LESSON OF THE DAY 500

Ayah of the Day:
And God made you mates from yourselves, and made you children and grandchildren from your mates, and provided for you of the wholesome things. Will they then believe in falsehood, denying the kindness of God. [16: 72]

Hadith of the Day:
You are not better than people of (other races) unless you excel in piety. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
How strange is the one who knows the Hell Fire to be real And then sins knowingly. How strange is the one who believes in Paradise yet spends his days in the world leisurely. [Othman radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the Day:
Redefine a "meaningful accomplishment." Sometimes it's easy to get carried away with our so-called accomplishments. We define our lifetimes collecting achievements, earning praise and recognition, and seeking approval--so much so that we lose sight of what is truly meaningful. If you ask the average person "What is a meaningful accomplishment?" the typical responses will be things like, "Achieving a long-term goal," "earning lots of money," "getting a promotion," "earning praise," and so forth. The emphasis is almost always on external aspects of life--things that happen outside of ourselves. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with these types of accomplishments--they are way of keeping score and improving our circumstances. They are not, however, the most important types of accomplishments if your primary goal is happiness and inner peace.

Seeing your photograph in the local newspaper may be a nice thing to achieve but isn't as meaningful as learning to stay centered in the face of adversity. Yet many people would point to their photo in the paper as being a great accomplishment, but wouldn't necessarily think of "staying centered" as an accomplishment at all. Where are our priorities? If being peaceful and loving are among your primary goals, then why not redefine your most meaningful accomplishments as being those that support and measure qualities such as kindness and happiness?

I think of my most meaningful accomplishments as stemming from inside myself: Was I kind to myself and others? Did I overreact to a challenge, or was I calm and collected? Am I happy? Did I hold on to anger or was I able to let go and move on? Was I too stubborn? Did I forgive? These questions, and others like them, remind us that the true measure of our success comes not from what we do, but from who we are and how much love we have in our hearts. Rather than being consumed exclusively with external accomplishment, try putting more emphasis on what's really important. When you redefine what it means to achieve a meaningful accomplishment, it helps you to stay on your path. [Don't Sweat The Small Stuff]

Food for Thought:
To change yourself, look at what you fear and what you hate. Start there. There are limits to material growth, but there are no limits to inner enlightenment.