Foreword

Alfred Adler (1870-1937) the renowned psychologist, focused principally on individual psychology. One observer made the following comment on Adler’s chosen field:

      After spending a lifetime studying people and their hidden reserves of power, the great psychologist, Alfred Adler, declared that one of the wonder-filled characteristics of human beings is “their power to turn a minus into a plus”.

God has created human beings with extraordinary capabilities. This quotation is a succinct acknowledge-ment of God’s work as expressed by a psychologist. Indeed, one of the greatest features of human capability is that a person can see the bright side to things—even in darkness. He finds it possible to change unfavourable situations into favourable ones. Even in defeat, he can find new opportunities to achieve success.

It is a fact that a human being is by nature well equipped to turn his minuses into pluses. But there is a condition attached to this—He shall have to opt for the way of management and abandon the way of confrontation. An individual ought first of all to study the situation he is faced with and then plan his course of action objectively.

A person will succeed if he follows the principle of management rather than confrontation. Non-confrontational methods always yield positive results, while confrontational methods only aggravate matters.

In human life the most important thing is the will to act. The people who ultimately succeed are those who are undaunted by adverse circumstances, who waste no time in lamenting over their disadvantages and who give their attention instead to overcoming whatever difficulties they face.

It is not, after all, the one who has never had to face any kind of difficulties, who is necessarily the most successful in life. The truly successful person is one who can carry his ambitions into effect no matter what hurdles he has to surmount. He is the one who will arrive at his destination no matter what obstacles are strewn in his path. He is the one who is prepared to battle through fire and water right to the very end.

God has created this world with remarkable possibilities. Here, when an endeavour appears to fall into the oblivion of failure, a new light shines out from the darkness. When a house falls, it leaves the space for another house to be constructed in its place. The same is true of human life. Here, with every failure, there arises a new possibility of success. In the competition of two nations, if one nation becomes developed and the other is left behind, the matter does not end there. Subsequently, a new process begins to take shape where the people of developed nations adopt a lavish lifestyle and enjoy luxurious facilities, whereas the people of underdeveloped nations develop a passion for hard work and struggle, and thus become developed.

This means that in this world of God there is no question of being overtaken by disappointment and depression. No matter how unpromising the circumstances may appear to be, there will always be a new opportunity for success close by. One has to avail of this new opportunity in order to convert defeat into success.

Moreover, deprivation in this world is not something valueless; deprivation gives rise to the passion for enterprise. And in this way, it makes groups more active and produces the possibility for greater success.

Those who wish to advance and be successful in life without passing through the necessary stages, will have to build another world for themselves—one which satisfies their own requirements; for in the world that God has created, their dreams can never come true.

Wahiduddin Khan

May 8, 2019
New Delhi