Four Words to Keep you Balanced

In chapter 57 of the Quran, We read "Naught of disaster befalleth in the earth or in yourselves but it is in a Book before we bring it into being - surely that is easy to Allah.  So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you; and Allah does not love any prideful boaster" (verses 22 & 23). 

If we remember that whenever we feel out of control in one way or another: soaring too high or flying too low, we can meet life's ups and downs with relative peace and calm.  We can always remind ourselves "This Too Shall Pass" the way the king in the following story did:

Once upon a time, there was a great king who recognized that the more powerful he became, the more important it was to avoid the kind of impulsive action that can accompany both life's highs and life's lows. He tasked his council of wisdom to devise some means of reminding him that his best self lay in the middle path between laughter and tears, joy and sorrow, high and low.

Soon they returned to him with a red-jeweled ring. Inscribed beneath the stone, the wise counselors told him, was a magical incantation. If the king became drunk with the giddiness of success, it would sober him up and enable him to remain wise; if he was lost in the hopelessness of despair, it would bring him faith and courage.

Before the king had a chance to look beneath the stone and read the incantation, he found himself transported as if by magic to a room filled with the sound of the most beautiful voices he had ever heard. The king was quickly hypnotized by the voices' siren call and began to follow wherever they led.

Just as the enchanting voices were about to lead him over the edge of a cliff, the jewel on his ring began to glow; and in its light, he read for the first time the magical incantation:

Instantly, the king regained his senses, saw the voices for what they were, and turned his back on them. But no sooner had he done so than he found himself once again magically transported. This time he was trapped on a battlefield, his men lying dead or wounded, his kingdom all but lost. A lone rider was charging toward him, sword drawn. Just as the king was about to resign himself to his fate, the jewel on his ring once more began to glow, and he again read the incantation:

Suddenly emboldened by hope, the king found a new strength and knocked the rider from his mount. Rallying his remaining troops, he turned the tide of the battle, saving the kingdom and all who dwelled within.

Remember that the only constant in this world is change.  Night changes into day.  Day gives way to night and so on.  THIS TOO WILL PASS is good thing to remember.

Ahmad