By Aruba Naaz
In the absence of true recognition of Allah’s (swt) Grand attributes via His ninety nine plus names, human positivity is brutally impacted. That’s the ultimate source of happiness, relief and peace of the heart!
Unless we truly recognise Allah’s (swt) attributes, , our brain tends to retain negative events more than the positive ones,especially the traumatic events which cause major shift in our personalities and life. People associated with those events are also forever painted in a negative light, their positive traits pushed back to the brink of non-existence. It’s how our memories have been rewired over the centuries, where it has learned to lean towards the negative part of the conscious rather than the positive. In other words, our brains have become ‘negativity biased’.
What is a Negativity bias? Negativity bias, or negativity effect, occurs when our psychology is more affected by negative traits as compared to neutral or positive ones.
There are many reasons why our brain has gradually morphed into this negative lump of regret. One of the major reasons is a lack of understanding about the grand plan of Allah (swt), His Qadr (our fate), His wisdom to withhold and release our bounties, and finally lack of gratitude towards Allah (swt) for our blessings, and an attempt to overcompensate for our discontent through materials. Everyone of us is faced with hardships and sufferings but, when one gets addicted to the temporary pleasures of this world, it in effect leaves a bigger hole in the heart of a Momin.
We often loose value of the infinte blessings that Allah (swt) has bestowed upon us, such as being blessed with a perfectly healthy heart which beats every 0.7 seconds to keep us alive.
Imagine, we never asked Allah (swt) for it. We never thanked Him for it. We never switch it on or off or order the heart to go. It has happened naturally since birth and will last until we die by Allah’s (swt) command!
Similarly, the clouds in the skies that bring us shade and relief in the hot summer, clean running water to drink and cook with, the freedom to talk, write and practice our religion are all essential for our daily life.
How do we overturn this negativity into a positive one? How do we build a subconscious that remembers the positive life learning experiences more effortlessly over the traumatic ones?
Here are some ways of training your brain towards Positivity Bias:
- Write a Gratitude Journal. Personlize a notebook for your daily recordings and keep it accessible from your sleeping Every night, before going to sleep, write at least 5 blessings that you were grateful for on that day. Make sure you do it on daily basis to make it a habit. Try to look for new ones each day.
- Give to give, not take. Observe the wind, sun, moon and the trees.The entire universe of Allah (swt) is designed upon the principle of giving. Synergize with it. Start giving out to the people around you, specifically your community. You can cook your favourite dish and share with the neighbours, give charity to the poor, give the gift of education to an orphan, or simply smile at the passersby. Do all this without expecting anything back. Just the act of giving brings calmness and fullfillment to the soul, resulting in a positive heart and rush of chemicals that produce happiness inside of our body.
- Develop the habit to find positive in negative situations. Anytime you are stuck in a bad phase that seems to be spiralling out of control, pause for a moment and remove yourself from the partiular scene. Take a deep breath and view the situation from afar. Find a positive element in that setting. This process may be tough to follow the first time and the second time, but eventually it will feed into your brain. The third time will be a subconcious act in sha Allah.
- Pray on time and recite Azkaar (Masnoon duas for morning and evening). The point of praying is to praise and thank Allah (swt) for our beautiful life and all that He has blessed us Praying on time gives the much needed break from the hectic day and removes the stress of delaying it. It brings contentment and positivity to your soul.
- Remember that Allah (swt) controls all. Every event that happens in our life, whether happy or tragic, holds a significant lesson. When we look at life through that lens, there is a major shift of paradigm and a huge weight is lifted off our shoulders. After all, Allah is Al-Hakeem (All-Wise).
- Surround yourself with a Positivity-biased environment. Go for nature walks and reduce screen time to minimum. Get in touch with family and friends who bring positivity and faith into your life. Keep a distance from those who complain excessively and waste time, obsessing after worldly acheivements. Participate in purposeful getherings, and avoid parties sparked by gossip, material competition, indecency, music or any substance abuse.
Our Prophet Muhammad (sa) was the epitome of positivity. In spite of burying his own children, losing battles, facing verbal abuse, physical assaults, he still modeled a life of love, generosity and tolerence. He had the most smiling face and the most hopeful heart. Simply becasue he knew the reality of this world and the greatness of Allah’s (swt) promise in the Aakhirah.
He, gave every disbeliever the benefit of a doubt and a chance to revert to the right path. He treated every child, every human as a brother as he was sent to the world as the Messenger to mankind, not just Muslims. Most importantly, he never gave up on the success of Islam no matter how many failures he faced in life.
It is all about believing in the good, even if it is not apparent at first. Be positively sure that Allah (swt) has planned good for you and trust the process.
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