Finding the Seat of Lost Motivation

"What world do you believe in?" It's a strange question that nobody is ever really asked. Most people would rephrase it, "what cause do you believe in?" or "what sector do you work in?" and even the casual "what's your trade?" are more common questions but they do not highlight the heart of the matter as the first question does. When we are finding ourselves unmotivated, "rebels without a cause" so-to-speak, it means there is a deeper problem to our perceptions of the world(s) we live in. By "world" here, I'm referring to that cause which speaks most to us; to our ideals, values, and principles. The world which gets our attention, that moves us and motivates us. That end to which our means find the most meaning. That cause becomes the focus of our destination, and the desire to reach our goal becomes the fuel and motivation to get us there. So the question again, "what world do you believe in?" highlights several subtle points.

The first subtle point is that which we believe in, is also that which we work towards helping and supporting. If a person states "I believe in my child" it means that not only does this person have faith in their child but they also take tangible measures to support that child because they see this investment of their time as being worth the effort. One day they will not be able to physically help nor support them, to which they must then resign their wills to their faith in that person's own ability to help themselves. All causes are like this. We lend our support and efforts to strengthen that cause but we will one day be unable to contribute further support and resign our efforts to our faith in that work. "One day this vision - this dream - will be fulfilled," we say. This is the reason why the spiritual truth states that our faith will outlast our work because we will all face death but the cause/belief will outlive us.

The second subtle point is that the causes we support belong to a realm of actions and faith and these actions and faith are a world unto themselves. When we speak of the hobbies we are fond of we speak of the culture those hobbies have developed. These cultures are worlds. For example, my brother loves cars. I can say that he is "into the world of cars" and what this means is that he's into the culture that has developed around cars and car-enthusiasts. Growing up, I happened to be into the world of anime and video games. My belief was that they can provide as wholesome (halal) forms of entertainment. I took many actions to support this belief by buying games and anime and sharing these with friends. Similarly, each hobby or cause we endorse is a world we place faith in (belief) and take some action to increase the influence of that belief, cause or hobby. This principle is highlighted in the Quran in Sura al-'Asr (The Time,) Chapter 103:

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
By (the token of) time (through the ages,) verily man is in loss, except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of truth, and of patience and constancy. [ch.103]

This short sura illustrates the importance of both belief (in a cause) and its complementary support through actions and deeds. We all believe in some causes that we do not take actions upon and often times its the reverse; we take actions and commit deeds without any real belief in the purpose behind those actions. The goal, however, is to have not just one or the other but to have both faith and action in that which we endorse if we are to speak of motivation - which leads me to my next point.

Motivation comes from the vision to see our beliefs come true: the causes we support and to see a possible fruition of those causes and to work towards achieving those ends. However, if we lack both belief and action, then we have no fuel nor desire to reach any goal. In other words, "man is in loss" when he lacks a belief in something nor does he act as someone informed. Rather, he becomes detached from all purpose by losing the vision of something meaningful to pursue and acts randomly with no clear intent. We can say that even animals and plants in nature act with some meaningful intent; be it instinct or voluntary action. Nature is goal-driven, man is the only one who needs to get on the boat.

The third subtle point is that which we support and endorse is also that which we love or are endeared to. We do not say of that which we hate or dislike, "I believe in so-and-so." The Israelites under Moses did not say they believed in the Pharoah who oppressed them but rather they believed in God and in Moses and Aaron. They worked toward that vision and message of Moses and were then liberated. The believers in Mecca did not believe in the cause of the Quraish, and so their belief and loyalty went to the Prophet Muhammad (S) and they worked to achieve his message and their own safety. Ultimately, the causes we endorse can be broken into these two essential components: faith and action, and again, it is these causes that become cultures and worlds unto themselves.

So we return to the question asked in the beginning, "what world do you believe in?" Now we see that this question is really asking the same thing that those other questions were asking but in a different, more impactful way. If we are to answer by saying that we believe in this world, then it would follow that we also endorse, support, and love the things of this world; that we have faith in all that it contains and we take actions to support our claim. Then we may see such a person who truly believes in this world take up more interest in worldy affairs and not pay much mind to an afterlife (if they even believe in one.) On the otherhand, if we answer this question by saying we believe in the hereafter, then it would follow that we endorse, support, and love the things of the next world by means of the limited knowledge we have concerning it, we embrace beliefs and visions for the next world and we also take actions and commit deeds that we hope will bring us to a good place when the time comes to enter it. 

For the one who believes in this world [over the afterworld] they are motivated by worldly causes and actions. They take out their time for worldly activities and consider it a worthwhile investment of their time and effort to develop themselves here and now and not think about some afterworld which may not even exist. For the one who believes in the afterworld [over this present world] they are motivated by otherworldly causes and actions. They take out their time for otherworldly activities and consider it a worthwhile investment of their time and effort to prepare themselves here and now for what they believe will surely come true, and not to dwell so much on the pleasures and pains of their temporal existence here and now. This is motivation, and motivation comes from the world(s) you believe in. The most fortunate are those who believe in both this present world and the hereafter; take seriously their visions and goals for this life and the next and work to implement their importance equally. This is the greatest summit resulting from motivation. The most unfortunate are those who believe in neither this world nor the next, they think life is random and there is no clear purpose behind anything. Their actions are aimless and they get nothing out of life. This is the deepest and worst pit resulting from a lack of motivation. We must all reflect on what we believe in and to which world those causes take us toward - material or spiritual, worldly or otherworldly - and take actions upon those beliefs and causes, for what we believe in is, (in the final analysis and at the very least,) worth saving, since we cannot save ourselves from death but to the one who believes and works towards those lofty goals, he safeguards everything. And to the one who neither believes nor works toward anything lofty, he loses his beliefs and values, his life's work and himself. He loses everything.