One of my aunts is currently at a nursing care center for stroke recovery. The facility is like a hotel for patients. There are 24 hour nurses, food service, and visitors are able to come and go as they please. I try to go whenever I find some time, and it is nice seeing other patients with their families as well.

One day, as my brother and I were exiting the care center, we noticed a woman screaming from her room. She was a very old woman, and we could hear her yelling from the hallway because her door was wide open. I walked in and I asked her if she needed anything. She told me that she needed her shoes. She said she could not find them, so I tried looking for them. I looked all over her room, but I did not see any shoes. I felt really bad, so I asked the front desk nurse if she could assist.

The desk nurse told me that the old woman did not have any shoes, and that she routinely yells for her shoes. I asked the nurse if the woman has any family, and she told me that the old woman has one son who does not visit often. The nurse also said that when he did visit, he would stay for five minutes and leave very quickly. I was saddened to hear this, and I told the nurse that I planned on bringing shoes for the old woman whenever I came back.

Unfortunately, I ended up procrastinating. Whenever, I planned a visit, I told myself, “ok…I promise I will take the shoes another time”.  I did this a couple of times, and finally, a month later, I actually took some slippers!

I was so excited to visit the old woman, but when I went into her room, she was not there. I thought that she might have been transferred to another room, so I tried looking into other rooms, but I could not find her. The nurses were not able to assist me either because I did not know her name. I ended up not locating her, and I was also disappointed in myself for not taking the shoes earlier.

I wanted to share this story because it taught me not to procrastinate when I plan on doing a good deed. In the Quran, Allah (swt) says,“So hasten towards all that is good” (2:148). If we have a chance to do a good deed, we should jump on the opportunity, while it is available. Although I was disappointed in myself, I learned not to procrastinate in these types of situations. May Allah (swt) provide us ample opportunity to do good. Ameen.

Comment down below an instance where you were able to assist someone right away! Ex. Helping an elderly cross the street. 

Michelle Schafieh

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