Do you ever complain? I sometimes find myself doing it, and then I realize I should work on eliminating all those negative and unproductive complaints from my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve all complained at one time or another. You know those no-good, terrible, horrible very bad days I\u2019m talking about: you get a flat tire, it rains, and you\u2019re late for work; you\u2019re wearing a new suit, and you spill coffee on it right before your job interview; after moving into your new home, a severe storm hits, and your insurance doesn\u2019t cover the damage. We\u2019ve probably all experienced one of those days, the ones where we ask, “Why me?!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When life gets tough, we often tend to dwell on the negatives and groan about the unfairness of it all. But the true test of a person\u2019s character, and the harder thing to do (myself included), lies in focusing on the positives, remaining hopeful, and exhibiting what the Baha\u2019i teachings call \u201cradiant acquiescence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a Baha\u2019i<\/a>, I\u2019ve learned that radiant acquiescence entails dealing with life\u2019s challenges by manifesting an inner sense of peaceful, calm acceptance. That requires developing a spiritual outlook on life, and accepting what it throws at you\u2014not just with grit and stoicism, but with joy. Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a> defined it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The confirmations of the Spirit are all those powers and gifts which some are born with (and which men sometimes call genius), but for which others have to strive with infinite pains. They come to that man or woman who accepts his life with radiant acquiescence. – Abdu\u2019l-Baha in London<\/em>, p. 120.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The word \u201cacquiesce\u201d means to \u201cquietly consent,\u201d and to develop \u201cradiant acquiescence\u201d means happily preferring the will of God to your own. Like the natural world, in harmony with the Creator, we can only flourish when we consent joyfully and with radiance, having faith that the Supreme Being knows what\u2019s best for our growth. The Baha\u2019i writings put it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as the clouds let us shed down tears, and as the lightning flashes let us laugh at our coursings through east and west… Let us not keep on forever with our fancies and illusions, with our analysing and interpreting and circulating of complex dubieties. Let us put aside all thoughts of self; let us close our eyes to all on earth, let us neither make known our sufferings nor complain of our wrongs. Rather let us become oblivious of our own selves, and drinking down the wine of heavenly grace, let us cry out our joy, and lose ourselves in the beauty of the All-Glorious. – Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, Selections from the Writings of Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/em>, p. 236.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Instead of complaining about our plights, this wonderfully spiritual guidance suggests, we can welcome even the most difficult circumstances in life with radiant acquiescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can we apply the concept of radiant acquiescence to our daily lives? First, we can realize that true happiness means severing ourselves from the material world, detaching from its unavoidable suffering, and radiantly accepting its inevitable tests and difficulties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such is this mortal abode — a storehouse of afflictions and suffering. It is negligence that binds man to it for no comfort can be secured by any soul in this world, from monarch down to the least subject. If once it should offer man a sweet cup, a hundred bitter ones will follow it and such is the condition of this world. The wise man therefore does not attach himself to this mortal life and does not depend upon it\u2026 – Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, Baha\u2019i World Faith<\/em>, pp. 378-379.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
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