Bismillah, Assalamualaikum
Inspired by an article from Suhaibwebb, I would like to remind myself to:
RENEW, REFRESH, RECONDITION, RENOVATE, RESTORE, REVAMP
my INTENTION every morning I wake up to go to school and teach!!
and I do because I always want the kids to achieve something, anything good that would benefit them, their religion, their family, society and country!
and that's what makes me frustrated when I see that they're not going anywhere! I almost always feel like I have given more than 100% but then the outcomes don't satisfy me and I get exasperated and feel like a failure! No wonder most teachers become stressful! But I am comforted by the excerpt that;
“[And it will be said], ‘Indeed, this is for you a reward, and your effort has been appreciated.’” (Qur’an, 76:22)
nothing ever goes to waste. In the verse above, Allah subhanahu wa ta`alasa’y (effort) is appreciated; it is recognized. That is what we get rewarded for. Whether or not we succeed, it is ultimately the effort that we put in that Allah (swt) takes into account. One of Allah’s Names is Ash-Shakoor: He is Appreciative of what you do, no matter how small, and He rewards it abundantly. Imagine: Allah (swt) is so appreciative, He even rewards our intention! Therefore, we know that those who intend to do well, but cannot do it, are still rewarded. This feeling of failure is actually a deception from shaytan to deter us from trying. He promotes neglect: “Don’t work on your relationship with your parents, they’ll never change,” and makes us doubt: “do you really think that your tiny effort is going to have an effect?” But Allah (swt) rewards you when you try because your trying is testament to the fact that even though you know you are a minor player, you are doing it for His sake.
So I shouldn't be in doubt of my efforts, instead I should double, no, triple my exertion and determination in teaching! I should be able to work hard especially in providing my students with quality education in a system that seem to always wanna break and bring me down. Even though most of my students lack the basic knowledge of the target language and even the fifth formers can't even speak and write primary level English Language, I should be able to get pass this by doing research on what and how best to teach them and then guiding them patiently and helping them get through this. When I'm writing this, I feel that it sounds easier and doable but in actual fact, I know that what I have been through and what I am going through now is an ongoing challenging task and that I need to stand up straight and proud and fight!
Sometimes we deal with Allah (swt) as though He is a human being Who doesn’t know about the worry we feel, the stress, the striving. When we fail to see the results of our effort, we think that we failed and that it was a waste of time. But Allah (swt) tells us:
“And never is your Lord forgetful…” (Qur’an, 19:64)
It's not that I don't know this but as a weak human being, I have a tendency to fall to my knees and dissolve in tears and then comes a soft nasty whisper blowing in my ear saying that I don't have to try so hard because it's not like the students will change, like ever! But then I look at them and even though I admit sometimes I drop a notch from the 100%, I get back up and try again differently and see the result to at least 1 student...but at least its better than none right?
I love this post, do read!
nothing-is-ever-wasted
