Adversity creates the space for transformation
Posted by Kathleen Gage on August 22, 2009When you ask several people what adversity means you are likely to get many different responses. What about overcoming adversity? Again, it is likely you will get many different responses.
When one is in the midst of adversity we can easily think our challenges are more difficult than those experienced by others. Yet, when we step back and allow ourselves to view the situation of another from an empathetic perspective we often find our own pain can be minimized by the experiences of others.
Below is an excerpt from the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
“The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity even under the most difficult circumstances to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not.”
Victor Frankl survived the atrocities of concentration camps during WWII. His experiences are chronicled in Man’s Search for Meaning. Building upon the premise that one can find meaning through suffering; Frankl beautifully illustrates how tragic optimism is the concept that a person is genuinely optimistic even in the face of extremely negative circumstances.
As we have our day to day experiences and things don’t go the way we planned are we able to maintain a level of optimism or do we dig in our heals because things are not as we hoped?
It is not always experience that creates the space for change. Often the example of another can lend itself to amazing transformation.
An incredible example of what is possible when one searches for meaning beyond the experience can be found in Victor Frankl’s book.
For other examples that can create the space for change access the FREE eBook, Overcoming Adversity with Grace.
Many people have watched the program, Little People, Big World. The program is meant to be entertaining, give viewers some insight into the lives of the Roloff family and show viewers that no matter how different we may be on the inside most of us have a lot in common.