By Amira Ayad (From her book: The True Secret)
I recently heard a story about a young man who dreamed of being rich. He carried a small notepad in his pocket and jotted down any ideas he encountered that he might use to start a business.
He never rejected any thought that crossed his mind, however irrational or unrealistic it might seem at the time. Passing by a supermarket one day, he noticed all the discarded cardboard boxes, so he noted: ‘Collect and sell cardboard boxes’.
Days passed, with more ideas accumulating in his notebook, but he still did not have a clue about which specific one to act on. One morning, he was sitting with some friends discussing the approaching season of date fruit collection.
One of his friends remarked that every year, the quantity of dates collected was huge that it caused a shortage of cardboard boxes. “Then a single box is sold for as much as five riyals,” the friend added. The young man jumped up in excitement; he finally saw his chance. He started collecting a million cardboard boxes to sell to the date merchants at the price of one riyal each. The project was a great success and he became a millionaire overnight.
Don’t underestimate your ideas, even if they might seem small or insignificant. All revolutionary actions and inventions started with a simple idea. Be creative, and always set new challenges working on improving your situation through innovation, keeping yourself challenged and creating new opportunities are crucial ingredients in your formula for success.
Remember the Qur’anic verse:
“Therefore, when you are free [from your immediate task] still labour hard.” Qur’an 94: 7 )
Of course, don’t forget to couple this with the following verse the one holding your true secret:
“And to Allah [alone] tum [all your intentions and hopes and] your supplications” ( Qur’an 94: 8 )
Brainstorm ideas that bring more creativity to everyday life. You can involve your children in this brain storming activity. It can be really fun. I performed this exercise with my eight-year-old daughter, and here are some ideas that we came up with: learn a new skill, read commentary explaining the Qur’an and apply it in your life, read a new book every week, learn something new every day, take a walk smelling the fresh air, draw out your feelings, never sleep after the dawn prayer, remember to renew your intention before any action, keep an idea journal, feed a bird or a stray cat, call a friend or a distant relative whom you have not contacted for a long time, cook a new dish, plant some seeds or sprouts, buy some flowers, burn incense in your house, collect shells from the beach, watch the sunset, visit a museum, visit an orphanage, take a bubble bath, invite some friends over with no fancy preparations…
