Rising From Adversity

Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher of the 18th century, wrote, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” He believed that suffering inevitably exists in the world without meaning. Nonetheless, his view of how one deals with it, to bear the hardships and beat them, plays an essential part in building strength and character. To get the better of adversity, one finds a way to overcome its worthlessness.

The theme of pain and suffering also is realized in Buddhism, a beautiful religion I grew up with. I am passionate about this subject and its connection to life’s success. I have faced and quashed adversities at an early age: being stricken with polio, being fatherless, poor living conditions and struggling for food and shelter in Vietnam, being a war refugee, and the shock of grasping a new culture, language, life in America, nearly died from a large seed of a tropical fruit lodged in my throat at six years old. It is a relief to know who I am today comes from the resolve to resist being taken down by hard times. My mother is the sole inspiration behind my actions because she has gone through an unimaginable amount of trauma in her life and came out as a strong survivor; her quiet pillar of strength and courage is unreal.  

Our world has had its share of adversities. It is incredible to witness the fortitude of an individual, alone or collectively, embrace a negative impact and tackle it directly with passion and dignity. What Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, is doing for his country is powerfully uplifting. Others even go to great lengths to aid those who are weak and cannot fend for themselves. Mother Teresa, revered as one of the greatest humanitarians ever, devoted her life to her people by looking after abandoned babies and helping the poorest of the poor. This is one remarkable, selfless human willing to sacrifice her stature to help improve another’s plight. Have you experienced tribulation(s) that have resonated from within the belief that with action-focused and sheer determination, all good things can and will come out of a bad situation?

The most suffering so far is my present spinal cord injury, but truthfully, I accept this situation as another event to overpower. When present, the pain of misfortune harms our psychological and physical well-being. I have learned that with every victory you gain from the battles, the results will further reveal your inner self to amass growth and be more secure and unshakeable. You do not retract but rather face life’s treacherous roads head-on, and the positive outcome of personal renewal will be substantial and impervious to despair. Whatever your adversity is, and however daunting it may seem to put away, there is a purpose at hand to be the winner.

Unfortunately, one has to experience hardship, but we must do it to thrive gratifyingly as sound and poised individuals. As shared in my book Daily Reflections For Life’s Journey II, “To face and conquer adversity is vitally experiential in cultivating self-confidence to defy all negativity,” and from the great Maya Angelou, “You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”