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9 TYPES OF HOPELESSNESS AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT

By Therese J. Borchard

I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the topic of hope because, if anything is going to help me climb out of the Black Hole of depression, it’s a sense of hope. In their book, “Hope in the Age of Anxiety,” psychology professors Anthony Scioli and Henry Biller discuss hope from a variety of different perspectives, combining psychology with philosophy, biology, anthropology as well as the literary classics.

I went straight to chapter thirteen, of course, and read “Overcoming Hopelessness: Escape from Darkness.” The authors argue that there are nine forms of hopelessness, each related to the disruption of one or more of the basic needs that comprise hope; attachment, mastery, or survival. The authors present three “pure forms” of hopelessness resulting from breakdowns in one of these three needs or “motive systems” (alienation, powerlessness, doom). There are also six “blended” forms of hopelessness which results when two needs are challenged. We can overcome hopelessness by first recognizing which of these nine types we are confronting. For each form of hopelessness, they present a mind-body-spirit treatment cocktail, involving a restructuring of thoughts, accessing the right kind of hope-sustaining relationship, and specific spiritual practices. Armed with these prescriptions we can summon the light back into our lives.
Here are the nine types of hopelessness and just some of the strategies recommended by Scioli and Biller. For the whole treatment package, consider getting your own copy of “Hope in the Age of Anxiety.”

1. Alienation (Attachment)
Alienated individuals believe that they are somehow different. Moreover, they feel as if they have been cut loose, no longer deemed worthy of love, care, or support. In turn, the alienated tend to close themselves off, fearing further pain and rejection.

2. Forsakenness (Attachment and Survival)
The word “forsaken” refers to an experience of total abandonment that leaves individuals feeling alone in their time of greatest need. Recall Job in the Old Testament, crumpled over and covered with sores, pleading with a seemingly indifferent God.

3. Uninspired (Attachment and Mastery)
Feeling uninspired can be especially difficult for members of underprivileged minorities, for whom opportunities for growth and positive role models within the group may be either lacking or undervalued.

4. Powerlessness (Mastery)
Individuals of every age need to believe that they can author the story of their life. When that need is thwarted, when one feels incapable of navigating one’s way toward desired goals, a feeling of powerlessness can set in.

5. Oppression (Mastery and Attachment)
Oppression involves the subjugation of a person or group…. The word “oppressed” comes from Latin, to “press down,” and its synonym, “down-trodden,” suggests a sense of being “crushed under” or “flattened.”

6. Limitedness (Mastery and Survival)
When the struggle for survival is combined with a sense of failed mastery, individuals feel limited. They experience themselves as deficient, lacking in the right stuff to make it in the world. This form of hopelessness is all too common among the poor as well as those struggling with severe physical handicaps or crippling learning disabilities.

7. Doom (Survival)
Individuals weighed down by this form of despair presume that their life is over, that their death is imminent. The ones most vulnerable to sinking into this particular circle of hell are those diagnosed with a serious, life-threatening illness as well as those who see themselves worn out by age or infirmity. Such individuals feel doomed, trapped in a fog of irreversible decline.

8. Captivity (Survival and Attachment)
Two forms of hopelessness can result from captivity. The first consists of physical or emotional captivity enforced by an individual or a group. Prisoners fall into this category as well as those help captive in a controlling, abusive relationship. We refer to this as “other-imprisonment.”…An equally insidious form of entrapment is “self-imprisonment. This occurs when individuals cannot leave a bad relationship because their sense of self will not allow it.

9. Helplessness (Survival and Mastery)
Helpless individuals no longer believe that they can live safely in the world. They feel exposed and vulnerable, like a cat after being declawed or a bird grounded by a broken wing. Trauma or repeated exposure to uncontrolled stressors can produce an ingrained sense of helplessness. In the words of one trauma survivor, “I was terrified to go anywhere on my own … I felt so defenseless and afraid that I just stopped doing anything.”

Overcoming Alienation and its offshoots (Alienation, Forsakenness, Uninspired)
[Pure Alienation] This form of hopelessness may be fueled by cognitive distortions such as mind reading, overgeneralization, or all-or-nothing thinking. … Many who feel alienated assume (wrongly) that absolutely no one is, or ever will be, in their corner. The antidote for mind reading is to examine the emotional evidence. This requires courage in the form of trust and openness to survey how others actually experience you.
If you feel forsaken, it is important to get outside of your head to see if your inner reality is an accurate reflection of the outside world. Most people who feel forsaken are overgeneralizing from a relatively small sample of experiences. With more extensive sampling, it is highly likely that they will encounter more hope-promoting responses from others. The antidote to all-or-nothing thinking is thinking in shades of gray–opening oneself up to the continuum of possibilities for one’s life.

