41: Taking Care of our Personal Infrastructure
"Surely, the hearing, sight and heart of each will be held accountable"
(Qur'an 17:36)
If we want to live happy and fulfilling lives, it's very important to tend to our personal infrastructure: the body, the mind, the heart and the soul.
- Safeguard our physical well-being
It's easier said than done, but we know we should eat wisely and watch our weight, exercise regularly, avoid unnecessary or imprudent risks and stay away from drugs and intoxicants. Physical well-being is probably the first component of health that comes to mind when thinking about well-being and yet, it is often the component most neglected in American culture. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that "being physically active reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. (And yet) nowhere is the gap wider between what we know and what we do than in the area of physical activity."Our healthy bodies are truly miraculous gifts from God. We have been given the responsibility to maximize our health by avoiding abusive behaviors and practicing healthy behaviors. Remember, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) warned us that no person would be excused on the Day of Judgment unless he answers ... how he used/abused his body.
- Pay attention to our minds
Like our bodies, our minds need to be exercised, stretched and strengthened through continual learning, reflection and introspection. Keep getting smarter and wiser by keeping your self well informed. Remember that our mental well-being directly impacts on our capacity for reading, comprehension, writing skills, speaking skills, creative thought, creative expression, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, mathematical reasoning and intuition. "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." [Oliver Wendell Holmes]The Prophet (pbuh) said that a person who is really conscious of Allah guards his mind and what it grasps, and protects his body from what he allows into it.
- Nurture our hearts
We need to understand and satisfy; as best we can, our emotional needs for love, friendship, belonging and fun. We must learn to cope with negative emotions like anger, jealousy, frustration, fear and loneliness.Emotions have a considerable effect on our lives. The feelings and thoughts that we harbor in our hearts and minds ...
color our perceptions=> influence our attitudes=> mold our motives=> dictate our actions=> eventually dominate our lives
We are therefore instructed to keep ...- our emotions in check
- our attitudes good
- our thoughts pure
The Qur'an emphasizes that the most valuable assets we take from this world to the next are ...
- Al-baqiyaatus saalihaat - the permanency of good actions [Qur'an 18:46]
- Qalbin saleem - a pure heart [Qur'an 26:88-89]
One of the best roads to emotional happiness is through meaningful relationships; therefore form meaningful relationships, develop meaningful relationships and treasure meaningful relationships. Real happiness is not found in our material possessions but in the valuables of life; fond memories, cherished moments, selfless acts, dedication and service, love, affection and meaningful relationships.
- Acknowledge our spiritual needs
From ethical and moral perspectives, we should contemplate the higher purpose and the deeper meaning of our lives - and try to live meaningfully. Spirituality has an internal dimension as well as an external dimension.- Internally, it refers to the purification of the self from the evils of bad intention, deceit, hypocrisy, selfishness, cowardice, arrogance, prejudice ...
- Outwardly, it becomes manifested in one's attitude, behavior and character.
We can only have a better world if we have improved individuals and we can only have better individuals if each of us become committed to improve ourselves. If we take care of our infrastructure, we improve our lives and enhance our potential to have a positive impact on the world around us.
Certainly, Allah will not change the condition of people
Unless and until they change themselves.