Instead of waiting for someone else to bring joy to my life, I’ve learnt that I can bring joy to my life all by myself. Sounds a little conceited, I know.
However, the formula is far from one which is steeped in arrogance and self-acclaim. I have been around long enough in this world to know that the deepest form of pleasure and happiness occurs when we spread happiness to others. When they reciprocate with an obviously happy reaction, that in and of itself is a reason to feel happy within oneself.
The unfortunate ones in this life are those who think it too costly to invest in meaningful human relationships or even brief interactions with compassion since this would require too much time and effort on their part and the returns are not guaranteed. That’s a very narrow and myopic way to view life. And even if we spread kindness and it is rejected, that’s not a loss at all. It may feel a little painful in the moment but over time, we should be satisfied that we demonstrated decency above anger or any other knee-jerk reaction.
To give something of ourselves to others, without expectation and without judgement of them, is a tall order. However, if successfully delivered, it is a step towards actually becoming less embroiled in the things that threaten to lead to arrogance or division. It is a sort of soul-cleansing too. Each encounter with another individual where we get to exercise that chance to be and do good, is a chance to earn it back either right then and there or later on in life. Because ‘Good’ does find its way back eventually, Alhamdulillah. It may not be like for like but it is a direct corollary of the previous action. At least, that’s what I believe.
I know that Allah chooses to reward us both in this life and beyond. He knows how and when to do that. Sometimes, we are directly aware of His generosity. Other times we are shamefully ignorant. But His generosity runs through every moment of our lives, even when we are in our darkest holes. So when we give and that is reciprocated by other people, in truth, they are the conduits of the generosity of our Maker. It is not people per se who we should be focussing on when we feel we have been acknowledged for inadvertantly making them happy. It is the Creater who has allowed them to be the manifestation of his pleasure on us, inshaAllah.
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