Habitual or Contemplative?

Is your ibadah or dhikr habitual or is it contemplative? This is a question that i ask myself time and again. Also, this is what initially would confuse me because when i'd start a dhikr and if i contemplated everytime, i would 1) not be able to complete the tasbeeh 2) not be able to continue to do it regularly. And Allah likes an act, however small, that is done consistently. I would get all flustered and eventually abandon the practice Aaoozubillah!
If you are facing anything similar and struggling between contemplating over daily adhkar and ibadah and making it a habit; here is something i  did, which may help.
1) Choose one big ibadah or couple of small ones that you want to practice. If you do many together, for sure you will end up doing nothing consistently
2) Be aware of the excellence of the tasbeeh/dhikr/ibadah. Understand the meaning of the verses.
3) Focus on  making it a habit.
4) Once you find istiqamah, move on to contemplation. Because you're so used to the act now, you can afford the luxury of contemplating.
The process isnt written in stone and I go back and forth between steps. Sometimes, i forget the meaning so i revisit that; other times i feel im not contemplating at all and i focus on that.
For eg. Reading Surah Al Kahf on fridays: I am currently in the process of getting into the habit. Alhamdolillah i'm aware of the tafseer but for sure i cannot focus on every lesson each time. So i pick a passage and try and make that the focus of the week.
Ofcourse ibadah will be habitual but i think the key is to find the balance between that and contemplation Insha Allah

Body & Soul

Body and soul - thats what you have committed to Allah SWT. Its almost ridiculous to have to spell it out because He created both, so obviously! But it is not as obvious to us as it should be. Either is nothing without the other, nor will it ever accomplish anything on its own. With our body, we have to perform our salah, earn to sustain ourselves and our families, perform Hajj, seek knowledge and spread it, command good and forbid evil, etc If you do all this, to others it may seem you are very spiritual, very religious. People generally judge based on appearances and we can easily fall in the trap of assuming ourselves to be "religious".
After a while, the bodily ibadah becomes easy and almost habitual and if you dont assess yourself regularly, you can loose the spiritual connection altogether. If your bodily ibadah is not bringing about a change in your behavior, in your ikhlaq - know this, your soul is not it. If you lie/cheat and justify it too, if you abuse your authority (as a parent, husband, boss, teacher, etc), if you have jealousy in your heart for a brother in deen (except Ghibtah), find faults with others and not spend any time fixing your own, if you think you are more pious than others or someone is not worthy of hidaya, if your ego is so inflated that you cannot control your temper or bring yourself to apologize - know that Allah says about such people, that the Quran would be stuck in their throat not finding its way in their hearts. Only the soul of an ibadah makes it worth anything because it pushes you to better yourself and tells you if you've wronged yourself or someone.
Its something we must question ourselves about every day. Is our soul committed to Allah? When your soul is committed along with your body,  that noor emanates from you; from your smile, your speech, from your ikhlaq - just as it did from the Prophet SAW, and the sahabas (RA). Your soul tells you to do sabr when something goes awry, your soul keeps you from anger when something doesnt go your way, your soul keeps your ego in check, your soul reminds you it has to return to Allah. The bodily ibadah then serves to polish the soul and strengthen it. Then you can protect yourself from assuming you're better than someone else.
note to myself first!

Ramadan Counter: Ready, Set, GO!

The month of mercy is fast approaching! have you made your preps yet? Its warm up time before your spiritual work-out. Pen out your goals, think about your daily plan - dont just sleep or laze the fast away. Its a blessed month for a reason; shaytan is in chains, you are FREE to earn hasanah in multiples. Do you feel your pulse racing from excitement about how much good you will get writ in your book of deeds! This is a chance for you and me to ask for forgiveness for everything we may have done wrong - imagine we can start anew the other side of Ramadan Inshallah!!
Dont think the fast will be too long. Allah is allowing you a longer fasting period so you may collect more good deeds Inshallah, so you may do more ibadah, so you may seek His pleasure SubhanAllah! Think positive, be excited - make a niyyah to make it your best Ramadan ever!