The art of life management requires understanding oneself, that is knowing one’s capabilities and nature, and becoming aware of others’ nature, and the world one lives in. It will really help one plan life and improve as and when required.
The concept of simple living and high thinking is relevant in every aspect of life. It applies to one’s personal life to family life, social life, religious life, national life, and professional life. It is the best art of living. All of us need to manage our lives. The art of life management is every person’s need. Based on experience, one can say that simple living and high thinking are the ABCD of the art of living and life management. Without adopting this principle, one cannot manage one’s life successfully.
Here are ten references from the Quran and Hadith that may be considered universal principles suitable for every man and woman, irrespective of religion and culture. They are formulae for life or art of life management: Mutual Respect, Reconciliation and Adjustment, Peace, Practical Wisdom, Positive Response, Modesty, Result-oriented Action, Friendly Behaviour, Unilateral Good Character, and Universal Brotherhood.
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It is the honeybee’s culture to travel every day and reach places where flowers are available for it. The bee extracts nectar from the flower and returns to its abode. It does not care about anything else.
Where there are flowers, there are also other things like thorns, leaves, and stem. It simply extracts nectar from the flower and returns without objecting to the thorns. This behaviour of the honeybee gives a lesson to man in a symbolic manner: Live like the honeybee. Extract what is good for you and leave what is unwanted for you. Do not waste your time in complaining and protesting about it.
People generally get offended upon hearing criticism against them. This behaviour is quite against the scheme of nature. In doing so, they pay a heavy price. They deprive themselves of the “nectar” that is available for them in everything and every experience — a good lesson to be learnt and a wise advice you can forward. Every person’s environment has “nectar”. One should take the “nectar” and like the honeybee, ignore the “thorns”.
Living with a focused mind is very important for every man and woman. Only a focused mind is a developed mind. When you get offended or provoked, it means you have allowed another person to disrupt your focus and break your concentration. You should neither be offended nor get provoked. You should adopt the honeybee culture.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
Why does despair take place? Despair is a result of lack of deep thinking. In my own experience, there are several instances which led me to despair. Today when I look back and think that whatever happened was best for me. Why does this happen? Because man has limitations and does not have knowledge of the future. When I think in retrospect, those situations that led me to despair turned out to be the points from which I gained greater success. The best solution is to keep faith in God and remember what Caliph Ali said: ‘Whatever happened, happened for the good.’
Source: Living in Hope
I have spent significant time on this topic and my conclusion is that nature has instilled a special mechanism in a person by which he can control his anger. When angry, all one has to do is observe silence. Anger incites a psychological fire within a person and in the resulting rage, he is not able to control himself. But when one becomes silent in moments of anger, the rage instantly begins to take a downward trend. So, when someone provokes us, we must simply become quiet.
At all such times, I myself do not react and I have experienced that anger takes no time in subsiding. Reaction leads to chain reaction and not reacting stops the chain reaction, but in order to stop the chain reaction, one needs the power of self-control. Only the spiritually strong can break the chain reaction in a situation involving provocation and rage. It is a sign of great strength. As per a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad:
“The strong man is not one who is good at wrestling, but the strong man is one who controls himself in a fit of rage.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 5763)
In moments of rage when our natural tendency is to speak or react aggressively, we need to instantaneously change the direction of our flywheel and remain silent. Without a doubt, the anger shall dissipate and we shall be in a position to prudently handle the situation. Even I used to get angry in my early days; by following the above advice, my anger led me to self-thinking, which made me realize that anger yields no result. I then concluded that it was futile to waste energy on anger.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
Anxiety is a form of distress, sometimes occasioned by the sad memories of losses suffered in the past and at other times by uncertainties regarding the future. Anxiety is a common phenomenon. Most men and women have lived in a state of anxiety at one time or another. Anxiety is not a real problem. It is a product of a way of thinking. Change your mental habits and adopt a positive pattern of thinking, then you will have no anxiety.
Problems are of three kinds. If a problem relates to the present, you can solve it by wise planning. If the problem relates to the past, there is always a simple solution: forget it, and the problem will instantly disappear. If the problem concerns the future, it is not a problem at all, it is simply a baseless fear. In other words, it has no valid existence. And if something is non-existent, how can it create a problem for you? Discover the genesis of anxiety and you will easily be able to rid yourself of it. Anxiety is not a physical problem. It begins in the mind and it is only in the mind that it can be buried.
Source: Living in Hope
