Could Your Mind Be Behind Your Struggles?

I’ll be honest, I NEVER thought my mind and mindset was that big of a deal. I didn’t even think of it as a “thing” in my existence. It was the physical me and my skillsets. And all I had been thinking about was to improve my skills to get better at different things in my life. In my relationships, in my performance in school, in sports, in my connection with Allah(swt). I thought I just had to learn the “how to” of things.

For example, there was a time where I played volleyball. I thought if I practice a lot, then I would do great – which is partly true. However, after a match if our team lost I came to the conclusion that I just hadn’t prepared well. I concluded that I was not good enough to compete with the opponent.

Or if I felt bullied by someone and was just left feeling awful, my idea was that that person was bad! And I thought: “How could they behave like that?” It all had to do with that person!

Finding the power of our minds given to us by Allah(swt)

Fast forward to where I am now in life, alhamdullilAllah, and the growth I have experienced, by the Grace and Mercy of Allah(swt), I understand that there is so much more behind the surface of what we can see and hear. There is this mental energy that plays a HUGE role in everything that happens in our life. A fuel that is the driver behind our thinking, which in turn influences our actions, which in turn gives us the “results” we see in our lives.

In the case of the volleyball example, I never knew that the thoughts in my head and the words I was speaking to myself (not just my physical effort), ABSOLUTELY influence my performance. Maybe that day I was stuck in a negative cycle of thinking. Maybe that day I was not feeling very confident in my ability to be a good player, because of whatever might have drained my energy. Maybe something was on my mind, a fear or a stress that just drained my mental energy, leaving me depleted and hopeless.  And maybe I was speaking words of discouragement to myself because of a story in my head that the other team was too good or I just wasn’t good enough.

In the case of the bully, I never knew that the actions of that person were not the ONLY factor in the equation. The way I thought about myself and about that person, totally enabled them to behave that way. I might have thought of myself as a victim and powerless, which then clearly was showing in my actions and body language, empowering that person in their actions and sending a message of success to them.

Exactly where we were meant to be

But I know that I had to go through all the difficulties in my life to get to where I am. Because just knowing about the power of the mind would not have been very powerful if I couldn’t connect them to the thousands of experiences in my life.

And the same goes for you. You are EXACTLY where you were meant to be. The plan of Allah(swt) is always for our best and we realize this the MOST when all of a sudden our struggles and what we learned through them become our powers.

So I learned that behind all areas of my life is the energy of my mind. When it’s negative and low, it drains me and I have no motivation, hope, and optimism left to thrive in what matters. And when it is in the positive, then I have all kind of creative ideas, motivation, hope, and optimism to work on what matters…to move the train of my life forward.

We literally have to take care of ourselves as WHOLE HUMAN BEINGS in order to move forward with success.

Soul.

Mind.

Body.

Leaving one behind will leave us depleted.

It’s just that I never counted the mind as part of my being but I learned to do that on my journey called life, alhamdullilAllah!