Burning desire

Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to get out from his comfortable zone, and cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so, the person can be sure of maintaining the state of mind known as a burning desire to win, which is compulsory ingredient on the way to success.

There was a story, long while ago when a Sahabat, during Umar r.a as the khalifah, lead the muslims' army to Andalusia, Spain. the amir of the army was Tamin Dari (i think? can somebody correct me if i'm wrong?). This one of the great warrior in Islam faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured their success on the battlefield, or syahid for Islam and Allah. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded the soldiers into his boats, sailed to the shore, unloaded them and equipments, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. After perform praying (solat) and du'a, the amir address to his men before the battle, he said,

"You see the boats going up in smoke. That means we cannot leave these shore anymore. We have no choice -- we win, -- or syahid (perish)!"

Every human being who reaches the age of understanding of the purpose of success, wishes for it. Wishing only, will not bring success. But desiring success with state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definitely ways and means to acquire success. and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring success.

This kind of motivation is suitable for everyone, for worldly purpose, or even in practicing Islam as preparation to hereafter...

For example, a student who is studying hard for his exam, studied because he knows the importance of the result, what he'll gain if he gets an excellent result and what he'll lose if the result is poor.
Same for a businessman, or a salesman, or an insurance / takaful agent (like me!), the desire to get a better profit, or salary, is the fuel for us to work harder to achieve success.

A muslim, who has a burning desire to achieve mardhatillah (keredhaan Allah), also will do his best in practicing the commandments of Allah and the sunnah of His Rasul, compared to a muslim who doesn't even know the virtues of practicing it.

If the thing you wish to do is right, and you believe in it, go ahead and do it! Put your dream across, and never mind what people say if you meet with temporary defeat. Perhaps, not many people know that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success!

Henry Ford, poor and uneducated, dreamed of a horseless transport, went to work with what tools he possessed and without waiting for opportunity to favor him. And now, we could see how his dream come true and belts the entire earth.

Thomas Edison dreamed of lamp that could be operated by electricity. The pursue of his dream began where he stood to put his dream into action. Despite more than 10,000 failures, he stood by his dream until he made it physical reality. Practical dreamers --- DO NOT QUIT!

The Wright brothers dreamed of machine that would fly through the air. Now one may see evidence all over the world, that they dreamed soundly.

Tetapi, impian dan cita-cita tanpa perancangan dan perlaksanaan, hanyalah sebuah angan-angan yang tidak akan tercapai dan akan terus menerus menipu diri ini. Kalau kita kata mahu jadi jutawan dalam dunia perniagaan, tetapi menghabiskan masa awal pagi untuk tidur dan berehat, tidak bekerja keras, maka kita akan mensia-siakan segalanya...

Dan alangkah berbahagianya jika kita memperolehi kejayaan di kedua-dua tempat dalam kehidupan kita, di dunia yang sementara dan lebih-lebih lagi di akhirat yang kekal abadi nanti... wallahualam