08-20-2003, 08:09 PM
Abdul is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good
mood and always has something positive to say.
When someone would ask him how he was doing, would reply, "Alhumdulillah If I
were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, Abdul was there telling the
employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to
Abdul and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive
person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Abdul replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you
have
two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can
choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I
can choose to accept it as a test from my beloved Allah and to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept
their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I
choose the positive side of life. Allah is the all-gracious all-beneficial, Allah gives you sorrow, worry, pain but he also gives you love, joy and happiness. Allah is my creator the owner of soul whatever He gives is a blessing.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is,"
Abdul said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all
the junk, every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people
affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The
bottom line: It's your choice how you react to your life."
I reflected on what Abdul said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower
Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Abdul was involved in a serious
accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After
18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Abdul was
released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Abdul about six months after the accident. When I asked him how
he was, he replied. "Alhamdulillah If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my
scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone
through his mind as the accident took place.
The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my
soon to be born daughter, Alhamdulilla " Abdul replied. "Then, as I lay on the
ground, I remembered that This is a test from Almighty Allah, I had two choices: I could choose to accept it
or I could choose to be miserable and resentful. I chose to accept."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Abdul continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and
I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got
really scared. In their eyes, I read, "he's a dead man. I knew I
needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said
Abdul. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes, I
replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for
my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity."
Over their laughter, I told them, "Allah has ownership of my life. Operate
on me as if I am alive, then if my Allah so wishes he will grant me life. I then prayed to Allah and said whatever He chooses I will accept it as the best choice for He is all-knowing"
Abdul lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors and the blessing of Almighty Allah but maybe also because
of his amazing attitude and love for Allah. I learned from him that every day we have
the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
Accept everything whether good or bad as a blessing from Almighty Allah, begin to think like this then Allah will be with you in every sense and shower you with strength.
If you feel a need to complain then talk to Allah. Allah loves a servant who seeks His help in everything.
Do you really think another person, whether that be a doctor, counsellor or friend can help?
Yes they can but only if Allah so wishes for you to feel better He will give you peace of mind via this route.
We must not forget that whenever we have been helped out of a situation, ultimately the cure came from Allah.
Begin everything with Allah and finish everything with Allah. Take this with you in your life and Allah will be by your side, with you in every step and part of your every breath.