Speaking to express or impress?
In a time when everyone is simply talking, and not just talking but bragging, I am quite clear that the new generation makes me and the likes of me, very uncompetitive, almost irrelevant. As the true power of social media, the negative one, I mean, comes fully the fore, there can be no more illusions about the rogue nature of content being put out there. Their thoughts, shaped by a new internet culture, are to shout out each time they feel something, or to announce everytime they think they have done something good. Hence, we now witness, self proclaimed influencers, preachers of sort, who post gallant and grand thoughts, expectant of instantaneous rewards of praise and bouquets. But this is more about me, than them as I do concede that, all things being equal, my generation is a little off the mark in many ways now. Could it be the changed social setup or the overhauled Madaaris, the erosion of the mother tongue, or all of them, that have effectively cast a very unfamiliar mould to today’s youth and their understanding about showing off, self-praise and self-bloating? I remain to wonder and give them the benefit of the doubt, considering they really have to fight it out to stay in the mix, whether in a career or socially. Allah (SWT) made us to be the most excellent o creatures and, in my most obsolete of views, I still contend that our actions and our words should aspire for his pleasure, and not for mundance acceptance, which is short lived. I remind myself how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of the unimaginable humungous universe and its inhabitants, such that my best qualities would just pale out in comparison to my literal status. ‘Speak to express, not to impress’, was a cardinal rule I remember using to coach yester year public speakers, and I can now see this turned on its head. May Allah (SWT) protect us from the sin of exhibitionism, for there is no end to that craving, once it takes root in our hearts.
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