Ghareebah
Bint Abdulkadir
salam alaykum warahmatulahi wabarakatuhu
Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem
The Power of Believe
Defeating Seasonal Low Self-Esteem
How you feel about yourself, positive or negative, is entirely up to you. It depends on how you handle matters and ups and downs in life that may lead to high self-esteem or self-confidence or low-self esteem. When prolonged, the latter may lead to depression. Life is exactly like the four seasons. There are seasons we can't wait for to come around, and then there are seasons whose arrival we dread and we count the minutes for them to be over. If we take a glance at the progression of the seasons starting at the beginning of the year, we observe that the severest season, Winter, starts in the first month of the new year. It brings cold temperatures, snow, ice, rain, and major storms, yet we still manage to go on with our daily routines. We don't stop, we go to school, work, visit others, others visit us, and we take it day by day. We prepare ourselves for the wintery cold by buying coats, boots, scarves, and gloves to stay warm.
We turn Winter into an icy adventure by participating in sports such as skiing and ice skating and having fun by making snow structures and snowballs. And after this cold rough experience passes, we see spring, the most loved season. It blooms with love, hope, joy, and many beautiful activities. During this time, many people get married or graduate.
Then comes summer, which is the complete opposite of Winter, but it is just as tough, rough, and dreadful with its heat and humidity. Yet we toughen up and go on with our routines by lightening up our clothes and turning on the air conditioners, fans, and swimming-pool filters. And many take advantage of summer's joyful activities such as swimming, canoeing, bike riding, and road trips
Yet still nothing lasts forever. Afterwards, the Fall comes. It begins with a brief continuation of the Summer heat, but it doesn't get any better. The earth appears gloomy with all the beautiful green trees, grass, and flowers fading into dark colors. There's a message in the air preparing us for the chills and frosty Winter that's about to move in.
You Are What You Think
How we deal with these seasons reflects how we deal with our mood and whether we approach these changes in life in a positive or negative manner. You and only you could decide how the outcome of any situation should be and how it should affect you. Though destiny is not in our control, we do have the means to strive and make the effort to achieve a positive outcome.
How we do that is to take control and have confidence in ourselves. For example, whenever we may get knocked over by people's words or demeaning natures, we must maintain our self-worth and not allow ourselves to be blown over every time a breeze passes by. And if the wind becomes stronger with the tests of this life become harder to bear, we should still remember that nothing should be so tragic and catastrophic that it should make us abuse our minds and bodies.
If we believe in the saying that "You are what you eat," then it is safe to say "You are what you think yourself to be."
Big tragedies happen such as failing a class, getting into a car accident, losing a loved one. But you cannot resolve anything by feeling that no one understands, no one can help, and you begin to shut yourself out from the rest of the world. You then fail to feed your body and soul with life as you should. It is similar to locking yourself in a room with no ventilation and screaming for air to breathe. Your body also has rights over you.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) advised us to, "Take benefit of five before five: Your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death."
Factors of Low Self-Esteem
There are several factors that cause low self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness and low self-worth. Sometimes, it's just the cultural difference between "home" and the society we live in. The struggle many second- and third-generation youth face in searching for their cultural identity is likely to have a drastic impact on their self-esteem and self-image. Especially in America, teens are faced with picking and choosing from their own cultural ideals (i.e. from their nationality or from their religion) and the cultural ideals defined by American society. Because many of these cultural ideals are in direct conflict with one another, young adults are caught feeling torn and perhaps lost somewhere between the two cultures. This lack of a solid identity can play a major negative role on their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Teens, for instance, may feel extremely proud of themselves within one cultural setting (e.g. with their friends) and then completely ashamed and scared in another cultural setting (such as within an Islamic environment at home). The conflicting expectations of each culture also can leave youth frustrated and confused about who they are and which culture they really belong to. Perhaps by learning from the examples of older children who went through similar cultural conflicts, through discussion and advising, many of these youth caught between two cultures may be able to find a comfortable place in between without having to take potentially harmful steps in a wrong direction.
Many of us feel we don't want to go on another minute when an atrocity or a tragedy befalls us. Whether it's what you thought was the love of your life leaving you, or a brutal man raping or molesting you? Or it can be that your relationship with your family is not going right no matter how hard you try. Or in school, you are trying as hard as you can to study and you still don't achieve the grades you are aiming for.