Overcoming Doom and its offshoots (Doom, Helplessness, Captivity)
Those who feel doomed as a result of a medical or psychiatric diagnosis may “jump to conclusions.” The best antidote for jumping to conclusions is “examining the evidence.” If you are diagnosed with a serious illness, do your homework and get the facts. For example, Harvard anthropologist Stephen Jay Gould was diagnosed with a rare abdominal cancer at the age of 40. When told that the median survival time for someone with this disease was only 8 months, he did some research. In his essay, “The Median Isn’t the Message,” Gould shared how his knowledge of statistics helped him to “examine the evidence.” He was able to tell himself, “Fine, half the people will live longer. Now what are my chances of being in that half?” After factoring in his age, his relatively healthy lifestyle, the early stage of diagnosis, and the quality of health care available, Gould arrived at a far more hopeful prognosis. In fact, he lived another 20 years before succumbing to an unrelated illness.

Overcoming Powerlessness and its Offshoots (Powerlessness, Oppression, Limitedness)
Three cognitive distortions frequently underlie feelings of powerlessness: discounting the positive, personalization, and labeling. When individuals cannot appreciate their talents and gifts, they are prone to discount any evidence of personal success or effectiveness. Examining the evidence is a good strategy for dealing with discounting the positive. One way to do this is to make a list of successes, particularly in the general domain you are discounting. For example, if you are prone to discounting a good grade on an exam, write down any past successes of an intellectual nature. If you tend to discount a work or social achievement, reflect on past occupational or group-related achievements.

It is common for those who are oppressed to engage in personalization and self-blame. A strategy for counteracting self-blame is re-attribution. This involves considering all the likely causes of negative emotions.
When individuals feel limited because of a perceived physical or intellectual disability, they may fall prey to labeling. To attack harmful labels, “define your terms.” For example, if you feel or are labeled “stupid,” reflect on the actual definition of the term. Are you always “making bad decisions”? Are you always “careless” and “unable to learn”? Unless this description, taken directly from the “American Heritage Dictionary,” applies to you, then you are not “stupid.”

Reprinted from Hope in the Age of Anxiety: A Guide to Understanding and Strengthening Our Most Important Virtue by Anthony Scioli and Henry B. Biller (Oxford University Press). © 2009 by Oxford University Press.

The Hidden History - The Khazar Empire

Status

Today is Jumah and the house is so quite with the men gone to pray, even my grandson now 6 went to the Masjid.  I never get much time alone at home and Alhumdulilah this time is precious to me. I reflect on my life and where I am going, what changes I need to make and what new knowledge I have learned to put to use.

Sometimes I just want a bubble bath and soak for an hour with no noise or comments, no "What are you cooking, Ma?" Just the hum of silence, aw only those that have experienced the much to noisy chatter of daily life can appreciate the hummm of silence. I thank my Lord for this moment; I better go and enjoy, may your day be blessed and full of barakat, Ameen.

Will Israeli Attack on Iran Provoke the appearance of yet Another False Mehdi?

 

Signs of Last Days

by Islamic Scholar Imran Hosein

 

Tuesday, 22 Sha'ban 1431

 

Prophet Muhammad prophesied the advent of an Imām who would emerge by Divine decree to lead the world of Islam at that time when the true Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon them all), was about to return.  The Prophet declared of that end-time Imām that he would arise from within the ranks of the Muslims: “How would you be”, he said, “when the son of Mary descends amongst you and your Imām would be from your own ranks!” (Sahīh Bukhāri).
An Imām in the religion of Islam is both a religious as well as a political leader; hence the office of the Imām is synonymous with that of Amīr or Khalīfa (Caliph).  The Hadīth therefore prophesied that one (Islamic) government would eventually rule over the entire world of Islam, and that the Imām would be both the political as well as the religious head of that government. 

