Personal Perception: Key to happiness and success

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be
another man's poison.
Once Luqman (as), The Wise said to his son, "Oh son! Do not tie your
heart in seeking the pleasure of people. You are not likely to
succeed. Do not pay attention to what people say. Instead tell
yourself always to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT)."
Luqman (as), The Wise wanted this lesson to be always remembered and
never to be forgotten. He thought of a way. So, he then told his son
to ride a donkey and the son obeyed. The father followed behind on
foot. They traveled in this way for some distance.
After some distance they came across a group of people. Seeing the son
on the donkey, one of them said, "What an impolite and bad boy. The
old father is walking on foot. The young son is comfortably riding on
the donkey. This is no manner to show respect to one's father."
Father and son heard this. The son came down from the donkey. Luqman
(as), The Wise rode on the donkey.
After some distance they came across another group of people. On
seeing the father riding the donkey, the elder of the group said, "Oh
you old man! This is not the way to bring up a son. You make him walk
in the hot sun, while you sit comfortably on the donkey."
Luqman (as), The Wise paid attention to what the people said. He came
down from the donkey. Both father and son walked on foot. The donkey
walked in front. They went a little further.
People seeing them, said, "How foolish you are? You walk behind a
donkey. Why don't you ride it?"
Luqman (as), The Wise and his son once again accepted what the people
said. They both rode the donkey and went further. They came across a
river. There was a bridge to be crossed. Some people were sitting
there. They saw Luqman (as), The Wise and his son riding the donkey.
One of them said, "It is very unkind and cruel of you two to ride on
the poor donkey. The little animal can hardly take all your burden."
So taking this advice Luqman (as), The Wise and his son dismounted
from the donkey. They traveled a little distance further. Looking very
lovingly Luqman (as), The Wise said to his son, "You have heard and
seen what the people said. It must have assured you, by now, that
whatever you do or whichever way you move, one is not able to please
the people of the world." You can never have everyone praise you, nor
will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and
never will be in the future.
Luqman (as), The Wise pointed at the flowing river and added, "A
person can build a wall across the river. It will stop the flow of the
water. But it is not possible to shut the mouth of the people from
criticism."
Very clearly, similar is the case in our world today. The tongue has
no bone. It can speak even without thought. There are as many opinions
as there are people in the world. It is very bad to find fault with
the other person, especially when he is doing something good. A person
can feel very hurt when he listens to all the tongues that talk loose.
To avoid getting hurt by loose talk, a person can train himself. He
can discipline himself to think. By thinking he can know what is wrong
and void. When a person is sure that what he is doing will please his
Master, Allah (SWT) the Almighty, then he must never worry what others
speak. Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if your conscience
is clear.
"We must do what we conceive to be the right thing and not bother our
heads or burden our souls with whether we will be successful. Because
if we don't do the right thing, we will be doing the wrong thing and
we will just be a part of the disease and not a part of the cure."