Optimism... subHan Allah

I was thinking today, a believer MUST have optimism in order to be a believer, they have to have optimism... it's absolutely essential! There's no such thing as hopelessness for a believer, and there is no such thing as despair. Allah is indeed near, "Hasbuna llahu wa ni`m al-wakil"... the aid of Allah is indeed near, and He is our protector and the best of aid.

Today, I was in the masjid staying extra hours as usual with children. al-Hamdu liLlah, and while I was there the phone rang. The people on the phone asked to speak to an Imam, but I was the only adult in the building aside from children. Well, I asked if I could help, thinking they would give me a general question, but ooooh noooo, I was wrong... they pretty much told me this huge issue this family was dealing with. I told them I am not a scholar, and they still wanted my advice. Reluctantly, I did, I gave them whatever advice I felt would be best in their situation and told them they are free to call me whenever they would like if they just need someone to talk to. ya Rab.. ya RAb.. now they want to meet with me, Allah Ar-Rahman. I realized I do not, I absolutely do not want to ever become a counselor or a psychologist... when people trust you to help them, their problem just becomes your problem, and I found that much of the day I was just thinking about them, and how I wanted things to be better. ya Allah.

Anyways, I feel like that call happened for a reason, and after hearing what others must go through it makes me sooo grateful for my life, and the set of hardships Allah has given me. My hardships are not even hard, well, maybe a little cuz how else would they be called hardships? hehe, khayr in sha' Allah. But seriously, al-Hamdu liLlah for our difficulties in life... there are always people dealing with thigns that are even more difficult. For example, the death of a father, or the illness of a child, subHan Allah.

I realized that with any difficult situation, one must ... ABSOLUTELY MUST... have optimism. No matter how bad things get, optimism is absolutely important. It's healthier, it's wiser, it's just... a really nice quality to have. WHY NOT BE OPTIMISTIC? -smiles-!!! More gets done that way.

I find that grateful and optimistic people usually get what they want... usually.

Here's an easy example, a child brings you a flower you say "thank you" and hug him or her, and just let them know how grateful you are for their flower. Meanwhile, you are optimistic that they know you are truly sincere about your gratefulness, and from that, just watch and see how many more flowers you will get, and how many more hugs, and how much more happiness life will throw your way.... yes, optimism is wonderful.

al-Hamdu liLlah for optimism.