This prophecy anticipated the present sorry status quo in which the Islamic Khilāfah (Caliphate) has been replaced by republican so-called Islamic States based on petty tribal nationalisms – Egyptian, Saudi, Pakistani, Arab, Malay, Punjabi, Bengali, Persian (Iranian) etc. African-American Muslims have even embraced Louis Farrakhan’s ‘black Muslim nationalism’. Some of them, such as Turkey and Bangladesh have even imposed secular constitutional bans preventing Islam from playing any political role in the affairs of the State.

In addition, these so-called Islamic republican States are all required to be members of international organizations such as the United Nations Organization, and to submit to the authority of those (non-Muslims) who control power in these organizations.  Hence Muslims now live in a state of submission to non-Muslim authority. The political authority which ultimately controls the affairs of Muslims is no longer located within their own ranks. Rather, that political authority is located in secular governments which themselves are subservient to the authority of the Security Council of the UN and the governing board of the IMF, etc. But the prophecy also gave the assurance of an end-time restoration of that Islamic Khilāfah (Caliphate). This is a matter of supreme importance for contemporary international affairs since the Islamic Khilāfah (Caliphate) represents Islam’s conception of a State which recognizes Allah’s Sovereignty, in contrast to Europe’s secular model of a State which recognizes (blasphemously so) the people to be sovereign. The Islamic Khilāfah is also located at the very heart of Islam’s conception of an international order which respects religious freedom and recognizes tribal diversity while tolerating no oppression on Allah’s earth. The present European system of secular nation-States based on territorial sovereignty, national citizenship, etc. which has effectively destroyed the unity of the Muslim world, would therefore have to come to an end and Dār al-Islām would have to be restored with the advent of Imām al-Mahdi.

It is far-fetched to presume that such a momentous transformation of the world of Islam which would extricate Muslims from the paralyzing grip of the United Nations Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, etc., and which would restore the Gold Dinār and silver Dirham as money, can be achieved without an armed struggle for liberation. That armed struggle is confirmed in a Hadīth narrated by Ali (radiallahu ‘anhu) in which the Prophet declared that the Imām, who would be his descendent, and hence an Arab, would emerge not only to restore the Islamic Khilāfah but also to restore peace and justice to a world that would at that time be filled with injustice and oppression. He would therefore defeat all the forces of injustice and oppression prevalent in the world at that time:
“Even if only a day remains for Qiyāmah to come, yet Allah will surely send a man from my family who will fill this world with such justice and fairness, just as it initially was filled with oppression.”

(Abu Dawud)

The advent of Imām al-Mahdi will herald the restoration of the Islamic Khilāfah (Caliphate) and a Pax Islamica in which power in the world would rest on foundations of faith (in Islam) and would be used to punish the oppressor and come to the aid of the oppressed. The sunlight of freedom and justice, peace and happiness will therefore reach the Holy Land, as well as Kashmir, Singapura, Haiti, and elsewhere. It would also herald a new dawn in which the entire world of Islam would have to submit to the rule of an Arab who would be a resident of the city of Madinah in Arabia where Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) is buried and where Jesus would eventually be buried (next to him).

Even though Jesus has not as yet returned, and indeed cannot return until Dajjāl the false Messiah or Anti-Christ has completed his mission of impersonation of the true Messiah, there have already been several claimants to the office of Imām al-Mahdi. The last of these false Mahdis made his appearance in Sudan, and prior to that in Qadian in India, more than 100 years ago.  The false Qadiani Mahdi went on to make the ludicrous claim that he fulfilled in his person the prophecy concerning the return of the true Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiyani established a mysterious sect known as the Ahmadiyyah Movement which has consistently found favor with those who have been waging war of Islam ever since a European Pope launched the European Crusades.

This essay suggests that an Israeli attack on Iran (and Pakistan), expected at any time now, is likely to provoke the emergence of yet another such person who would claim to be the Imām al-Mahdi. This is a matter of much more than passing importance for the followers of Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) since the advent of Imām al-Mahdi occupies a position of supreme importance in Islamic eschatology – both Shia as well as Sunni.

Since the mysterious emergence from within Europe’s bosom of Pax Britanica, and its successor Pax Americana, the world has experienced unprecedented political economic cultural racial and military oppression and injustice. While Muslims have always remained the primary target of these awesomely powerful forces of oppression, they have not been their exclusive target. The primitive peoples of the world, resident in particular in such “ethnically-cleansed” lands as USA, Canada, many parts of South and Central America, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere have been literally wiped out like cockroaches. Muslims are now preparing themselves for the greatest oppression of all which they expect from the Pax Judaica that is about to replace Pax Americana. Indeed this writer recognizes Israel’s Pax Judaica to be the Daabatul Ard (or beast of the land) which is one of the major Signs of the Last Day prophesied by Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alahi wa sallam).

