14.0 Understanding Culture

14.1 What is "Understanding Culture"?

In nurturing our hearts, it is important we understand that culture significantly influences one's personality. Why should we understand culture? It is so we can better understand the factors influencing the nature of ourselves and others. There are two basics of a person's nature: A person possesses both good and bad characteristics; these two elements of character can never be equal. These basics are exempted to newborn babies as they are comparable to blank sheets. Thus, the vital driving force in influencing one's character is the culture surrounding the person. A personal ideology understanding is that the culture is comprised of current practices of certain beliefs and regulations in a specific region's society. Different regions differ to another in the perspective of culture.

14.2 Understanding the Culture

As discussed at the beginning of the topic, a person possesses both good and bad characteristics. That rule applies to culture, wherein a culture is comprised of good and bad practices. The determination factor for standardizing the culture is the society within the region. How does a society work? The generalization for every society would be the social stratification: The upper level, middle level, and lower level. Subjective to the region, the three levels of society have hierarchy differences in their cultural practices.

14.3 Responding to the Culture

Now we have gotten the gist understanding of what culture is and how it affects us. So, how should we respond to it? Are we to absorb it all regardless of its nature, or are we to be selective in absorbing it? There exists a lot of preventive and control measures in responding to the cultural norms. The selected measures in this thought-out article are as following:

1. "Be careful with who you associate with." - Mufti Ismail menk
2. "Fake it until you become it." - Amy Cuddy
3. Smile and refrain from talking when angered (Quoted: "A judge should not make a judgement between two persons when he is angered." - narrated by Abu Bakrah).
4. Be mindful of your intentions.
5. Be a neutralist in engaging conversation with people.

What happens when we indulge in positivity? We will be opened to everyone and offering acceptance in their opinions.

What happens when we indulge in negativity? We will be prejudiced to everyone and always arguing to their opinions.

14.4 The Key

In summing this topic, here's a psychology comparison catchphrase:

"Each of us is a seed. The seed grows depending on our emotions. Should we indulge majorly in positivity - i.e. forgiveness, praising, constructive competition - we will be a good person, an inspiration to others and luring alike personalities. Should we indulge majorly in negativity - i.e. hatred, cussing, destructive competition - we will be a bad person, isolated by others and luring alike personalities. The key catchphrase: Your heart is the seed, and its sources of nutritions you feed are your conveyed and received intention, speech and action."

I hope this topic benefits you as much as it has benefited myself, wa la hawla wa la kuwatta ila billah. Insha'Allah, the next topic will be posted in the near future.