The Importance of Being Happy

Life is a long, winding, uphill battle. It is truly a marathon, regardless of the cliche. Life has its fair share of struggle, obstacles, ups, downs, peaks and troughs. There is a symphonic balance to life between good times and bad times. But regardless of the emotions that associate with these memories, life is one big huge blue to us. We do not know what is life or what is the purpose of life or what is the reason for us to be here. The extent of our knowledge is that life is a test for us. A test for the Hereafter. It is a test of endurance and devotion to Allah (s.w.t). With that being said, life is meant to be a ongoing tug-of-war between positive and negative. But, choosing to focus on the positive is what we strive for in life. Why? Because it makes us feel good. It brings about positive reinforcement and makes us feel alive and fulfilled.

As we know, life is short. It is too short to dwell on the short-comings and the negatives our our uncontrollable fate. Therefore, why spend what little time you have in this world being negative and pessimistic. Why not embrace every moment, every memory and every second to establishing joy and happiness. We don’t do this for the fun of it. We do it to be able to move on and to get through.

We do not get to choose when we die, we do not get to choose what happens to us. The power falls to Allah (s.w.t) with His almighty power. But what we do get to choose is how we react to our circumstances. Will we react in negligence and opposition to Allah, the One who has Provided us and Blessed us with all that we have? Or will we react in appreciation and gratitude to Him?

“Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us” (9:40, The Holy Quran). Allah is the Sustainer. He sustains our lives and he gives us all that we have. He is near, always. He is always with us, guiding us, leading us and protecting us. Therefore, there is no need to fear. Our happiness and the reason and source of it, is with us : Allah (s.w.t). Leading a life of happiness and positivity, in devotion and submission to Allah (s.w.t) is why it is so important to be happy in life. Allah (s.w.t) does not wish His slave to be unhappy. He never intends of it. He wants us to rejoice in the blessings that He has given us. He wants us to show appreciation over all that we have, both good and bad. He wants us to be happy that He is guiding our qadr (destiny) and that He have the Best Planner combing through our fate. A life lived for the sake of Allah (s.w.t) is a happy life. A happy life gives purpose to all this struggle. It gives us an out, a shining beam of light at the end of a dark tunnel. Happiness and joy in life is what gives us strength to get through the dark times. It gives us perspective and insight. We have a positive outlook to sustain our sanity and our wellbeing. It is what uplifts us to moving on with our day in complete faith that with Allah (s.w.t) on our side : we will never lose. No matter what befalls us, no matter the struggle and no matter the event : we can get through.