From today, my friend, do not grieve when you lose your socks… For this loss may be your greatest teacher in life.

• The simplest things are the most important ones from which wisdom is taken, the beauty of passing through life, and the quality of staying.

Rehab Soffar

I have the patience of Job when it comes to things, people, and everything that falls within the scope of my life.

My son had a pair of socks, and we lost one of them more than ten years ago, but I kept it in a place known only to me.

Yes… I am that patient and even more so over the years, and it’s not a virtue, but a trait that God has given me.

The sock was beautiful, elegant, and luxurious, unmatched today.

Every week, I would check on it, put it back in its place, and say to myself, maybe I’ll find it…

Until this day, as I searched in a small bag… I found it.

I stopped for a long time before myself, did I really rejoice in its return, or is this just what seemed to me? Were the ten years’ worth the waiting? Were my weekly inquiries appropriate? And is there anything worth waiting for all these years?

The answer was that I didn’t know… I just did what I knew.

I never give up on anyone, and I only cut ties with those who wronged me after “years of certainty.” I hope to be among those who excel in patience and love it.

With all this beautiful patience, if I turn away from you, I will never return as I was. Not because I don’t forgive, but years of certainty have created within me the conviction that you’re not suitable.

Unfortunately, you can always learn everything and every beauty, but cruelty is often taught by someone else.

I adopted patience as a lifestyle, and it became part of my personality; I excel in it, desire it, and it doesn’t weigh heavily on me.

Do you know, my friend, that all the difficulties you face decrease to a quarter when you get used to them! The sweetness of victory erases the bitterness of patience.

The only difference between perseverance and failure is your beautiful patience as you stand at the threshold of calamities.

Some people lose their patience after a few days of suffering, some stand firm for many months, and some remain patient for years. The best of us adopt patience as a lifestyle.

Learn to master patience. If you do not struggle vigorously for something you love, embrace silence in the face of fools when you lose it.

If you look back at your life, you will find that days of joy are committed to dragging other days of pain behind them, and your ability to face the world with all its happiness and misery depends on your realization of this fact.

I listened to my heart that I would find what I was looking for, even if it took a long time, and perhaps this approach has benefited me more in my life than the return of my lost item.

The simplest things are the most important ones from which wisdom is taken, the beauty of passing through life, and the quality of staying.

He who masters patience can master anything.

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer says:

“The power of will is to the mind like a strong blind man carrying on his shoulders a feeble man who can see.”

Patience keeps you on the path with the hope that you will reach your destination, and insight keeps you certain that what you are patient for is worth it, and both virtues are the elixir of life.

Perhaps the most important thing about patience is not waiting, but enjoying life while being patient, maintaining a good heart while waiting, and keeping the certainty that you will not be defeated. Then, in the end, you lean on the fact that God’s choice will always be best for you.

I do not bet on the scarcity of provisions, but on the exhaustion of patience. You are blessed with good patience, a generous heart, and your closeness to the Provider.

Patience is your moral courage in the face of life’s obstacles, and the most beautiful of your destinies are realized not as your mind arranges them but as the Merciful loves them for you.

My lord, if the rain stayed in the sky, it would not benefit you. Its fall on the ground means prosperity for you, and only patience can help you attain it!

You have only two paths: to make progress or to remain among the fearful, making excuses.

Learn to master patience. If you do not struggle vigorously for something you love, embrace silence in the face of fools when you lose it.

Trials may have thrown you into the water, but they won’t keep you below the surface… It’s up to you to decide between drowning or floating and surviving.

And don’t forget that your faith is your magical strength if it takes over your heart and permeates your soul, making your dreams come true, and the sweetness of victory feels as if it comes without loss or effort. You and patience have become friends of the impossible.

No one knows you truly, no one knows what you have been patient for, how much pain you have endured, what you have faced, how you have been tested… Everyone sees you when you succeed… But only you know who you really are!!

Trials may have thrown you into the water, but they won’t keep you below the surface… It’s up to you to decide between drowning or floating and surviving.

Invest in the strong person within you. You won’t enter paradise now; you must die first.

Glory once for the one who taught you how to discover the world, and glory a thousand times for the one who taught you patience in it.

You were created to live a full life, not half of it. Half the journey ends when you trust that you are capable of completing it, and your patience accompanies you in the other half.

Move at your leisure from one success or stumble to another, but promise me never to lose your enthusiasm, for that is how you will survive.

Your happiness may seem small when it’s in your hands, but you feel its importance as soon as you lose it. Trust that the one who created a reason for sadness is capable of creating thousands of reasons for joy.

From today, my friend, do not grieve when you lose your socks… For this loss may be your greatest teacher in life.

Published under the International Cooperation Protocol with Middle East Business | Life Magazine, Abu Dhabi

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Read: Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat – The Pre-Islam Deities

The post Half a Sock Taught Me Life first appeared on Sindh Courier.

ABID ALI JUNEJO

A while back, when I was reading quotes, suddenly, a line came that just fascinated me. It was one of the famous writings of Vincent that says “The sadness will last forever.” After that I started reading about his life. Vincent was a famous Dutch painter, who painted over 900 paintings in his successful career of 10 years. Even by having a profound career Vincent never felt serene, he always felt devastated and firmly believed he has failed himself as a painter and as a human being. With self-proclaimed thoughts like this, his self-esteem reached the lowest level and after that, he committed suicide.

Developed nations like Poland and Japan promised and presented facts of being the most prosperous countries in the world had shown a significant rise in suicide cases while developing nations like Pakistan, despite harsh economic crises and floods devastating, showed a decrease in suicide cases. These statistics point to several questions which need to be addressed. What exactly triggers the point of suicide in one’s mind?

Throughout my life I had only indulged myself in the things that make me despair. When I read about Vincent, I saw myself in him. You can say I was a black sheep of my family; having failed in academics, relationships, and life I reached the lowest level of self-esteem. Being a follower of Islam, we are not allowed to commit suicide. So being a dead soul I was living my life. After some time I started questioning why God created sadness. Why there are miseries? And these questions started crumbling my faith in God. One day, I seldom helped an unknown person and in return, he just smiled at me. In that movement I felt something which I have never felt in my entire life. That one smile gave me hope to live again, dream again and be happy again. After being a student of life for more than 18 years I finally concluded these thoughts can be killed by living our lives for others. Imagine a world in which everyone is living their life for others you for me I for you. To me, a nation like this will be known as a developed nation.

A year later, I strongly believed in his line with a little bit of addition – That says indeed sadness will last forever so as happiness. I have read a lot of religions, from monotheist to polytheist, from Greek to Sumerian mythology. From Native Americans’ spiritual guidance to Confucius, from native Africans to atheism. They all gave me the same answer. God created the things in combinations as he created Male and Female, light and darkness. If only light exists in this world soon we will forget its importance that is why there is darkness so that we can value the existence of light. Sadness was created to value happiness.

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