The Uncertainty and The Complain
Being grateful is a virtue that most of us want to see in ourselves. But the turbulence of our lives hardly makes it possible for us, right? Today’s question is how can we become grateful when we hold our life circumstances responsible for our ungratefulness?
I was having a conversation with my friends a few days back when students of Pakistan were protesting against their institution for taking on-campus exams. They demanded online exams because the studies were conducted online not forgetting Covid-19. However, as the lockdown was over: workplaces, shopping malls, restaurants were open, I thought there was nothing wrong with taking on-campus exams as long as the universities enforced SOPs.
Still, many students went to protest against their universities demanding online exams because they were not able to study well during the pandemic.
Some days later I was attending an online seminar on business development. The guest speaker was the founder of a company that connected potential entrepreneurial ventures from Pakistan to the Silicon Valley and mentored them. He explained how a founder worth more than a startup because it was the personality of the founder that makes investors invest in his business. From the great pool of new businesses, what makes your work unique is your personal brand: the leadership capabilities, the hard work, and dedication that you put into your venture. New founders often complained about not getting investments and incentives because the investor is interested in only money-making which they say they can also make out of real estate businesses. Well, when someone invests in you he expects a return. Investors will not put money on your business when they see lags from your side. Put your effort, build trust, show passion, and show results. Before asking, make sure your business is indeed investment-ready.
In life we want everything to go as planned. We want to be certain of our beliefs, our goals, our future. We want everything our way. If something does not “obey” our norms, thoughts, beliefs, or intelligence we blame it for creating hurdles in our lives. A student who works hard for an exam but doesn’t get good grades starts hating their teacher. Youngsters non-compatible in the ISSB complain army only gives admissions to its references. Graduates who do not get a job complain of unemployment in the country. Businesses not having investors complain they are more interested in solid money. People belittle and blame other people because they do not fit their merits. I do not deny hard times, most of us do face horrible circumstances but we forget Allah never loads someone with a burden they cannot bear.
It is all because we have given in to laziness. Mankind is no doubt in great debt to technology but it has also made laziness one of our norms. We have become accustomed to ease and since, things have started to slip out of our hands… Wait, did I just complain?
What we need to do is to teach ourselves the beauty of uncertainty. What does it mean? Things may go in favor or against us; we never know. The point that makes a simple human being more powerful than the rest is that they understand this. Circumstances change, people change, even your ideas and beliefs might change. But that is the point of true learning and growth. Grasp it. Understand, if not of the situation, your feelings. Take control if you can or let the moment pass. Complaining about it is like clicking on an unwanted advertisement, the problem will cover your entire mind like popups on a screen. It will also make you a subject of gossip.
So how does one becomes grateful? Not through blame but practicing control. Not by praying “Make us grateful” but by saying “We are thankful”. No one is ever going to be happy or depressed forever. That’s the uncertainty, and to me, it's a blessing because it disrupts the monotony of life and gives hope. If life is a journey; uncertainty is an adventure. Face it; ride the doubt because there is ease after every hardship.
