Why is �proactivity� so important? Because it is the only effective way to uplift a nation and a people. It is a special characteristic for the Muslims. Your religion is not complete without it. What are the barriers of becoming proactive? 1) Too embarrassed. There is absolutely no reason to be embarrassed from doing what�s right. Be brave and strong. There is a story of a college student in the 1930�s who stood for what he thought was right and, as a result, was able to get what he wanted. Every time he wanted to pray, he had no place to go to except a dark, grave-like room underground. He would always find another Muslim there also praying. After a while, he became uncomfortable praying in this dark, little room all the time, feeling as if he was locked up. So he decided to pray right in the middle of campus out in the open. People stared, made fun, and even laughed at what he was doing. But that didn�t affect him at all and he kept praying in front of everybody. Days and weeks passed and eventually, the people got used to his praying in public and just let him be. Then, his friend that used to pray in the dark, little room underground started praying with him outside. More and more Muslims started praying with him until there was a significant number of them and, as a result, the University President finally decided to provide an appropriate place for them to pray comfortably. Two ways to overcome your embarrassment or shyness: 1� Set a specific goal in life which will encourage you to put all that you�ve got in achieving it, no matter what others say about you. 2� Always be motivated and enthusiastic and never give up. 2) Afraid of failing. Success is almost always preceded by mistakes or even failure. In order to really feel the beauty of success, one is bound to have gone through tough times. Two ways to overcome your fear of failing: 1� You should fully put your trust in Allah. 2� Try to actually taste the beauty of success by experiencing a specific accomplishment which will encourage you even more to face your fear. 3) Giving up and feeling discouraged after failure. When Edison was in the process of discovering electricity, people asked him when he is going to stop after failing 99 times. He said to them, �I have added to the world 99 ways that failed so that others can benefit from them and not repeat the same mistakes I did.� Five ways to overcome your giving up after failure: 1� Previous 4 points mentioned above. 2� Patience and perseverance (always keep trying). 4) Uncontrollable circumstances. Think about Prophet Yusuf�s story: he spent 12 years among his brothers who hated him and were jealous of him, 10 years as a slave, and 9 years in jail�.but because he was proactive and had the willpower, he managed to become king after 40 years. In the battle of Mu�ta during the time of the Prophet, the Muslims were 3,000 and the Romans were 200,000 in number. Despite the huge difference in number, the Muslims were able to defeat the Romans in only 6 days!! The Muslims thought of a strategy and they cleverly planned to pull in the Roman army into a tight place in a way that the Muslims were able to face only 3,000 Romans at a time. By this plan, they were able to win. Six ways to overcome uncontrollable circumstances: 1� Previous 5 points mentioned above. 2� Be clever, use your mind, and think of alternatives. Real examples of people being proactive: 1) A poor man wanted to help the needy but didn�t have anything to help them with. He thought of a clever way to do this: he called up hotels and asked them if he can collect from them the leftover food that they usually dispose of so that he can distribute to the poor. They agreed and he was able to feed more than a hundred families in need. 2) A woman realized that the illiteracy rate of her country was really high. Instead of complaining and blaming others for this problem, she decided to gather groups of illiterate women and teach them how to read and write right in her own home. |
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