking the phrase "cloak of misery" around to describe how at times, we wrap a negative state around ourselves and cling to it. Removal from a cloak of misery is a blessing, but requires being open to the cold draft of reality.

We cling to misery cloaks and they cling back to us. When we wear a misery cloak, we wrap ourselves in a familiar state. Even if familiarity is the false warmth of a smoking fire in a snowy, windswept plane, we huddle around the glow.

Misery cloaks are difficult to take off, just like how a drowning man wrapped in a blanket finds that as he thrashes to free himself from the blanket, it whispers to him "don't go don't go don't go".

Taking off misery cloaks requires finding the thorn that anchors them in my heart, and unhooking it with gratefulness to Allah and his Rasool (Jallah wa Allah wa sallah ho tallah alay he wa salim)