Everyone has issues. There have always been and will always be issues. It’s just that modern society in particular manipulates us to perpetually dwell on them and especially on the “unpleasant things of life.” It’s the simplest and surest way to “divide and conquer”– keep hurt and hate alive.
“O, God, refresh and gladden my spirit, purify my heart, illumine my powers; I lay all my affairs in Thy hands,” begins a popular Baha’i prayer. “I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved, I will be a happy and joyful being…I will no longer by full of anxiety nor will I let troubles harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life…”
Observe the increasing numbers of various monuments being placed on high school and college campuses as well as at any number of other locations where several, or now even one person has been brutally murdered. Yet few, if any, are there such monumental reminders of a particular teacher, professor, coach or other figure who has had indelible positive influence on the innumerable lives they have touched throughout their many years of tenure.
In addressing student audiences in particular, I have always stressed the point that there is nothing that can ever occur throughout your entire life, good or bad, that is important as your attitude toward it. Of course it is applicable at every age, but the younger the age of those who grasp its significance the easier it becomes to apply and the sooner, better and more beneficial the subsequent actions.
As I was recently reminded, it takes both positive and negative elements to make either work. Neither can a skilled mariner be made on a calm sea. Again its not the tests and difficulties that count as much as the attitude toward them. The only difference between an obstacle and an opportunity, a stumbling block and a steppingstone is our attitude toward them.
This attitude also largely determines whether the subsequent action is voluntary, forced or enforced. How often do we hear of those of all socioeconomic backgrounds getting deeply religious while incarcerated over a lengthy period of time, which they had neither time for nor interest in with more freedom of choice.
Having grown up in an atmosphere in which attitude control played a major part of emotional survival, I find such control often perceived as indifference. It is wrestling with such emotions throughout life that prompted me many years ago to compose this poem that I entitled . . .
Taking Control: If I had more control of you, I’d change a lot of things you do;
But as I don’t know how that can be, I’d best gain more control of me.
If I could control the things you say, they’d be spoken in a much different way.
But I can’t control the way you speak–with voice that’s strong or one that’s weak.
If I could control this world of ours, it would be as one vast garden of many flowers.
But I can’t control this world one bit, so I’d best control my attitude toward it.
Oh, it’s nice to control your thoughts, it’s true, and not let those thoughts control you.
So listen people, east, west, north & south; control of mind begins with control of mouth.
It’s not to say that you won’t get peeved, but from the pressure you’ll be relieved;
And what once made you want to choke, can soon be taken as a joke.
It all depends on your attitude, of faith, or fear or gratitude.
For you’ll never phase this world one bit, so work hard on your attitude toward it.
Once we properly adjust our attitudes to the incessant issues that confront us, our actions can then become crown jewels for others to inherit as opposed to the increasing problems on which our attention is perpetually directed. The days of idle worship are ended, we read in the Baha’i Holy Writings. Today nothing but the purest of motives and deeds are acceptable in His sight, and only through patient lives of active service can we bring light into a materially darkened world.
