Human Adversities

Failure is only a part of success, and not its opposite. Failure is a gain, and not a loss, if you can learn, change, and grow from it.

Indeed, adversities are some of the realities of your life. In order to live in reality, you must learn to accept and embrace them. This is also another reality of life and living.

Adversities are like rites of passage, which come in three different stages. In the first separation stage, you may feel separated from your comfort zone. In the second confusion stage, you may find yourself in no-man’s-land, at a loss of knowing what to do next. In the final transformation stage, you may initiate the changes not only to cope with the adversities but also to overcome the pain and suffering associated with them.

Human pain comes in different forms: emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual pain. The good news is that you may learn from your pain and suffering, as well as become awakened from the illusion that your pain and suffering will go on forever.

A believer can turn to The Book of Job, one of the wisdom books of the Bible, to seek divine guidance to help with the problem of adversities. According to the biblical story, Job tragically lost seven sons and three daughters, as well as all his wealth. He then began to question God’s punishment for his righteousness. However, Job’s enlightenment finally came when he realized that even though God as his Creator had the right to do whatever He pleased or chose to. His own suffering was not the punishment from God—his pain was the pain of the surgeon’s scalpel, rather than the pain of the executioner’s whip. In other words, God had inflicted suffering on Job just to refine his righteousness, to remove his pride, and to make him trust God. That’s to say, his Creator had transformed him for the better.

A non-believer, on the other hand, feeling despair and unfairness, may also be self-awakened to the wisdom that suffering is an opportunity for mental growth and character building—essentials for the pursuit of gifts and talents.

You may now appreciate the importance of moving forward, instead of looking back in anger.

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." (Philippians 3:13)

Living in reality is process of moving forward with persistence and perseverance.

The bottom line: Just remember that you’re not alone in facing adversities that aren’t everlasting. Fear that your pain and suffering will go on indefinitely is often worse than the actual experience of pain itself because fear is seldom real, if you’ve self-belief. In addition, your own experience of pain and suffering may activate the goodness inherent in you—just like your initial discovery of your own gifts and talents. Now, you may discover your strength in your vulnerability, your ability to function even within your limitation, as well as your compassion and gratitude for those who’re not even related or close to you. This inter-connection of self to others and everything in the world around is self-awakening.

Stephen Lau