Life is a gift from God, given to us only once, so we should live it wisely and happily. Life is all about ups and downs. Things will not always be according to our wishes. There is no one who does not face challenges and problems in his or her life. But the fact is, as long as we are happy, we are satisfied with life, but as soon as any problem comes, we become sad and dejected. We start to find life difficult.

However, if we change our way of looking at these problems, start focusing on the positive side of the problems, and taking it as a lesson to learn from, we will realise that everything happens for a reason, for the good. This attitude will make us start seeing that God has given us a lesson in the form of the problem and has saved us from a bigger problem. God knows everything, and He does what is good for us — problems can also be blessings. We need to have faith in Him.

Related to this, I will share the true story of my friend. This is the incident of May 22, 2020, when my friend was coming to Karachi from Lahore to celebrate Eid with family here. But on the way to the airport, her car broke down. And to add to her problems, some snatchers came there and took her phone and money. And because of all this, she missed her flight and became very sad — but after about three hours, she came to know that the plane in which she was to go to Karachi had crashed! After hearing this news, we all thanked God for saving her by putting her in trouble that now seemed too small in front of the big tragedy that befell the passengers of that ill-fated plane. So God always does what is good for us.

When we make a wish and our wish is not fulfilled, we become sad and start complaining. But the truth is, not everything that glitters is gold. Maybe what we think is gold for us is actually a fire that can burn us to ashes. If a little child wants to play with a knife, no matter how much he cries, his mother will never give a knife to her child. She knows the child is small and does not have a sense of right or wrong.

If our wish is not fulfilled, then we should understand that what we wanted was not right for us because, as humans, our thinking is limited. We are just like that little child who does not know what is right and what is wrong for him. But God knows everything and perhaps we are asking God for gold, but God has planned on giving us a diamond instead. Even in times of sorrow, we should not loose faith.

Let me give another example, that of my cousin, whose dream was to go to IBA, but at the time of the aptitude test, she came down with dengue fever and could not appear in the test. This made her very sad, but later she applied for a well-known foreign university and got admission there on full scholarship! God had a better plan for her.

So we should always put our faith in God, and accept what comes our way. If any of our wishes are not fulfilled, we shouldn’t be sad, but be patient, because the fruit of patience is sweet.

Life is very beautiful, but we make it difficult by our own infinite vain desires. There is a famous saying, “If you want to enjoy your travel, pack less, and if you want to enjoy life, wish less.”

So we must learn to be happy with what we have. And it is only possible by having a firm faith in God, He knows what is best for us.

There is nothing wrong with wishing for something, it’s human nature. We should work hard to turn that wish into reality and then leave it to God, just like the job of a farmer is to sow a seed and then it is up to God to turn that seed into a plant. If it is good for us, God will surely reward our hard work and if our desire is not fulfilled, then understand that our wish is not right for us and God will give us something better.

Believe me, our life will become beautiful if we put our trust and faith in God.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 1st, 2023