LESSON OF THE DAY 461

Ayahs of the Day:
And say, "I am the open warner, " such as We sent down upon those who divide, those who have made the Recital into separate parts.So, by your Lord, We will question them all about what they have been doing. [15: 89 to 93]

Hadith of the Day:
Ask Allah for ease in this world and the next. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Everything is known through its opposite. Thus it is, that the one seeking sincerity (ikhlas), cannot know its fruits unless he is aware of the bitter fruits of ostentation (riya). [Abu Othman Sa'ad]

Guidance of the Day:
Spend a moment everyday thinking of someone to thank. This simple strategy, which may take only a few seconds to complete, has long been one of the most important habits one can ever engage in. Try to remember to start the day thinking of someone to thank. Gratitude, and inner peace go hand in hand. The more genuinely grateful one is for the gift of life, the more peaceful one feels. Gratitude, then, is worthy of little practice.

You probably have many people in your life to feel grateful for: friends, family members, people from your past, teachers, spiritual leaders, people from work, someone who gave you a break, as well as countless others. You may want to thank the Higher Power for the gift of life itself, or for the beauty of nature. As you think of people to be grateful for, remember that it can be anyone--someone who allowed you to merge into traffic, someone who held the door open for you, or a physician who saved your life. The point is to gear your attention toward gratitude, preferably first thing in the morning.

It's easy to allow our mind to slip into various forms of negativity. When we do, the first thing that leaves us is our sense of gratitude. We begin to take the people in our life for granted, and that love that we often feel is replaced with resentment and frustration. What this exercise reminds us to do is to focus on the good in our life. Invariably as we think of one person to feel gratitude for, the image of another person pops into our head, then another and another. Pretty soon we're thinking of other things to be grateful for--our health, our children, our home, our career, our freedom, and on and on it goes.

It may seem like an awfully simple suggestion, but it really works! If you wake up in the morning with gratitude on your mind, it's pretty difficult, in fact almost impossible, to feel anything but peace. [Don't Sweat The Small Stuff]

Food for Thought:
In pride and conceit is a heavy burden, for the proud man wants respect from everyone. And since he is despised because he wants it, he suffers constant torment. Respect is given, it may not be sought.