Day 0

Tomorrow, I start a 30-day challenge.

Q: What's the challenge?

I will be trying to fast for the month of Ramadan.

Q: How did I learn about Ramadan?

Last summer, Ramadan overlapped with the 2016 U.S. presidential primaries here in San Diego, California.

At the time, I was working with a local refugee-led nonprofit and had the chance to see what a "get out the vote" campaign is like. Every day for weeks, my co-workers were out knocking doors, registering neighbors to vote, and making calls late into the night reminding neighbors when and where to vote.

And most days during Ramadan, we all waited until sunset to eat dinner (Iftar) together.

Preparing to break fast together with the Get-Out-The-Vote team, Ramadan 2016

Q: Why fast?

I've never fasted before, but here are a few reasons why I want to:

Discipline

I've always been inspired by the discipline I saw in my friends during Ramadan, through the simple practice of changing the pace of everyday life with intention and commitment.

Health

By waking super early to eat before sunrise, I'm also committing to getting to bed on time and waking up on time. I've always been personally interested in ways to build healthy habits, like exercise, stretching, meditation, reading books and studying languages.

Focus

If I can fast, any other goal should be easy! One goal I'm working towards is completing the remaining 178 hours of an online course by the end of Ramadan (that's about 6 hours per day on the safe side).

Stay tuned! I'm going to try to update this every evening after breaking fast.