Who Is Guiding Your Life, Brothers and Sisters?
As-salamu alaykum. Is your mind working for you, or against you? Who is really calling the shots in your life? Do you feel like you’re trapped in an endless race, always running but never arriving? Chasing one thing after another - one need, one job, one promotion, one degree, one spouse, and then on to the next. Maybe some of these sound familiar: - From satisfying one material desire to starting after the next. - From one job to another. - From one achievement to the next. - From one relationship to another. Depending on which “master” you let guide your life, your results, inner peace, and daily quality of life will change. Here are some questions to reflect on, and I hope they help you see things differently: - Is the life you dream of built mainly on material gain? - Are you aware that no matter what you obtain, something bigger or better will appear to chase - and it will demand your precious time? - Time that no one can refund or recreate. The one resource we constantly lose. - Is your ideal life shaped to please other people’s expectations? - Is following someone else’s idea of success wise, especially if they might be lost too? - Where do you think the best guidance will come from - outside influences or your own heart and faith? - Is it worth sacrificing years of your life for a bigger house or car, or to match a worldly standard of happiness? - Is happiness a permanent state you can pursue and hold forever? - Do you truly think that achieving material or professional goals will make you happy forever? - After success, will life stay at its peak endlessly? - Will your mind ever be satisfied, or will it keep inventing new needs - the next promotion, bigger car, better house, a different spouse - never stopping? - Are you in a rat race, selling your time and soul to satisfy material desires or other people’s ideals? - If you let your mind run unchecked, will it ever stop creating new demands? - The mind will often generate bigger needs and future scenarios that exist mainly in thought. - The problem is when the mind uses us instead of us using it. Remember: from the richest to the poorest, time cannot be recovered, and we all return to Allah, bodies and minds included. You choose whether to spend your priceless time running after worldly senses, or to try things that might truly satisfy you - spiritually, emotionally, and in a way that benefits your akhirah as well. Try this exercise: think about past goals you reached - a new job, promotion, house, car, marriage. How happy were you before you achieved them? How long did the happiness last after? Did you find yourself, instead of enjoying the success, already planning the next goal and losing the present moment? Did you suffer for months or years only to feel content for a few hours or days after? I’m not against striving or self-improvement. Continuous learning and growth are important - stagnation is harmful. But if our striving is only for worldly consumption, we degrade ourselves. So ask yourself: is the “master” you put in charge of your life truly the right one? Who is in charge of your life? - First Master: nothing, no one - carpe diem, purely seeking senses. - Second Master: environment, society, family, friends. - Third Master: ego, mind. - Fourth Master: your heart, your soul, and ultimately Allah. May Allah guide us to choose what’s best for this life and the next. Amin.