Start Your Week With Gratitude

Did you know that most people who become paralyzed eventually go back to feeling just as happy as they were before?

It sounds impossible. We imagine that if something terrible happened — a major accident, a huge loss — it would break us forever. But studies show something different.

Even after life-changing events, people tend to return to their usual emotional state. The hardship doesn’t disappear; it just becomes part of life.

The same holds true in the other direction. People who win the lottery expect lifelong happiness. But within months, life feels… normal again.

Psychologists call this the hedonic treadmill: it’s the mind’s way of protecting us.

If we stayed in the extremes of joy, we’d lose our drive. If we stayed in the depths of sorrow, we’d lose our will. So the mind balances out. What was once exciting becomes routine. What was once unbearable becomes bearable.

And yet, many of us keep waiting for that perfect milestone before we allow ourselves to feel content.

“As soon as I graduate. As soon as I buy a house. As soon as I…”

But happiness doesn’t live in the next milestone. We always come back to the same baseline.

So what do we do? Stop working? Stop dreaming?

Of course not. We’re meant to strive. But Islam reminds us to hold both sides: to strive, and to stay grateful.

That’s the balance. Strive, but don’t forget to notice the roses along the way.

Work hard. Hope. Build.

But also pause. Breathe. Be grateful.

Not because you’ve ‘made it’. But because you’re here. Still alive. Still able to try, to hope, to be.