HOW TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS IN LIFE AND HOW TO ATTAIN INNER PEACE?
HOW TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS IN LIFE AND HOW TO ATTAIN INNER PEACE?
Sidra Syed
Sometimes I really miss my childhood, I mean those days were actually so good. I didn’t have the best childhood but I also didn’t have the worst, despite the pain both physical and emotional those days were still a lot better than today.
In childhood we were little so our problems were also small like, my classmate stole my pencil or my dad didn’t get me ice cream after lunch. But for us, these problems seemed huge and felt like the end of the world. I remember when I was 11 years old and my parents scolded me one day, I felt like That’s it I’m packing my back and I’m running away.
It is human nature to run away from problems rather than approach and fix them, anyways That was my childhood and I can’t blame myself for it. Growing up things became even more complicated; it was like each year that added to my life new problems came into view.
Role of Mother in child-development
At one point I became very worried! sick and tired of life, I just wanted to give up and end this life of misery, but only if it was so easy to do so. Life was still the same and going on, when suddenly the death of my best friend came into the picture. I was devasted because of this encounter, I was more broken than ever.
For once in my life, I kept all my problems aside and started pondering over life and its meaning. So, the more problems came the more I learned to deal with them. It’s the circle of life you see, imagine a world without pain and suffering, how strange would that world be? A world where no one was poor, A world where no one would get sick, A world where no one was lonely, and XYZ all of the good things u can think of. Now the question arises Will people be happy then?
Will they have inner peace? Will they be closer to God? The answer is the world would be a total disaster then. Life would be meaningless and no one would know what to thrive or struggle for.
It is believed that man is the greatest creation of God “اشرف المخلوقات”, but yet they are not Angels which means they have the tendency to make mistakes. The biggest mistake I believe all humans make is ungratefulness (not doing shukr on the blessings they have) having everything still crying for more. So even if this world was made with zero struggles and problems, people would still be upset.
Then they would cry saying “We don’t have any problems In, life” Haha! Seems so funny, doesn’t it? but yes that’s how humans are. So, this world of no problems would be really confusing for humans, chaos would be everywhere their hearts would not be at peace. The only thing that could fix this situation would be “Problems”, pain, and struggles.
When a human undergoes pain and suffering in life, he understands the meaning of life, life itself means struggles and never-ending struggles. Let’s take an example of a newborn baby, as soon as the baby comes out of the mother’s womb the baby cries.
This crying of the baby indicates pain, so as soon as the baby enters the world it suffers. The crying of the baby is not a bad thing it’s actually good It shows that the baby is healthy if the baby did not cry now that would be the problem. So that means not all pain is bad. Pain and suffering are what actually help you grow in life. When you fall you learn to grow up, when your heart breaks you learn to fix it, when you fail you learn to do better next time. So all these problems are actually healthy for us.
If we look at it from a religious point of view, we get a more clear idea of what it’s actually all about. Let’s talk about Muhammad(Saw), the most respected prophet in the history of prophets. The greatest prophet whom Allah loves the most, now take a look at his life and ponder.
Did he not have any struggles or problems In life? Born without a father, losing His mother at a young age the hardest struggles after Prophecy, the never-ending injustice of the Quraish, and all that he went through are major and way more than our problems today. Our problems compared to him are nothing, so why did Allah bring so many problems in His life when Allah loved him so much? The answer is that all that was a test آزمائش, something that brings you closer to Allah.
When a person is in pain and is suffering and no one on earth is capable of solving his problems he reaches out to his رب, because it’s Allah that gives human hope and we are able to move on in life. Problems will come and go in life it’s all about how you deal with it, and that’s what Allah loves the most “Effort”.
So in the end how do we deal with it? The answer is to do these four practices; first is acceptance to accept that it’s an azmaish from Allah(swt), then realization to realize that it’s a part of life, then patience to do sabar, and last but not least gratefulness to do shukr on the good things in life.
Always bring positivity in your life and you will start seeing the good in life, and you will understand that these problems are temporary and what awaits ahead is everlasting. I would like to end with the following verse from the Holy Quran; 94;5 فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلۡعُسۡرِ يُسۡرًا so, indeed with hardship comes ease.
This ayah is a perfect example for believers to understand that Allah never puts us in problems and abandons us He is always there for us we only need to seek Him.
