Seeing is Believing, But Feeling is the Truth

Dear You,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

I hope this finds you in the pink of health and that the grace of Allah reaches you everywhere. Allow me to begin by asking, what do you do when you face obstacles that hinder your progression? Why do you think we are being put into situations that are difficult to fathom? Have you ever come across situations where you fail to see the possibilities that come with the challenges you encounter?

To start off, the definition of ‘possibilities’ varies and can be perceived differently among individuals. For me personally, what caught my attention was this particular meaning - “unspecified qualities of a promising nature” - which can be associated with potential and hope. It is inevitable that life is full of uncertainties, but it still holds a favourable nature, in a sense that we can still anticipate achieving our goals as long as we believe in our capabilities. For instance, being a student comes with its own set of struggles and responsibilities. We encounter ups and downs, be it sacrificing sleep to get assignments done or staying up all night anxiously thinking about the future. Yet, as Muslims, we all know and believe that all is well, eventually.

But at times, when we fall deep into despair and self-doubt, we fail to see the possibilities that these trying times could provide us with. This leads me to the phrase “Seeing is Believing, but Feeling is the Truth”. It is of human nature that we expect to see immediate success in our affairs. To relate back to the previous example, students tend to be happier if they excel academically, but if the opposite happens, they tend to be disappointed in themselves. To be honest, I was one of them too, but I realised that I should not tie my worth to an outcome, and neither should you .

Perhaps the reason we are being put into situations we cannot comprehend is because we are about to be shown the possibilities that come with it, which I believe, are endless. When we are at our lowest, it is of our nature to question our capabilities and lose the motivation to continue. We would probably be at ease if we could see ahead and know the outcome so that we can avoid undesirable occurrences that might be too emotionally overwhelming for us to handle. However, it is also important to take note that Allah is aware of what we are going through and it is Him who will eventually walk us hand-in-hand out of this pit of darkness we are in.

From this, perhaps we can reflect on why we let our struggles worry and fear slow us down from chasing after our dreams? Though it is important to pause and compose ourselves before continuing our journey again, let us not give up, and let us continue to thrive. Allah has His own reasons for putting us through trying times, one of them being because He knows that we are capable of doing so. If Allah believes in us, why not we believe in ourselves?

So own your value, redefine your purpose, and rewrite your story.

Yours Faithfully,

Fathinzulaiha