Principles – let it be to you-13/2/2016

    In the former article I talked about storms of anger that ruin man’s life and his relationships. Today I will talk about another storm that is equally dangerous to anger, despair.

   Despair is man’s enemy that aims at running his life. Real defeat is the internal one, if man gives up himself to failure and abandons all the positive matters in his life. The great writer, Naguib Mahfouz says, “I don’t warn you but of one enemy: despair”. Thus, during journey’s life, he should be attentive to hurricane of despair as an outcome of his unsuccessful repeated attempts or hard times he may face. Remember the famous saying of the great leader Mustafa Kamel,“No despair with Life and No life with despair“ and be ready to fight despair when it attempts to attack you.

   Despair’s danger lays in its effect on man’s mind. He can’t act rationally or logically as the negative feelings due to despair control his mind. Thus, despair hinders man to use his own personal abilities and skills. He thinks that all his attempts won’t find success which engraves in his mind that failure will always be his friend.

   Storms of despair may be the result of man’s concentration on one door from which he wants to pass to happiness and success. That door may be closed, but if he adopts a positive vision of life, he will find many other doors open to him. Many times, man knocks on closed doors unaware of the other ones from which he can pass to achieve his goals. Another reason to despair is not having the enough patience needed to reach a goal. His rash may lead him to feel desperation that will negatively affect and distract his mind as they say your thoughts define your way.

To fight storm of despair here are some suggestions,

Have faith in God:

   Maybe you feel you are weak and you can’t reach your goal. Thus, strengthen yourself with faith in God who can do everything and nothing is difficult for Him. Don’t let storm of despair to overflow your boat, but rather hold on to paddles of faith and trust. As night is followed by morning and sunset doesn’t mean it won’t rise again. Remember the great words of the reposed H.H Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria to be absolutely assured and to not over think of the matter but rather to leave it to God who is in control

Trust in your talents:

   God gifted you with a lot of talents, so you should trust them as they were granted to you and to each one in order to be used to fulfill life’s mission. You just need to discover those talents and use them.

Have the power of positive thinking:

   Positive thinking is the strong motive that keeps us going on in life. If your thoughts are negative, you will be moved toward a road full of failure and despair. Someone once said that human mind is like a field, every idea we think over is considered the way we irrigate that field and we won’t sow but what we seeded whether positive or negative ideas. Thus adopt a positive outlook toward difficult situations you face to positively change your life. Use these difficulties as motives to keep you going not stones that hinder your way. As they say that difficulties are made to extract your capabilities, so don’t be desperate. Helen Keller was a great example; as she said that she got many blessings in life that keep her busy from thinking about those she was deprived of.  

To be continued…

Anba Ermiah,
General Bishop& President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center