It was a beautiful valley full of flowers surrounded by mountains. There was a tiny village at the base of a big mountain. The village looked like a tiny speck on the splendid canvas of natural landscape. Mighty snow-capped peaks ad encircled the village like a fort.

High atop the mountain, there was a monastery where a sage used to live. Due to his wisdom, people were attracted towards him like moths to a flame. A lot of people used to travel over the snake-like hilly tracks to visit this monastery and learn wisdom from the sage.

It was a moderately-cool September night. The sage was sitting in a veranda of the monastery and his pupils were sitting around him. Fresh air of their breath-taking surroundings was flowing through their lungs. The voice of the sage was revitalizing the energy of their spirits. A glass of water was lying in front of the sage.

"Look! My sons! What do you think about this glass?" The sage asked.

"The glass is half-empty." A young boy replied.

"No, the glass is half-full." Another pupil added.

"Both of you are true. Your answers just represent the difference in way of your way of thinking. Every situation has two aspects: One is dark and negative; while the other is bright and positive. A mind that sets in its ways to look at the darker side of a situation always remains frustrated. On the contrary, you will find those happy and energetic who look at the brighter side and keep their chins up."

The sage used to encourage his disciples to raise questions. Nothing was regarded taboo in his wisdom sessions. Everyone was free to raise any issue or even criticize the profound ideas of the sage. A pupil stood up and said:

"Sir! Is this not contrary to what you taught us earlier? You told us in the previous lessons that we should be realistic. We should always have our head screwed on. If I look at the bright side and ignore the dark side, shall I not be doing something against your earlier lesson?"

The sage smiled and said: "Yes, I taught you to be realistic. Now I am telling you to be realistically positive. The person who ignores the half-full glass and focuses on the half-empty glass is also not realistic. He is excessively riveting on the dark side.

The correct approach is that we should be realistic enough to accept the reality that the glass is half-empty but we should also thank God that it is half-full. This thankfulness to God will unleash the hidden treasure trove of potential He has stored deep within our personality. This will do us a good turn to fill the half-empty side.

We cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought – not even one. We should not allow a single negative thought to enter into the fortress of our mind. The people, who think about the same things every day, most of them negative, have fallen into bad mental habits. Instead of focusing on all the good in their lives and thinking of ways to make things even better, they are captives of their past.

Some of them fret over political conditions. Others worry about their financial problems. Still others brood over more trifling matters like sarcastic remarks of a friend or the comment of a co-worker that smacked of ill-will.

Those who run their minds in this fashion are allowing worry to rob them of their life force. They are blocking the enormous potential of their minds to work magic and deliver into their lives all that they want, emotionally, physically, politically, economically and, yes, even spiritually.

These people never realize that mind management is the essence of life management. This is the tyranny of impoverished thinking."

When we look at the current position of Pakistan, we realize that although our glass is half-full but we have focused more on the half-empty side. Our media is portraying a negative picture of our society. We are becoming thankless to God for the things we don't have. We are ignoring the great ecstasies of God He has bestowed upon us.

Thanks to God, we have the half-full glass. We have hidden treasure of ample potential. Although, we have many people who are spreading negative thinking but there are people who are exploring all avenues to create positive thinking in us.

Positive Thinkers Club is a group of people who are going to great lengths on this theme. Instead of fretting over the problems of Pakistan, they concentrate on solutions. If you share the same vision and want to unleash the potential to positive thinking, you can visit their website to get details of their programs.

The address of their website is http://www.positivethinkersclub.net .

(Author: Muhammad Mubashir Nazir)

The best Muslim is the one from whose evil, others are protected. Prophet Muhammad صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم

Two Girls: It is the tale of two girls who were born in different environments but their lives carry a message for us.

www.mubashirnazir.org/pd/english/PE03-1027-Girls.htm

Your experience regarding this essay may help others in developing their personalities. If you any question regarding personality development, send an email to mubashirnazir100@gmail.com.

Think about it!

· Identify three situations in which you involved yourself into negative thinking. What was the impact of negative thinking on your life?

· How can we develop positive thinking in us?

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Download Printable Version

Unit 1: Relation with God & His Prophets

Unit 2: Elimination of our Negative Personality

Unit 3: Development of our Positive Personality

Unit 4: Relationship with Human Beings

Backbiting | Suspicion | Defamation | Examining Others with Suspicion | Are you killing your family?

Unit 5: Our Responsibility, Vision & Mission

The Love of Prophet Muhammad with Knowledge | Traditional Mentality | Strange Similarities between Christian & Muslim Histories | The Relationship of Revelation & Intellect (Part I) | The Relationship of Revelation & Intellect (Part II) | The Problem of Aurengzeb Alamgir