Overcoming Adversity
Adversity:
Here to Break Us or Make Us?
Pain,
suffering, stress, and other difficulties are the admission tickets
to the game
of life. But, at times, we cannot help suspecting that life would
be much more pleasant without the hassles. Is that what you think?
Before answering, ponder the following. In a world without hurdles,
there are no champions; without suffering, there are no saints; without
battles, there are no victories; without rain, no rainbows. Doesnt
it appear that a world that includes pain is more rewarding than
one that doesnt? Isnt heat necessary to produce gold, pressure
and polishing necessary to produce diamonds, and adversity necessary
to produce character?
Heres
how Henry Ford expressed the same sentiment: Life is a series
of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though
sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built
to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and
grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.
Points
to Consider
1. Adversity
is unavoidable. So, dont fight it, accept it. Develop
the proper attitude, for as Havelock Ellis wrote, Pain and
death are part of life. To reject them is to reject life itself. Although
pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. We can choose to
be strong. It is not misfortune that produces suffering, but
an improper reaction to it.
Even
under the worst circumstances, we can choose to focus on the
positive
rather than the negative. Thomas A. Edison is an example. In
1914, a fire almost destroyed his New Jersey laboratories. Valuable
records of his experiments and two million dollars worth of equipment
were lost. When surveying the damage, the sixty-seven year old
Edison said, There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes
are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.
When
Hurricane Mitch swept across Central America and parts of the
U.S., it
left a path of destroyed homes, dashed dreams, and broken hearts.
After the storm subsided, birds returned to uprooted trees and
began to sing. Isnt it true, as Rose F. Kennedy says, Birds
sing after a storm; why shouldnt people feel as free to delight
in whatever remains to them?
2. Realize
that misfortune tells what fortune is. We need winter to
appreciate spring, rain to appreciate the sunshine, and adversity
to be thankful for the calm after the storm.
3. Recognize
misfortune for what it is: an opportunity to lift yourself
to a higher level. Sailors caught in a storm should prayer
not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.
Why should they accept the storm? Because a smooth sea never
made a skillful mariner.
When
an eagle believes her eaglets are large enough to learn how to
fly, she begins to take apart the nest and push the eaglets out.
After this rude awakening, the eaglets discover they have wings!
They can fly! The universe is constantly nudging us, pushing
us off one cliff after another, in the hope that one day we,
too, will discover our wings and soar to new heights.
4. Lessen your suffering by refusing to linger on past difficulties
or expecting future ones. Problems of the present are difficult
enough to deal with. Dont add to your misery by regretting
the past or worrying about what might happen in the future.
Mark Twain understood that it was pointless to fret about the
future when he said, I am an old man and have known a great
many troubles, but most of them never happened.
5. Realize
it could be worse. Count your blessings. Keep in mind the
Persian proverb: I cried because I had no shoes until I saw
someone with no feet.
Regardless
of how horrible your circumstances, you are probably not paralyzed
and unable to speak. However, Mr. Washington Roebling was. You
see, more than 100 years ago, Washingtons father, John, had
a dream to build The Brooklyn Bridge. Experts at the time believed
it to be impossible, but John finally persuaded the city to support
his project. He and his son, Washington, were the lead engineers
and the only ones who knew how to build such a bridge. After
just a few months into the project, there was an accident that
took the life of John and left his son with permanent brain damage.
Although unable to speak, write, or walk, Washingtons mind was
alert and he could move one finger. Determined to realize his
fathers dream, he developed a code, which made it possible to
communicate with his wife by tapping on her arm with his finger.
Washington tapped on his wifes arm for thirteen years, relaying
all the instructions for the engineers. Today, the bridge stands
as a testimony of how we can overcome any obstacle, if only we
choose to do so.
© Chuck Gallozzi
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Visit http://www.personal-development.com/chuck
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