ADVERSITY
Adversity is an adverse or unfortunate condition marked by misfortune, calamity or distress. I believe that adversity is part of the human experience. It is unavoidable. It is a necessity component in the evolution of our life experience. Without it, it stunts the growth of character. In the absence of adversity, creativity and conviction will suffer a premature death. Most individuals would rather avoid adversity but, I believe we should welcome it with open arms. If you really think about it, when a person is met with an unfortunate condition, it creates a challenge which most likely they will over come. In doing so, they wittingly or unwittingly, contributed to the strengthening of their character. Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, famously said; "That which does not kill us make us stronger." The problem, as I see it, is that most individuals after an adverse situation, get into a negative place that can be difficult to retreat from. I am not excusing an individual's negativity but if you take a moment to look around at what is being pumped into our minds from media, corporate America, advertisers, social media, family and friends, it is no wonder why there are so many with anxiety disorders. All we have to do for proof is look in our own backyard to see what's going on.
Turn on the news or read any articles on current events and you would think that America is coming to an end. Between social injustice, the current pandemic, forest fires in the western portion of our country and hurricanes in the southeast, it would seem to some that life is not worth living. But, this is a defeatist attitude. If you research the history of civilization, adversity is part of civilization and it has made us collectively and personally better. In the 50's it was the polio epidemic. No one born after 1955 can imagine the terror that gripped whole communities before a vaccine was perfected. If you think racial injustice is a problem today, it was rampant in the 50's. Even in progressive California, Blacks, Latinos and Asians all had their areas and were expected to stay in their neighborhoods. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 60's, was the Vietnam war, civil rights protest, assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the Cuban Missile Crisis. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 70's, there was the Munich Massacre, Watergate, Invasion of Cambodia, gas crisis that resulted in long lines at the gas pumps and created the even/odd license plate rule, and Americans were held hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 80's, there was the AIDS epidemic, and the cold war. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 90's, there was the Gulf war. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 2000's, there was the 9-11 attacks. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 2010's, there was the opioid epidemic, student loan crisis, and the decline in life expectancy. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. Through all these adversities, America and we the people, were made not only stronger but better.
The way I see it, not any amount of worrying or focusing on the negative throughout our past or into the future will change anything. Not to sound callous but it was, what it was. Things are supposed to happen for a reason. Adversity happens so that we can all get better. We should all welcome it. I look at things that happened or are happening in our country or things that happen to me in a personal level as things that "just happen." In other words, it is what it is. Embrace it and in the words of Nietzsche, "That which does not kill us make us stronger." By you worrying or living angry will not change anything for the better. In fact, it will make your life a horrible experience. "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Albert Cawus
Just a thought.
Turn on the news or read any articles on current events and you would think that America is coming to an end. Between social injustice, the current pandemic, forest fires in the western portion of our country and hurricanes in the southeast, it would seem to some that life is not worth living. But, this is a defeatist attitude. If you research the history of civilization, adversity is part of civilization and it has made us collectively and personally better. In the 50's it was the polio epidemic. No one born after 1955 can imagine the terror that gripped whole communities before a vaccine was perfected. If you think racial injustice is a problem today, it was rampant in the 50's. Even in progressive California, Blacks, Latinos and Asians all had their areas and were expected to stay in their neighborhoods. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 60's, was the Vietnam war, civil rights protest, assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the Cuban Missile Crisis. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 70's, there was the Munich Massacre, Watergate, Invasion of Cambodia, gas crisis that resulted in long lines at the gas pumps and created the even/odd license plate rule, and Americans were held hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 80's, there was the AIDS epidemic, and the cold war. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 90's, there was the Gulf war. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 2000's, there was the 9-11 attacks. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. In the 2010's, there was the opioid epidemic, student loan crisis, and the decline in life expectancy. It made us all collectively and personally stronger. Through all these adversities, America and we the people, were made not only stronger but better.
The way I see it, not any amount of worrying or focusing on the negative throughout our past or into the future will change anything. Not to sound callous but it was, what it was. Things are supposed to happen for a reason. Adversity happens so that we can all get better. We should all welcome it. I look at things that happened or are happening in our country or things that happen to me in a personal level as things that "just happen." In other words, it is what it is. Embrace it and in the words of Nietzsche, "That which does not kill us make us stronger." By you worrying or living angry will not change anything for the better. In fact, it will make your life a horrible experience. "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Albert Cawus
Just a thought.