“Be Grateful, Be Happy”
Walking in the air of rumination, incarcerated by exasperation and melancholy, I was drowning in the river of despair a few months ago on my way to university. My mood was off because I was lamenting over the things I wanted but couldn’t have. Suddenly, I saw a girl who was looking for food in the garbage. I had seen such things before, but I had never realized how difficult it was to find food like that. I started comparing my life to that of the little girl. I thought of how lucky I was. Everyday, I eat the food of my choice without putting in even a single effort. How difficult would it be for me to find food, if I were in her place. When I further compared our lives, I realized that she isn’t only deprived of food, but also of many other blessings that I have, like education, shelter and other comforts of life. I found my life better than hers.
It was then that my inner-voice questioned me: “Tooba Nadeem, which of the favors of your God will you deny?”, but I had no answer.
Afterwards, I started asking myself why I wasn’t grateful to Allah. Why was I am not happy with my life? Why was I so pessimistic instead of being optimistic? And why was I so aimless? I came to realize that I was running after the things I didn’t have, which is why l was ungrateful and lacked optimism in my life. I was aimless because I was not clear about my goals; I hadn’t found my aim yet. I was living the life of a despondent person, subjugated to desolation, without any purpose or goals. Then, by taking on the path of determination and persistence, I came out of the well of depression because I created a room full of happiness and optimism for myself.
In a nutshell, if you think that you have no reason to be happy, try identifying things that cheer you up even in the slightest. Try to find out your mission – your aim, which can bring happiness and optimism, and offer you a step towards a new life. Happiness isn’t about having everything you want, it is about loving everything you have. Look at the people around you, who are deprived of health, parents, food and the numerous things you have been given.
We are blessed with so much, but we don’t realize their worth, all because we are moving blindly to get the things we don’t have. I am not saying that we should not make efforts to get something, but the point is we shouldn’t run after those things blindly. We should take care of the people & things we have, and be grateful to Allah Almighty for giving us all those things.
It is easy to count FINITE things – the ones we don’t have, but it is difficult to count those INFINITE things that we do have.
So, be grateful, and be happy.
