Sunday, December 19, 2010

One Step Forward... Two Steps Back?

During this period of the 'credit crunch' many individuals as well as multi-national companies are feeling the bite of the economic status.

Each and everybody is trying to ensure that they continue to 'plod along' and survive during this 'crisis' within which many jobs are at risk and many financial difficulties are being faced.

It is a time when we can raise our hands and submit to the fact that what we always want, hope for or plan doesn't occur and at times what we do not plan for can come as a total surprise and shock to us.

Something of the same nature occurred with me this week. Our plan which was structured over several months was at its final stages and we were just moving one step ahead when we suddenly had a major setback that made us feel we took one step forward and two steps back.

Point

Usually, during times of crisis and difficulty, our attitude is such that any progress which becomes void due to some drawback is seen as a loss and deficit. It is seen as 'one step forward and two steps back' or as 'the glass is half empty'.

It is seldom that an individual thanks Allah after looking at the situation and saying that Allah helped the individual by cutting the losses short and preparing them prior to the setback.

The loss has been cut by Allah to being one step back instead of two steps or by only half the glass being empty and not the entire glass.

In business or any worldly matter, we try our level best to ensure that this loss is covered and that we recover from it as soon as possible. In actual fact, our spiritual life should be the same where any drawback we face should be taken seriously and that we should ensure recovery from the drawback immediately (through repentance and execution of good deeds).

I would find it hard to conceive that any individual would strategically plan to make a loss in business. In the same way, it should be inconceivable that a person would plan to commit sin and set himself back spiritually.

We've all heard of the psychology regarding the attitude of how we see things, 'the glass is half empty' is just as true as 'the glass is half full'.

It is amazing at the times of drawbacks we always look at the glass as being half empty and how that causes some form of deficit in our lives.