Living a life of balance through solidarity and careful management of time
Living a life in discipline, a life that is well-planned… this is really important.
A life without a plan or program may, a lot of times, tire us out.
Time management is necessary.
Sometimes, you may find yourself working at such a swift pace; yet if you fail to efficiently manage your time, you may fail to manage labor division and discipline effectively.
Or, let's say, seeking help from and providing help to fellow community members if one fails to cooperate with others in mutual support, one may find themselves crushed under the weight of events. They will be unable to think clearly.
They will be unable to make wise decisions. And in the end, they will be unable to reach success.
Projects that are systematically planned out on a consistent methodology may often prove to be much more fruitful and beneficial than working at a tenfold speed.
In other words, what's most important is living a life of balance; balance in your sleep, balance in your eating, balance in your resting; a balanced life of prayer and flawless worship. Balancing by moving from one act to another, according to the Qur’anic principle of “Therefore, when you are free (from one task), resume (another task); And seek and strive to please your Lord.” [The Qur’an, Al-Inshirah, 94:7-8]
That is, strive to relieve physical exhaustion with spiritual activity, and spiritual exhaustion with physical activity.
You see, even this is a form of relaxation and rest. This is the way God is commanding us to organize our lives. He is commanding us with daily prayers, and also with waking up in the middle of the night for tahajjud prayer. In this way, He is dividing up our daily life, and arranging it in a systematic manner.
In other words, He is telling us to do the same, and you will move forward in this life with ease and without exhaustion.
Rather than living a life of constant rush -though, yes, one must act swiftly and not with sloth, and use their potential to the fullest- it is important to act in a systematic manner and according to certain principles, to manage our time and activities efficiently, without neglecting our physical needs, without neglecting our homes, without forgetting that we need certain things to sustain our lives. While taking all of this into account we must, first of all, plan out our personal lives and relations with our family members in the best way possible. We must carefully plan our responsibilities towards our community as well. Only then can one be more productive.
Sometimes, one might constantly run at full speed but with no system or method, and thus may not achieve any results. Others, who truly act according to principle, with a certain plan/project in sight, move and act as though in accordance with a greater plan within their destiny. That is, they do not run into problems or complications.
When you chase after your goals but with no system in place, what happens is, at a certain point, you fall down tired and broken, giving up in the end.
Some may wonder how it is possible to live with precision amidst the constant rush and chase of daily life. I believe that if things can be set up into a certain system, according to certain principles, with an efficient division of labor and careful management of one's time, if we hold on to one another in support and solidarity, which Nursi describes as “the foundation of all progress.” This is the path and method of development and of constantly raising the bar.
If we are able to adopt this principle, I believe that we will, at the same time, find the opportunity to live our lives to the fullest and listen to what our conscience is calling us to. Thus, in one sense, while keeping one end of our crochet needle pointed to our souls and the other end out into the horizons, we will be able to bring about the most amazing works of art that even the angels look at in admiration.
This will not happen with haste. Nor will it happen with slow pace, unless you deliberately set it up as your goal. So, while moving quickly to the best of your power, one must also act according to plan, program and principle. This is what divine morality calls for.
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