Today we are living in a world where we find negativity or pessimism everywhere. Optimism and positive thinking is depleting fast. We are getting habitual to seeing the dark side of the picture first. We point out weaknesses and ignore the virtues. As a result, tension and jealousy prevail everywhere, including homes, offices, businesses and educational institutions.

Real relations are becoming weak in society. Friendships are struck on the basis of need and once the usefulness of a friend is over, they are given a cold shoulder. In schools, colleges and universities, students have become more selfish and a helping attitude towards each other is declining. Above all, our electronic media has played a major role in projecting negativity through their channels.

Today we are fighting with our own people for property, wealth, fame, influence, etc. We are getting education with only the aim of getting well-paid jobs and become rich quickly. We are not satisfied with any amount of money and are in the run to get more and more, wrongly thinking it will make our lives happy. But sadly, money and resources are not giving us inner peace.

Competition has become the norm today. Even a pre-school child faces competition and parents have intense pressure to get their children to perform better than others. We have become materialistic creatures who have forgotten about fairness, charity, humility and generosity and are only busy in competition with others by adopting any fair and unfair means.

If each of us tries to do all the good things we want to see others doing, slowly, but surely, a positive change will take place in society and the world will become a better place

Some 30 to 40 years ago, people generally had less money than we do today. They had fewer resources like lavish houses and big cars, most were not as educated as many people today are, no electronic gadgets were there but people were generally happier, more peaceful and cooperative.

Nowadays we are enjoying 100 plus channels on TV, expensive mobile phones, social media, etc., to connect us to all parts of the world, but in reality, these tools have broken our mutual relations. We may have lot of friends on Facebook, but we hardly meet them.

The tradition of visiting relatives and friends has declined. Even family life is so changed now that even when everyone is in the house and may be sitting in one room, each person would be busy and engaged in looking at the TV or a gadget, instead of talking to one another. We only feel happy by posting things on social media and sending messages than having real face-to-face meaningful conversations.

There is a need to bring change in our living pattern. We must create patience, brotherhood, harmony among ourselves in order to live happily. We should make our family relations strong. Parents should not only pay school fees for their children but they must also talk to them in detail more often, listen to their difficulties, visit their schools/colleges/universities, see the environment they are spending time in and look for what they are surfing on internet.

We are blessed with a beautiful country with vast land and maritime resources. Our people are intelligent and hard working. Our country is a nuclear power and our armed forces are among the largest in the world. But the biggest advantage is that we are a young nation, as presented recently by a report on Pakistan’s youth, which states that 29 percent of Pakistan’s population is between 15 and 29 years of age and as much as 64 percent is below the age of 30. We must think about directing such a large number towards productive and positive activities, and think seriously about controlling the negative messages that they are getting through media and technology.

We also spend a lot of money on unnecessary things these days. Our expenditure on various ceremonies like birthdays, marriages and even deaths is becoming more and more, making everybody’s life difficult. The trend of eating out at restaurants has also increased, leading to both a lot of wastage of money and increase in health problems.

I think all changes should start from the individual level and our homes. We must teach basic ingredients of a happy life — patience, honesty, rule of law, brotherhood and respect for each individual — to our youth and children. We must not be greedy for money.

Money is a basic requirement but one should not use unfair means to earn money because it creates large differences in society.

We should remember that one day we all have to die so we should care for others, particularly for the poor and the needy. If we want to be happy, the golden principle is we must look at people who have less money and fewer resources than us, and are facing disability and serious health problems. We must avoid getting into an unnecessary materialistic race. We must be thankful to Allah who has given us so many things.

One flower can spread its fragrance in the whole room. So why don’t we try to be that flower in our society? After seeing us, maybe more people would want to join in. And in the worst-case scenario, if nobody changes, at the end of the day we will be happy and satisfied with the life we are living. It’s tough, but it’s not impossible because the word impossible even says “I’m possible”.

In the end, I must say each religion teaches its followers good virtues to make the life of all human beings happy and peaceful. If everyone becomes steadfast in their faith, there will be peace and prosperity in the whole world.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 19th, 2018