The Art of Being Thankful

I love rain. Since as far as I can remember, I always have. The best are the thunderstorms, when the whole sky goes black and then it lights up for a split second as lightening rolls and I wait in anticipation for the roaring thunder; waiting for the sound to catch up with its visual. Around 3-4 years back, I remember it had just started to rain and I exclaimed joyfully, “I wish it would rain every single day!” My eldest sister looked at me for a moment, and then asked me “What about all the poor people who don’t have homes and have to stay out in the rain at night when it gets freezing cold?” She waited for that to sink in and then continued “And what about those whose crops are getting destroyed with these endless torrents? Their entire lives depend on the income they receive for their farm-work. If it rains all the time, they’re all completely done for.”

I just stared at her. My brain didn’t know how to respond to that. I was completely shut up. That night as I lay in bed, I heard the soft pattering which was a herald to another night shower. That familiar feeling of exhilaration came to me and then was immediately subdued by the memory of my sister’s words. I thought of myself curled up in my warm bed and being all joyful at the thought of it raining. Then a picture of faceless people came to my mind, who are huddled on footpaths and under the awnings of other people’s homes. They dread what I get all excited about. Others, who peer out at their fields and watch in misery as their entire season’s toil gets destroyed. So many people are cold and miserable while I could not have been more comfortable. I realized how selfish I was—and how blessed. Through no efforts on my part, I had been given a roof over my head and protection from the elements. I hadn’t done anything to deserve it, and yet here it all was.

This is just one of countless situations, when I have looked around me and realized how I have been blessed by Allah and how little thanks He gets in return from me. From all of us.

Maybe a month or so back, I was coming back from university. There was a procession in the afternoon and because of the blocked roads, we had to make our way back through a part of the city which I had never seen before. The roads were narrow and not properly built. Cars rarely passed there, just horse-carts. The tiny houses and shops were like those in a rural village and as our car passed, children started running alongside in glee. As I looked at them, I felt so sad. They would never get the opportunities in life that I had. They did not have access to an education that would enable them to get somewhere in life; move out of this neighborhood and carve a better and more secure future for themselves and their families. They were stuck.

Life has become so haywire in present times. We’ve all become so busy that we forget everything. We miss meals, forget birthdays, lose track of time and our families. Everything’s in a rush. If we press the pause button for a moment and look—and actually look around us, things begin to fall back in perspective. That sweater we hated so much because “the colour is so dull” or that simple meal served to us which we look at glumly or our hair, car, room, pile of work, siblings, anything and everything that we keep finding fault with or else take no notice of—it’s all been handed to us by Allah and we rarely take out the time to express our gratitude for all these things.

Sometimes when I am alone at home, I like to bring my plate of food inside and watch TV while I eat. I bring everything I want inside and find a nice movie to watch. Just as I am about to start my meal, I look at my plate and cannot help but feel thankful that Allah has blessed me with a full plate of food. I am alone, but yet my home is secure and I do not feel scared. I have sight to enable me to enjoy a movie. I am physically capable to fend for myself when I am alone; I do not need a companion constantly by my side to take care of my needs. It’s a small moment, but in that instant I often find so many things to be thankful for.

It is not just about health, food, shelter and family. These are huge bounties of course, but we have been given so much more than just these basic amenities. There are aspects of our life which oft times we do not even consider to be a blessing. It is not something we ever sit and think about; to us some matters just seem the natural way of life. I was watching the Oprah Winfrey show once where she had invited a couple of women. At first I didn’t notice, but as I looked at the women more closely, I was surprised to see that they were actually men—transvestites to be exact. Can you even begin to imagine a life in which every single moment you feel you are in the wrong skin? Especially in our society! Imagine the uproar if, being a guy, you start wearing shalwar kameez and dupatta to work! Or vice versa. It sounds funny, but at the heart of the matter, it is such a devastatingly saddening situation.

I think the reason why it is so important to remember to be thankful is that it helps take the bitterness away. If we all look at our lives and identify each and every good thing that we have, it takes away the edge from everything we don’t. Each time something bad happens, do a small exercise of counting 10 blessings you have been bestowed with on your hand. Now the next time you are grumbling about something, all the good things will pop in your mind and life won’t seem so unfair. This is obviously harder in some instances than others. The people who lost their children and other relatives in the recent bomb blasts have been dealt a blow that might take years to recover from. People are killed in plane crashes and earthquakes, murdered and robbed, fall terminally ill or lose their limbs. It helps to believe that there is Allah’s will in everything and if we continue to be grateful for all the blessings, we will have greater fortitude to bear with the misfortunes.

A long time back, I heard an incident from Rasul Allah’s (S.A.W) life that I think would fit here aptly. It was about 2 men. One man came to the Prophet and said that he was weary of receiving Allah’s blessings. The Prophet asked him what he meant. The man explained that he had accumulated so much wealth, land and success in every facet of life that he just did not know what to do with all of it. The Prophet told him to stop thanking Allah to which the man responded that that was impossible. Allah had flooded him with his Rehmat, it was unthinkable to withhold his gratitude. in contrast, there was another man who constantly lamented his lack of fortune. He had no money, no food and not even any clothes. He lay in the desert and used the sand to cover his intimate parts. The Prophet told him that if he thanked Allah, he might be blessed. The man replied that what should he thank Allah for. Look at his condition; he did not even have a loincloth to cover himself. As he said that, a strong wind blew and the sand that covered him blew away, leaving him totally exposed. The man was derisive of Allah’s Rehmat and ended up losing what little he did have.

In the end I would like to share a text message I received from a friend. It is a clear indicator of how immensely blessed we all are in ways we do not even consider whenever we kneel before Him or raise our hands in supplication and gratitude.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on you, a roof above your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world’s population.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest people.

If you wake up in the morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who will not survive this week.

If you’ve never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, agony of torture and the pain of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people of this world.

Never forget to thank ALLAH!!