These are just a few examples of many hurdles in life that everyone faces. But in the end, you must understand that's the law of life. My grandmother used to say, "Life is a day for you and a day against you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wa alaikum salam
Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem
The Power of Believe
Defeating Seasonal Low Self-Esteem
How you feel about yourself, positive or negative, is entirely up to you. It depends on how you handle matters and ups and downs in life that may lead to high self-esteem or self-confidence or low-self esteem. When prolonged, the latter may lead to depression. Life is exactly like the four seasons. There are seasons we can't wait for to come around, and then there are seasons whose arrival we dread and we count the minutes for them to be over. If we take a glance at the progression of the seasons starting at the beginning of the year, we observe that the severest season, Winter, starts in the first month of the new year. It brings cold temperatures, snow, ice, rain, and major storms, yet we still manage to go on with our daily routines. We don't stop, we go to school, work, visit others, others visit us, and we take it day by day. We prepare ourselves for the wintery cold by buying coats, boots, scarves, and gloves to stay warm.
We turn Winter into an icy adventure by participating in sports such as skiing and ice skating and having fun by making snow structures and snowballs. And after this cold rough experience passes, we see spring, the most loved season. It blooms with love, hope, joy, and many beautiful activities. During this time, many people get married or graduate.
Then comes summer, which is the complete opposite of Winter, but it is just as tough, rough, and dreadful with its heat and humidity. Yet we toughen up and go on with our routines by lightening up our clothes and turning on the air conditioners, fans, and swimming-pool filters. And many take advantage of summer's joyful activities such as swimming, canoeing, bike riding, and road trips
Yet still nothing lasts forever. Afterwards, the Fall comes. It begins with a brief continuation of the Summer heat, but it doesn't get any better. The earth appears gloomy with all the beautiful green trees, grass, and flowers fading into dark colors. There's a message in the air preparing us for the chills and frosty Winter that's about to move in.
You Are What You Think
How we deal with these seasons reflects how we deal with our mood and whether we approach these changes in life in a positive or negative manner. You and only you could decide how the outcome of any situation should be and how it should affect you. Though destiny is not in our control, we do have the means to strive and make the effort to achieve a positive outcome.
How we do that is to take control and have confidence in ourselves. For example, whenever we may get knocked over by people's words or demeaning natures, we must maintain our self-worth and not allow ourselves to be blown over every time a breeze passes by. And if the wind becomes stronger with the tests of this life become harder to bear, we should still remember that nothing should be so tragic and catastrophic that it should make us abuse our minds and bodies.
If we believe in the saying that "You are what you eat," then it is safe to say "You are what you think yourself to be."
Big tragedies happen such as failing a class, getting into a car accident, losing a loved one. But you cannot resolve anything by feeling that no one understands, no one can help, and you begin to shut yourself out from the rest of the world. You then fail to feed your body and soul with life as you should. It is similar to locking yourself in a room with no ventilation and screaming for air to breathe. Your body also has rights over you.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) advised us to, "Take benefit of five before five: Your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death."
Factors of Low Self-Esteem
There are several factors that cause low self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness and low self-worth. Sometimes, it's just the cultural difference between "home" and the society we live in. The struggle many second- and third-generation youth face in searching for their cultural identity is likely to have a drastic impact on their self-esteem and self-image. Especially in America, teens are faced with picking and choosing from their own cultural ideals (i.e. from their nationality or from their religion) and the cultural ideals defined by American society. Because many of these cultural ideals are in direct conflict with one another, young adults are caught feeling torn and perhaps lost somewhere between the two cultures. This lack of a solid identity can play a major negative role on their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Teens, for instance, may feel extremely proud of themselves within one cultural setting (e.g. with their friends) and then completely ashamed and scared in another cultural setting (such as within an Islamic environment at home). The conflicting expectations of each culture also can leave youth frustrated and confused about who they are and which culture they really belong to. Perhaps by learning from the examples of older children who went through similar cultural conflicts, through discussion and advising, many of these youth caught between two cultures may be able to find a comfortable place in between without having to take potentially harmful steps in a wrong direction.
Many of us feel we don't want to go on another minute when an atrocity or a tragedy befalls us. Whether it's what you thought was the love of your life leaving you, or a brutal man raping or molesting you? Or it can be that your relationship with your family is not going right no matter how hard you try. Or in school, you are trying as hard as you can to study and you still don't achieve the grades you are aiming for.
These are just a few examples of many hurdles in life that everyone faces. But in the end, you must understand that's the law of life. My grandmother used to say, "Life is a day for you and a day against you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wa alaikum salam