A couple of days ago I was feeling stressed, and there was no motivation for me to be here. I think too much about worldly matters that worries me, more than necessary. I was worried about low performance in PBL, I was worried about being so worried about PBL that I began to worry about my tarbiyyah. I was worried about the unresolved issues regarding my accommodation next year. I was so stressed about everything that was happening until I felt that it is better for me to give up and go home. And then I began to think, what if I really went back home and thought, "I regretted my decision to gave up and if only, if only I didn't and stayed strong, my life wouldn't have changed."
We humans have a lot of dissatisfaction, with ourselves, our life, our achievements, etc. We are so caught up in our own problems, our own little world and we forget about others. What about kids in Africa who had to walk for kilometers to school just so they could get a proper education? What about the people in the poorest countries in the world, like Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo? They would envy us, just because we could eat five meals a day, wear different clothes everyday, get to go to school, university, have a chance to study overseas, and so on. What would they say to you?
And yet we spend our time finding what we call motivation? What kind of a motivation do you want? Isn't it enough that you do everything for yourself, and most importantly, isn't it enough you do everything for the sake of Allah? Does it matter if you would get good or bad outcome out of your hard work, if you already done it for the sake of your religion?
Do you know what is the best thing that could be given to you?
The guidance, the light from Allah. The best thing that Allah could ever given you, it is even better than being given the whole world and all of its contents. So why does it matter that your life is so miserable when everything that could you could've ever wanted--Allah's guidance--have been given to you?
And then I began to think, what am I doing this for? Why am I here? Well the answer is already in your heart, you have to stop worrying and think, think about the good things that have been given to you. Your brain, your eyes, your mouth, your hands, your nose, your ears, a house that can protect you from rain, or snow; food on your plate everyday, a computer to get connected to the world, a bed that you could sleep on comfortably, a pen to write your notes, a pair of glasses so you could have a better sight, a friend that could help you when you need them. All of them. You should be thankful for all of them. And most importantly, you should be thankful that you are still alive, and the door of His Mercy is still opened for you. You still have a chance to start anew, and improve your life. You still have a chance to leave everything that is harmful to you and be closer to Allah. Do it while you still have the chance.
There can be no more regret on the Day of Judgement. In the Quran, Allah says that during the Day of Judgement, sinners would regret their actions and they would beg for Allah to return them to the living world so that they could do better. But Allah says, all of it, would be useless then. No more second chances, no more turning back. They could only move forward.
So, move forward, don't go back to the person you used to be back then. You have been given a gift, a gift that is better that the world and all of its contents. Don't look back, and don't dwell on the past. The past is so far away now, that no matter how fast you run to catch it, you would never grab them back. The only way to live, is to move forward, and whenever you stumble, upon an obstacle, get up, stand tall and move forward again, for life is a test. A test from Allah, so that you would not be too happy with what you have now, and never to despair with whatever circumstances that befalls on you. (al hadid, 57: 23).
There is no time to feel stressed, or down, or disappointed with your life, because life is always going to be a test. Whenever you pass one, you would encounter another one. Until you die. And then you can rest. In the meantime, you have to work hard. To pass the test, so that you could really relax in the Hereafter. There is no time to relax in this world, because Jannah is not easy to enter. If you want to enter a prestigious university like Oxford, for example, you can't do so by simply lazing around and observe others doing the work for you, you have to earn it. Do you think you could enter Jannah when you sit there, in front of your computer all day long, watching movies, playing FarmVille on Facebook, or just simply doing nothing? And then when you are in front of Allah, you're going to say that, "Oh I'm sorry, I was going to work hard tomorrow, and stop lazing around today, but before tomorrow, I already died, and I never had the chance."
This is actually a hadith which could be found in Riyadhus Solihin by Imam Nawawi, I forgot which chapter it is from, so you would have to check it out on your own.
The life in this world is portrayed by the inside of the box, and our life, like the box, is contained by the thin line surrounding it, which is death. Death surrounds us, and death follows us everywhere. Death is definite, there is no way out of it. A person's dreams will always go out of the box, because sometimes they dream so much that they would never be able to reach them. A dream is not like an ambition that a person would want to accomplish, or visions that they have for themselves, but dreams in this context is just, well, a dream. Pure fantasy. People would often dream that they can achieve something good, or accomplish something great, and just dream, without even doing anything to get to it. Those kinds of dreams. It shows that people would always dream, and forget that death is closer to them, than their dreams. The little lines on the bottom are the tests that has been bestowed upon us, by Allah to test our faith. They are actually a very small portion of a person's life, and a person should not always feel discouraged by Allah's test. When another passes, there will be more to come, and there is no way to escape them until we die. So the only way to move forward is to overcome these tests and obstacles.
Life in this world is only a tiny portion of life as a whole, of the never ending story in the Hereafter. But, this tiny portion will determine the latter part, whether we are worthy of His Paradise and worthy of The meeting with Him, Our Creator.
So get over yourself, stand up, start anew. Yesterday was just another day, and what you do today determine what you'll become tomorrow. The past will never come back. Time will not stop for you. There is no time to be sad, or down, or disappointed, because the time you spend to do so, could be used to sincerely ask for His Mercy, before it is too late to do so.
What else do you need to be a motivator, other than HIM, The Almighty, The All Knowing, The Most Merciful.
Turn over a new leaf, and never look back.
