Facing adversity

Is there any person on this earth who has not faced adversity? Life can be good, but adversities are also part of life. How does one face them with equanimity? It is difficult if the extent of adversity is very high. But one has to live through adversities and come back in life to succeed again. A sudden accident can make one lose limbs. A man who makes his living with his hands, will surely feel very bad and devastated if he loses his working hand. How about the effect of the announcement by the doctor that your child has cancer? Can parents take this news calmly? They will most probably faint when they hear it first. Some adversities are such that they shatter lives forever. But strong will and faith can help one face and conquer many adversities.

Who has not heard of Helen Keller? Her blindness and deafness could not shatter her indomitable spirit. There are many instances of such people. I had corresponded with families of cancer stricken children. The pain that I saw was enough to shake the bravest heart. I remember a small kid girl, who developed second degree burns as a reaction to her Chemotherapy. Her mother had a guest book and the notes on that site could make anyone weep. The pain that the child was undergoing was tremendous. But the photographs of a capped child smiling and laughing in the laps of her father were heart warming. Somewhere the spirit was alive in the family to fight it out cheerfully.

I also remember my conversations with a blind man of 70 years of age. He was secretary of one of the blind help groups. For sometime, during my talk, I realized that something strange was happening. Then suddenly it stuck me that this gentleman was using words such as Oh, I see, etc. without giving a pause. I was amazed with this talk. I knew that he had been a blind man for more than 40 years. I somehow gathered strength and asked him about usage of such words. He told me casually that there was nothing great about that. He could read and write and even type as well as any normal person. Though he had Braille. And he could see the faces with his touch. He had no regrets about his blindness. He had taken it as a fact of life and there was no feeling of having been dealt bad cards by the fate. Such people make us feel that adversities come to strengthen us. They test us. It is surely very tough to overcome them, but a strong will and faith in oneself and one's God can give enough strength to overcome them.

Let us look at the life as a moving vehicle. As we move, we pass many scenes. Some good and some dirty. But we sit though the journey peacefully and reach our destination. We mostly remain unmoved because - we are not directly pained by the scenes outside and our focus is more on reaching the destination. In any adversity, at least the second part can be applied. Come what may, our object should be to create a good life and live as an example for others. That should be our destination and that should be our motivation.