DEVELOPING ONE’S PERSONALITY

Experience and research tell us that once a thought enters our mind, it becomes a part of the mind forever. When a thought, whether positive or negative, enters our mind, it, first of all, becomes part of our conscious mind. This is also called our conscious memory. After this, when we go to sleep at night, following a natural process, the thought travels by itself from the conscious mind and enters the subconscious mind. When this happens, we have only 50% conscious control remaining over that thought. 50% is now beyond our conscious control. After this, the next night that we sleep, the thought travels further and enters our unconscious mind. When this happens, the thought gets completely out of our conscious control and becomes the source of moulding our personality according to this thought. It is the everyday thoughts that enter our minds first into the conscious, then to the subconscious and lastly get stored into the unconscious that build our personality continuously. Therefore as our thoughts are, so is our personality. Positive thoughts create a positive personality. Negative thoughts create a negative personality. Today, most people are drowned in negative thinking. Even if someone seems to be talking positive things, it is almost always only at a very superficial level. If you discuss with this person in greater detail and seek to know the inside of his mind, you will find that his inner personality is as negative as anyone else’s. In this way, today every single person lives in negativity, without even being aware of it. And in this aspect there seems to be perhaps no difference between religious and secular people. It is a fact that the worst sort of personality is a negative personality and that the best personality is a positive personality. Given this, the question is: How can we build a positive personality? If you reflect on the issue in the light of both Islamic teachings and findings of psychology, you will find a clear practical way to do so. By following the practical method discussed in the next few lines one could overcome this problem. Whenever a negative thought enters one’s mind, at the very first instance one should try to resolve it by converting it into a positive aspect. For example, if you are angry with someone, forgive him at once so that your anger does not assume the form of revenge. Or, if you are unhappy at someone’s progress, look at it as a good news that, hard work will bring in good results and