You will fail to achieve ultimate happiness, and that failure should make you happy.

I remember driving to college back in the early 2000s, and I was just hoping to already be in the future.

I didn’t want to go through the struggles of going through college, another 4 years or more of tests, papers, etc. 

I just wanted to start working and get married. 

Kids weren’t really in my radar, but just to have a companion to spend time with and do things couples do would just be really nice. 

I just wanted to be established right now!

I wanted to be like those who were older than me, who were already established in their careers, married, and had families.

Alhamdulillah that time has come. Now in my early 40s, I have a good job, a loving wife and kids, and I have achieved what I wanted over 20 years ago. 

The crazy thing is, sometimes when I go to work, or when I’m just thinking about life while driving, I wish I could go back to the times when things were easy. I was living single, and life was just more calm and less hectic. 

Hanging out with friends in college was a blast!

There were less responsibilities, less people relying on me (after Allah of course), and probably less stress (or just different kinds of stress).

There was less lewdness in society, less liberalism, less deviance, and NO social media.

Subhan Allah, I got what I wanted, but now I want to go back to the “good ol’ days.”

This isn’t to say that I am not extremely thankful, but it just shows us what humans are like. 

We will never achieve ultimate happiness in this world.

We will never achieve ultimate satisfaction in this world.

Stress will always be there, but it will manifest itself in different ways.

It’s either school and getting those grades, or it’s family and thinking about how will I find the right spouse for my daughters?

This cycle of life, where we are never really in a state of bliss, is just a reminder that this life was never meant to be blissful.

That is why it is called a delusion in the Qur’an:

 وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ ٢٠

The life of this world is nothing but delusion.

Surah Hadid (57:20)

You can never be truly happy in this life. Your pursuit for endless happiness will only make you realize how sad you are, because you're chasing a mirage.

Whether you are rich or poor, you will always have something to worry about. 

Your health.

Your kids.

Your family.

Your business.

Your job.

But don’t worry, because you and I were created to be in constant struggle in this life.

I know that sounds crazy, but it is true!

Most definitely, we were created to be in constant struggle:

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ٤

Indeed, We have created humankind in ˹constant˺ struggle.

Surah Balad (90:4)

This verse always makes me feel at ease and I believe can solve people’s depression because it makes me realize that problems and struggles will always be there.

The perfect life doesn’t exist.

That Instagram life doesn’t exist!

There will always be some things that will make you stressed, so don’t throw all your hopes and dreams on this life. 

On the flipside, remember what Allah says when He describes Jannah:

بَلَىٰ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌۭ فَلَهُۥٓ أَجْرُهُۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ١١٢

But no! Whoever submits themselves to Allah and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.

Surah Baqara (2:112)

Did you read that last part?

“There will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.”

This is the part of Jannah that we have not had a preview of in this world. We have had a preview of a lot of other traits of Jannah, such as rivers, good food, women, money, children, and other luxuries, but we have never really tasted the lack of fear or grief. 

There’s always something in the back of our heads that keeps us occupied regardless of who we are.

Everyone struggles, everyone goes through hardships.

But we can use these struggles to remind ourselves that the ultimate goal is to get to Jannah, and that will be the place of no fear and no grief.

If you feel like you constantly have problems in your life,

Welcome to the club!