This writer is of the view that anyone who claims at this time to be the Imām al-Mahdi, would have made a false claim, and this essay attempts to explain why this is so. The Imām al-Mahdi will emerge only at that time, and not a moment before, when Allah Most High ordains that he emerge.  And so the question we need to answer is, when will Allah Most High ordain that the Imām should emerge? The advent of the Imām cannot occur randomly but rather, must fit into a Divine plan. What can be that plan?

Since Allah Most High created Dajjāl the false Messiah or Anti-Christ and programmed him to impersonate the true Messiah, it follows that Dajjāl would not successfully complete his mission of impersonation until he rules the world in person from Jerusalem. It is only at that time when he has successfully completed his mission of impersonation that he can make a declaration to the effect that he is the true Messiah, and only then can he hope that members of the Zionist Judeo-Christian alliance would accept his fraudulent claim. It is only at that time - and not a moment before - that Jesus will return. And since Prophet Muhammad has informed us that that the advent of Imam al-Mahdi will be contemporaneous with the return of Jesus it follows that the Imam can emerge only shortly before the return of Jesus.

(For an explanation of this subject readers should kindly see my book entitled Jerusalem in the Qur’an, available on my website).

In addition, the members of the Zionist Judeo-Christian alliance are well aware about the prophecy concerning Imām al-Mahdi. Hence if the Imām were to emerge before Dajjāl makes his claim to be the true Messiah, the implication would be that such Jews and Christians could experience such a crisis of faith as could deter them from embracing Dajjāl as the true Messiah.

It follows therefore that the Divine wisdom would ordain the advent of the Imām only at that time when such an event would not jeopardize Dajjāl’s effort to successfully complete his mission.
Those like the present Iranian President who expect the Imām’s imminent emergence should know that he cannot emerge until Dajjāl has established his rule (from Jerusalem) over the world, and has declared himself the true Messiah. The fact is that Dajjāl has not as yet even emerged as ruler of Israel, and that Pax Judaica has not as yet replaced Pax Americana. The world may still have to wait for another two or three decades for these events to occur.

When Israel does launch an attack on Iran’s and Pakistan’s nuclear plants, it is certain that the Judeo-Christian Zionists would respond by placing unbearable pressure on USA, UK and NATO to join in the war in support of Israel. That war, as well as other possible wars to follow, would ultimately realize for Israel the status of ruling state in the world. Israel will then attempt to impose Pax Judaica upon mankind. Only when that has been achieved - and it does seem possible that it can be achieved, can we expect Dajjāl to appear in person in our world of space and time.

This essay warns of the possible loss of faith by many Muslims if and when Israel does launch an attack on Iran and Pakistan, and either Sunnis or Shia are subsequently deceived into embracing a false Imām al-Mahdi. That traumatic loss of faith can occur when the false Imām is eventually killed or assassinated, or he becomes a willing client (Saudi-style) of those now waging war on Islam.

Post Script:
When Imam al-Mahdi does emerge, and proclaims himself to be the Mahdi, Muslims would be required to pledge their allegiance to him (Baiyah) and join him even if they have to crawl over ice to do so. A refusal to pledge allegiance to the Imam would entail dire consequences in this world as well as the next. But Muslims have to beware that that do not pledge their allegiance to a false Mahdi since the consequences of such a mistake will also be severe.
  
Note: The terms Pax Britanica, Pax Americana and Pax Judaica refer to world orders over which Britain, USA and Israel ruled.Pax Islamica on the other hand is comprised of Dar al-Islam or the world which submits to Allah’s sovereignty and which is ruled in accordance with Allah final law as revealed in the Qur’an. It is also comprised of Dar al-Ahd or the world which lives in a state of contractual peace and non-aggression with Dar al-Islam, and Dar al-Harb or the world of injustice and oppression which must eventually be liberated from oppression.

The Size of Africa

Frank Jacobs on November 20, 2006, 3:29 AM

Africa remains the least developed continent, and the most plagued by disease, poverty and malnutrition. The ‘dark continent’ also largely remains off the news radar in the developed world, although it’s not clear to me whether that is a consequence or a cause of the troubles it suffers.

Christian Preacher Says STOP EATING PORK

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