By Mehreen Mushtak Nazarali (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
Image Source: http://thejourneytraining.com/
“I can’t do this”, my mind shouted as the road ahead came to sight. I cannot see an end to it, I will never get there, and the mind continued whining. The heart slowly whispered, “come, I will show you the end”. The mind drifted off to see how beautiful the end looked, and in awe, the mind happily said, “we must do this”, but I don’t know what is along the way. The heart assured the mind again, WE CAN DO THIS. And so, the journey began.
The beginning was tough, as there was no direction, but the heart and mind together figured it out after constant battles, debates and arguments. Yes! Never take decisions solely with your heart, likewise, do not take decisions solely with your mind. A combination of the two with a right balance is what paves the way to success. So as we remember, the heart never showed the mind the journey, but only the end. How was this possible? Did any of you ask that question?
The mind had the power to visualize it, but somewhere was not too sure that it could actually work. All the heart did was to recreate the picture the mind had first created and push it towards that journey, because the heart knew, it was definitely worth it.
Similarly, we all have dreams, some we accomplish, but some we are afraid to even start. Isn’t it that the mind puts forward so many questions that we feel we’re okay with not achieving the dream. Always remember, you are the master of your mind, never let that change. If you show it negative thoughts, it’ll reflect the same back to you. And how beautifully it is said in Islam, that “do unto others what you would like for yourself”, similarly, if you want to succeed, don’t think of a million excuses why you can’t, but think of one strong reason of how you can, and you’re already many miles ahead from the beginning, bringing you closer to see your goal getting accomplished.
Well, once this journey starts, each step you take will be worth it, it will be a milestone that you build as you move forward to the end. But is that actually the end? Or is it the beginning of a new journey? A wonderful example is of education. You keep completing prescribed levels and you graduate. You graduated primary and waited for that day for years, but only to start high school. You waited to graduate high school and celebrate that day beautifully, and then you begin university. And you want to do that over and over again. You start a new journey just waiting to see how beautiful the end is. How many of us actually cherish the journey there. It may not always be easy but its definitely beautiful, filled so many emotions of joy, laughter, tears, and yes, the amazing friends and people you meet.
