AM I AN IMPORT OR EXPORT PERSON?
Does it matter? The answer is YES. This is not about what others think of you BUT what you think of yourself. What we think of ourselves are most important because it is how you value your own self and this will determine how or not you are happy. Happiness usually relates to how you work towards the the meaning of your existence. In life, we have 2 vertices that needs attention. They are the:a. VERTICAL - relationship with your creator
b. HORIZONTAL -relationship with other people - which includes your parents, your family, your children, workplace, students, neighbors, community..
The first is not so obvious. Some people can look like they are so much related to God but actually they are not. In extreme cases, you see that they are very kind hearted people who really understands the meaning of sincerity but in true sense, they don't believe in God. In my personal opinion, if you are not good vertically, you beat the purpose of existence. You have not reach the level of wisdom of your existence. To understand and really focus on this vertical relation takes you to travel deep into your soul. It doesn't only takes you down the path to your spiritual self, but also helps you to put more actions that can strengthen your spiritual being. That once your spiritual being is strengthen, all the pictures in life will be connected and bring meanings to you. The actions are your evidence of believe and trust. When this happen, all these actions come naturally to you and you enjoy doing them. For muslims, this is translated into doing more supplementary prayers and good deeds other than the obligatory ones. For companions of the prophet Muhammad pbuh, when they are doing their prayers, they reached the highest level of tranquility where they are no more connected to the world around them. In fact, many of them do not feel pain as pain is physical but they are at the time, spiritual. Hmmm... a bit philosophical here!
We move on the the second - human to human relationship. When we talk about human to human, we become exporters or importers. If we export a lot, we become rich persons and if we are importers all the time, we become very dependent on others. Importers would need others to put things into their store and would feel sad or demotivated if that doesn't happen.
Some people are natural at human to human skill. May be they are brought up that way or they pick up the skill through time. Don't take this for granted because for some people, they don't have this skill and need people to teach them. If you are importers and married to exporters, then you may have been saved. But some people can never change. They become importers all through their lives! On the other hand, some people doesn't need formal education to become exporters. They are real exporters!
Oh.. have I not define the meaning of exporters or importers? If you find someone who busy herself or himself to give - they are exporters! Importers on the other hand would find ways to get things from others. They are calculative people who always have the plus and minus signs in their head. They would give after calculating that they get more in return. May be we sometimes do this.. shame on us!
Some people were taught to give during their childhood and carry this all through their lives. Wise are those parents who teach their children charity. My late mother-in-law was an export person. After her death, I met many of her friends who told me so many stories of her generosity. She was not highly educated but her social intelligence beats many of the professors. One time she went to town with food in her hand. On the way home, she saw a few people working under the hot sun doing construction work. She stopped and gave them the food. That was natural to her. How many of us has done this? When she passed away, so many people from all races came to pay tribute She was not a senator, not even had any post in the community, but she beats them all. She is a natural social worker who was willing to give to others what she had or hadn't. I said this because she was even willing to borrow money to give others.
There are many things one can do to become exporters. You can do it through giving lots of presents to friends/relatives, constant charity and becoming more alert with other people's needs. Some people buy lots of things and give them to guests at home. Birthdays, Mothers Days, Teachers Day, Anniversary... these are occasions if you need reasons to give small or big presents if you ran out of them. It makes the hearts grow fonder. Other than presents, we need to share ideas and knowledge. Imagine how much teachers can contribute to the betterment of mankind by teaching with sincere hearts. That is why a friend who is a lecturer would prefer his children to become teachers or other professions. He wants the children to continue his legacy... and he is a great teacher. I always see him spending long hours teaching his students although in university, there is no concept of 'tuition' but he does it anyway without any extra pay. May Allah reward him abundantly with His kindness.
So if you are really an exporter, what others think of you is just secondary. The most important is your sincerity. Even writing your own blog.. trying to disseminate knowledge or little things you think worth sharing. Don't do it because you want people to think how great a writer you are but because you want to export with sincerity. When something is done with your heart, it strikes other people's heart too. And sincerity is not anybody's business.. it is between you and your Lord.
So next time, when you say tell a truth to a friend, or give an unpopular opinion for the sake of your organization... don't let anything hold you back because what they think is no more important. Tell them you know what you are doing!
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