The Skills of Living
In the name of God, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Peace be with you السلام عليكم
I'm humbled again by July's issue of the EMEL magazine in which the editor (and the beautiful) Sarah Joseph personally talks about rewarding her son for effort and intention, rather than rewarding for the sake of rewarding. Come failure or success, a confidence boost, comforting word or gained 'life skill', is the most rewarding outcome:
"It had been a stressful exam period for him and we wanted to buy him a gift. It was important to us to give the gift once the exams were finished but before the results were out... I wanted to give him something that might cultivate a sense of contemplation within him, although this is not always easy in today’s world... I tell you all of this because it brings me to an issue that has troubled me throughout the whole examination process. Our world has become unrealistically demanding. We expect and require of our children more and more, but how much are we preparing them for life?...
The practical and physical creative processes are something we should not ignore. In a mechanised and complex world, we seem to have lost so many skills, but I believe it is vital for our spiritual and emotional well-bring to rediscover arts, crafts and basic skills. This is why, this summer, once the demands of the mind have been satisfi ed by exams and other demands of academia, I recommend you teach your children a craft or a life skill..."
Now go learn and teach another a worthy life skill.
Peace & respect ★
Shukran for sharing this my dear Sis. Your blog entries are awesome, I loved your comment on the article . . I'm feeling it too but by Allah's Grace, still surviving . . . its true I think especially of us South Asians not too handy around the house, in most cases. We need more life skills, not that I blame my parents or anything, they've done a great job with me, if I may so myself, hehe. Also, life's situations forces us to pick up skills and other such invaluable traits as we go; I say this fro experience. I was (am) a spoiled brat, but now since moving to Europe for studies, I've learned how to cook, iron, pay bills and other such things that I wasn't going to learn otherwise and also in a very different environment, so it's hard at times, but having to conquer both the pressure filled academic world and life's everyday challenges has made me a better person for sure and I hope that I can take these skills and lessons forward so that I benefit from them in my future life. So,great lesson/concept that Sis Sarah shares with us here. Keep up the good work Sis.Bless you.
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