IMPROVING OUR STRENGTHS, MINIMIZING OUR WEAKNESSES -- By: Shabrun Jamil Baharun (An Ordinary Man, Working As PAIF at Religious Affairs Ministry of Tangerang District, Indonesia)

BISMILLAAHIRRAHMAANIRRAHIIM. AL-HAMDU LILLAAHI WASSHALAATU WASSALAAMU ‘ALAA RASUULILLAAH WA ‘ALAA AALIHII WA SHAHBIHII WA MAN WAALAH. AMMAA BA’DU. It is no doubt that everyone has strength and weakness. Even the strongest man or woman must have any weakness, and the weakest man or woman must have any strength actually. What we need to do is how to maximize our strength and how to minimize our weakness. We will never be perfect, that is the truth. We will always have weaknesses that will accompany us throughout our life. We will be set on a downward spiral, whenever we focus on weaknesses. We have to stop focusing on weaknesses, for it will lower our self-esteem and blur our vision. Focusing too much on our weaknesses is the reason why we get stuck doing things we are not good at. We have to understand both our strength and our weaknesses. All successful persons have one thing in common. They are maximizing their potential in the area of their focus. This is inevitably very valuable lesson for us. We don’t have to try to be everything to everybody, and we don’t have to pretend to know it all. Turn our focus away from our weaknesses and start discovering our core strength. Our next step will be to focus on expanding our strength and maximizing our potential. The Prophet Muhammad shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said, “the strong mukmin is better than the weak mukmin.” SUBHAANAKALLAAHUMMA WA BI HAMDIKA ASYHADU ALLAA ILAAHA ILLAA ANTA ASTAGHFIRUKA WA ATUUBU ILAIKA.