FIX THE ANCHOR
If the universal truth is that mankind in flawed and unreliable, then wouldn’t it make sense to instead seek fulfillment from one who is perfect and constant? With one who does not change the rules, is not fickle minded in his love, the one who keeps his promises, and the one who doesn’t die?
There is only one sublime being matching such description. Allah swt. “He is Al-Awwal and Al-Akhir, Az Zahir and Al Batin. And He is the All-Knower of Everything.” (57:3)
If you fix your anchor upon a constant point, then in turn you will be chasing the right dreams, the only dreams that matter, and the most important goal that you should have in your life. The dreams of seeking Allah’s pleasure.
In striving towards such a goal, you will rise above the inevitable setbacks, disappointments and tragedies that you face in life. If your aim in life is aligned towards getting closer to Allah, striving to gain His love, you will never be alone, for Allah will be your constant protector and guardian. Your (real) friends are (no less than) Allah, His Messenger, and the (fellowship of) believers,- those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship) (5:55).
Thus, if you realign your priorities in life, you will come to a realization that circumstances can change, you will have love and lost – but you will not be paralysed with misery whenever a downturn occurs.
You will know that Allah will always be there for you, and that even if your world is on fire and everyone has turned his back on you, you will never be alone for as long as you remain steadfast towards Allah. Yes, you may still feel sadness at loss and grief, you will feel disappointment and frustrations – but you will also know with certainty that for as long as you rely on Allah, Allah will guide you until the turbulence has passed, and the fires have subsided.
If you fix the anchor, you will not only be stable, but you will always have an emotional safety net to catch you and keep extreme emotions under check when things aren’t going well. Even if unpleasant events continue to occur, you will find that your heart may be chipped by a bit of hurt, but it will not shatter the same way it did when your goal in life was to seek perfect happiness in dunia, instead of looking beyond at the larger and more fulfilling goal of seeking perfect happiness in the hereafter.
A PERMANENT FIX
Once we change our anchor from life in this dunia to Allah and life in the hereafter, we will realize that our motivations and internal driving force will change. For if our hearts are firmly fixed upon obtaining validation from Allah, we simply will not have time or inclination to dwell on our petty and inconsequential issues. If the love and alliance to Allah has given us a firm footing, we will not be blown away or crippled by the trivialities of this dunia.
Whenever a stumbling block appears in our paths, we will realize that it is a test from Allah, and as long as we apply the right criteria in reacting to the problems by having faith, patience and sincerity, Allah will be with us to guide us towards overcoming such obstacle. Instead of giving up whenever our way forward is obstructed, we will thank Allah for putting such obstructions in place, and turn to Allah to help us through. At every death, loss, disappointment, frustration, we will realize that such events happened for our own good and will strengthen us, not break us.
For every hope that is dashed and every opportunity that is lost, we will realize that it is for our best, if only we knew. Instead of losing hope or giving up, we will realize that for as long as we hold on to the rope of Allah, nothing is insurmountable.
We will constantly remind ourselves that everything in this life, and every situation is temporary, whatever comes upon will, be it good or bad, will pass like the shifting sands. Instead of letting our sadness control our existence, we will instead be able to control our sadness. With every tribulation that Allah places upon us, our hearts will fill with joy in the certain knowledge of every believer, that with every hardship comes ease. In the reliance of such knowledge, knowing that we have the best of Protectors, how can anyone feel sorrow?
So long as our relationship with Allah is firmly established and rooted in our hearts, we will no longer need to define our happiness by superficial dunia yardsticks that we inflict on ourselves.
And that is the permanent fix, not just some fleeting solution, but one that will make your heart sing, heal all the wounds that false hopes of this dunia inflicted on it, and will be our guiding light in this world and into the next.
