The Obstacle On Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.

After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

Lesson: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one’s condition.

Success Of A Farmer

There was a farmer who grew superior quality, award-winning corn in his farm. Each year, he entered his corn in the state fair where it won honours and prizes.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew his corn. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours.
“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in the competition with yours each year?” The reporter asked. “Why bother?”
The farmer replied, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen grains from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I have to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours to grow good corn too.”
The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbours’ corn also improves. So it is in the other dimensions and areas of life!
Those who choose to be in harmony must help their neighbours and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others live well too. The value of a life is measured by the lives it touches…
Success does not happen in isolation; it is most often a participatory and collective process. So share the good practices, ideas and new knowledge with your family, friends, team members and neighbours and all. As they say: “Success breeds Success.”
Abdullah ibn Umar (radhiyallahu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The best friend in the Sight of Allah is he who is the well-wisher of his companions, and the best neighbour is one who behaves best towards his neighbours. (Tirmidhi)

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Put The Glass Down

A story to share from IslamicThinking blog

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students, ‘How much do you think this glass weighs?’

’50 grams!’…. ’100 grams!’…… ’125 grams’ …… the students answered.

‘I really don’t know unless I weigh it,’ said the professor, ‘but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?’

‘Nothing’ the students said.

‘Ok! What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?’ the professor asked.

‘Your arm would begin to ache’, said one of the students.

‘You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?’

‘Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to hospital for sure!’ ventured another student; and all the students laughed.

‘Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?’ asked the professor.

‘No’

‘Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?’ The students were puzzled.

‘Put the glass down!’ said one of the students.

‘Exactly!’ said the professor. ‘Life’s problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head and they seem okay. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even longer and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything’.

‘It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to have trust in Allah (swt) and to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!’

So at the end of the day, remember to ‘PUT THE GLASS DOWN’ and put trust in Almighty Allah SWT.

Holy Quran: “He it is who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers that they might have more faith added to their faith”. (48:4) Tranquillity is the sign of strong faith while worries and stress is the sign of weak faith.

Tell your mind every day before you go to sleep: “Yaa Ayyatuhan Nafsul Mutma-innah, Irji’ee iLaa Rabbiki Raadhiyatam Mardhiyyah, Fadhkhulee Fee Ibaadee Wadhkhulee Jannatee” (Al-Fajr 89:27-30)
“O soul that is at rest satisfied. Return to your Lord well-pleased (with Him), well-pleasing (Him). So, enter among My servants, and enter into my Paradise”

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A Child's Life

Would like to share interesting quote found in http://www.islamic-world.net/.

A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which everyone who passes by leaves an impression

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.

If a child learns to feel shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
he learns to find love in the world.

Children forget words… but follow footsteps