We humans are peculiar beings. We crave for things which are always beyond our reach. We cry for people who will never be ours, we make people who care for us cry and we care for people who will never cry for us. In the ultimate analysis, we are indeed a weird species. And let something bad happen to us, and we cry rivers of tears. Why did God do this to me? Why is it always like this with me? Why are my friends always so lucky? Why am I always the unlucky one? And so on and so forth….

But if we just take a moment, we realise it is not only you or me who has tough times. For everyone in this world, there comes a time which puts one to test. For some, this time comes early in life and for some, a little later, but it does come for all. And if during that time we give up our faith, we give up on God. Do you realise that often when we are happy, we hardly have the time to offer thanks to the Almighty, but the moment something bad happens, we put the entire blame on Him… now that’s not right, is it?

Having faith and keeping it going strong is one of the toughest tasks in life. There are many instances when we find it hard to keep up and often get angry at the twists that fate offers. This is only normal, it did happen to me also. But over time I have realised that whatever happens, happens for the best. There is none other than the Almighty who knows what is best for each one of us. I know I might be sounding really idealistic, but trust me, this is a fact of life I have realised over time that everything that God does is indeed a part of a super master plan and we, as humans, cannot reach upto that level of intellect and understanding. And since we do not know for what purpose things happen, hence we also should not have the audacity to question why they happen.

In fact, the best way to be happy and to cope with life is to accept whatever life offers us. It is no use fighting against things over which we have no control, because whether we like it or not, a major part of our life is controlled by our destiny. That is, what is to happen is already destined. But what we can do is go with the flow. Once we give in to life and stop fighting against the odds that it offers us, we realise that things become much easier.

Happiness, for that matter, lies somewhere around us and what we need to do is just to find it. That is why we need to be like the sunflower. This flower always finds the sunlight whichever direction it lies in. The entire day it changes direction, coping up with and finding the sunlight. No matter how bent and fragile the plant may be, it never fails to find the light. And we, as humans, need to do just that.

Of course, life is never a bed of roses. Ups and downs and rollercoaster rides are only its characteristic feature. But, at the end of the day, having overcome all difficulties and dealing with all problems, we just need to be thankful for whatever we have. We need to cherish the life that we have, because life is a gift in itself. Being alive is a gift and we should be thankful for it. And as far as our impediments and difficulties are concerned, we just need to remember that we are not the only ones facing them. In fact, there are a lot many people in the world who are in much deeper trouble and much more dire situations than what we are in. We should just be grateful that our troubles are less than theirs.

So, whatever your troubles are, just forget them for the time being and just be glad that you are not in deeper trouble than what you are in. Have faith in the Supreme force and keep that faith going strong and when you least expect for things to get better, things start looking up for you. And just when you start to give up on life, life throws the most beautiful surprise at you and pleads you to live.

We humans are weird and so is the cycle of life. Unexpected happenings, unpredictability, randomness, capriciousness are all the hallmarks of life. So, the best way to live is to be ready for everything. To have grace to accept, succumb, surrender and move on.

Being brave is a good thing. But bravery is always better when it is for a reason. Putting up a good fight when you need to, is commendable, but fighting against destiny, being angry as to why a certain thing happened is useless, it is futile. Because such a fight will yield no results. Hence, we just need to learn to have the grace to accept whatever life offers us. Good , bad, easy , difficult or anything else. Once we learn to be grateful for what we have, things start to look up for us. Being thankful during trying times is important, is essential, because we need to keep in mind, no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse…

iqbal.sabrina@gmail.com

Sabrina Iqbal