大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Yousra Samir Imran, a British Egyptian writer and author

Good morning.

Goha is a fictional village man in Arab folklore dating back to the ninth century. He was often depicted as a fool, but in each comical tale is a life lesson.

In one popular story, Goha and his young son are journeying to a nearby village, his son riding on a donkey and Goha walking alongside them.

Some passersby point at them and say, 鈥淟ook at that boy riding the donkey while his old father is made to walk.鈥� When Goha hears this, he tells his son to trade places.

As they continue their journey some more passersby point at Goha and his son and say, 鈥淟ook at that man, making his poor young son walk while he rides the donkey.鈥�

Goha overhears this and tells his son, 鈥淲e will both ride the donkey.鈥�

Ambling along on the donkey, some people point at them and say, 鈥淟ook at those two riding that poor donkey, how cruel.鈥�

So Goha pauses to think and tells his son, 鈥淟et鈥檚 both walk alongside the donkey.鈥�

People continue to pass by and point at them. 鈥淲hat fools 鈥� they鈥檙e walking when they have a donkey they could ride!鈥�

After some thought Goha tells his son, 鈥淚 have an idea, let鈥檚 carry the donkey on our heads!鈥�

As they walk on, another set of people look at Goha and his son struggling under the weight of the donkey and say, 鈥淟ook at those fools carrying a donkey instead of riding it!鈥�

Goha turns to his son and says, 鈥淪ee my son, how hard it is to please everyone?鈥�

Learning that you can鈥檛 please everyone is one of life鈥檚 biggest lessons 鈥� and being able to accept that takes away a lot of anxiety.

So, as I begin my day, I remind myself that I can only do my best, and as long as the Almighty One is pleased with me, that鈥檚 what matters most.

Ameen

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