Dealing with Adversity

The crucible of an adult is how they deal with adversity. Life throws all sorts of disappointments and challenges our way. We should accept that as the nature of reality. No one is shielded from trauma. No one is shielded from sadness. We are introduced early on to death and understand that life will end in tragedy, whether we like it or not.

We sometimes look at people from the other side of the fence and think, “Wow, they have got it made. They have a better job. They have more money. They have a better-looking girlfriend. They have healthy smart children”. And then look at ourselves and think we have so much less. Yet, we don’t see the adversity that those neighbors might face: death, disease, divorce, losing a job.  A Christian saying is that we should always be thankful for what we have, lest we anger God and see our lives take a turn for the worse.

Some might ascribe this Christian thinking to the slave mentality that Nietzsche so railed about. Yet, being content with what one has is more than religious teaching, it is a key to happiness. When a door closes, often another one opens. And the thing is we never know. Shelly Kagan is a famous American Philosopher who studies death. He has a famous course titled “Death” that was filmed and published on YouTube a few years ago. The most important lecture is one where he examines suicide. His argument is that there are cases where it makes sense. An avowed atheist, who spends the first part of the course convincing his students that death is the end and that we lack souls and that resurrection is not possible, he still sees a reason for suicide.

 According to Professor Kagan, if a person can see his life getting progressively worse over time with no hope of it ever getting better and that it gets so bad that it is unlivable, then it would make sense for them to commit suicide. Yet, I would think that as an atheist whatever life we are given, even one of pain should be better than disappearing into the ether and nothingness.

Whenever I am faced with adversity, I remember when I heard about and from Nicholas James Vujicic. He is a person born with no Limbs. He doesn’t have arms. He doesn’t have legs. He is an inspirational speaker who has considered suicide as a teenager. Yet he has gone on to become a speaker and an evangelist. He got married and has children. If one were to follow Professor Kagan’s advice, Mr. Vujicic would have killed himself long ago. Life without limbs might not be life at all. Yet there are countless examples. People like Helen Keller, who was born blind deaf-mute and yet managed to get a bachelor's degree.

When we are faced with life’s downs, with life’s challenges, we should always remember those people who had it much worse than us yet still managed to crawl their way up. It's not a slave mentality. It's not a weakness. It is a strength. Life is hard, but it might be all that is out there for us. And that in of itself should have us enjoy every moment we get. No matter how good or how bad it is.