Adversity - A Guaranteed Way To Prosperity

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. 

~Quintus Horatius Flaccus

We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. 

~Barbara De Angelis

Adversity is a great teacher but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction, and often the profit we derive is not worth the price we paid. 

~Elizabeth Hardwick

These are some of the famous quotes from the people who have come across Adversity at least once in their entire lifetime and they are the ones who have managed to somehow get through it by means of sheer will and commitment. Seems easy, isn’t it? Believe me, it’s not. Adversity is not just a normal word, it’s a phase, a really bad one. A phase that tests you, your patience, and everything inside of you. Sometimes it even breaks you. Tears you apart. But if you manage to get through the trauma, it makes you strong. Even stronger than you really were. Dedication plays an important role here. No force on earth can tear you apart if you are committed to achieving your goals. If you think like a positive person, you will see a fine line between Adversity and Prosperity but if you have a negative outlook, that thin line will appear thick to you. That line is nothing but obstacles blocking your way to Prosperity. Can you imagine a world free of crimes or other malicious activities? It’s hard, right. It is just as hard as imagining prosperity everywhere.

Explanation of the first quote:

Through the first quote, it can be inferred that tough times reveal our hidden talents and our true self. It’s hard to say anything about a person who has never had harsh times in his life.

Explanation of the second quote:

Courage is not something that is developed by sitting idle at home but by surviving arduous phases in life. It can be achieved by means of accepting challenges that cross our path while we are on our way to prosperity.

Explanation of the third quote:

Adversity is a greater teacher than prosperity. We may lose a lot while we go through the adverse phase but we earn even more than that; the sacrifices that we made would seem nothing in front of our achievements.

The reason I have handpicked some of the quotes from these famous personalities is to make you understand their notions of hardships and adversity.

 

Now let’s look at the stories of some of my cronies who despite critical circumstances managed to get everything right:

Harsh Singh(A good friend and musician-to-be)

There are multiple times when you feel melancholic, it seems like the world has ceased to exist and in this deplorable state of mind you find yourself in a state where you are at your worst, for a person who has lost everything and has considered himself a loser. He starts incorporating the thoughts of self-distrust and blames himself for everything and I personally believe that nobody would want to see himself in such a quagmire. A major observation is that if a person spends too much time pondering upon such thoughts, it leads to issues like depression, anxiety, and the like. Contracting such an issue isn't an issue but discussing/concealing it is the Gordian Knot. 

I'm sharing the most traumatic part of my life with you in the hope of lending a helping hand in case you find yourself in such a tight spot.

When I was a juvenile(though I am still a juvenile), I used to admire a girl and it was the first time I liked someone so much. The fanciness of first love is very sensational; it gives you goosebumps when she talks to you, holds your hand, winks at you, gives you a wide smile and everything seems so perfect at that moment. You feel that nothing can go wrong if she holds my hand and walks with me. No storm or gust can affect you.

A day came, only after thorough consideration, I let my freak flag fly and gave a wide vent to my feelings. She was standing in the corridor and somehow I mustered the courage to confront my long-held feelings toward her. I took tiny steps and made it where she was standing. I muttered the three magical words and she responded with a slap. The place was crowded and everyone espied it. I could hear people guffawing and hooting behind my back. I felt abashed and appalling. I said to myself, "She could have said NO. There was no reason to slap. It's not bad to tell someone how you feel for him/her. It should not make the other person infuriated."

Soon after I discovered that I was being alienated. Nobody wanted to be my friend or talk to me. I found myself as an object of ridicule. Wherever I went(in the school), my peers treated me with contempt and made fun of me. Neither was I good in academics nor in any cultural and sports activities. I started ostracizing myself from my peers. One day I stood in front of a mirror and started questioning myself. Why is this happening? What's so wrong with me that everybody hates me? I harked back to every single mistake I committed and wrote down every single hiccup, from not having a proper walking style to not having good interpersonal and communication skills, on a piece of paper. I started investing in myself. I began to jog, started playing each and every sport, and started participating in all the cultural activities and the like. A sudden change in my behavioral pattern brought about a sudden change in me and the people around me. It transformed me into a person who was good at everything. Now everyone is interested in knowing how a single guy can have so many talents and can be good at every single thing. And I tell them that it's something that takes fortnights, years, or sometimes decades. It is a long process and tests your patience. What strategy did I employ? I think you deserve to know if you have read the treatise till here. I channeled my frustration and all my bugging thoughts into making myself a better being. I held a positive mindset and it led me in a positive direction.

My Verdict:

When you contract issues such as depression and anxiety, the basic thing that you need to do is to find the cause. Making yourself busy without a cause ain't gonna help you(will serve as a temporary solution). On the other hand, if you want a permanent solution to your problem(s), you need to find the cause and why it occurred to you in the first place. Don't live in a fool's paradise by ignoring the reality rather face it with fortitude.

Rest is up to you - Either get gin-soaked and splurge all your time in giving excuses for your miseries or come back stronger and spread the word -  No matter how many times you let me down, I will stand again and never give up.

A friend of mine(won't mention his name), a digital marketer, blogger, and freelancer 

Everyone went through some adverse phases in his/her life, including me. I remember the time when I used to lead a life of opulence. Not even a single day went by when I didn't go to a fine dining restaurant with my kith and kin. My Dad used to run a business back then and thanks to him, I never got to live a single day of misery. Whatever thing I put my hands on, I used to get that - be it the latest gadget in the market or the latest car.

Everything was going well but suddenly a day came when everything turned south and due to some unfortunate circumstances, my dad incurred huge losses in his business, which led to our downfall. It resulted in a huge debt that my Dad was bound to pay off. It was some crores. I don't exactly remember. We were going through a financial crisis. Everything we had, had to be sold off to defray the debt. My grandfather also lent a helping hand. It was just the beginning of a detrimental and unpropitious phase. We had to move to a different country where the language was the main barrier.

To support my family and overcome the economic turmoil, I had to work. My Dad was going through a lot so I told him to stay at home and take proper rest. A few days passed by, I started looking out for job opportunities and fortunately, I got employed at a sweet shop. I knew I was overqualified for the job but owing to my unpropitious circumstances I kept my pompous attitude aside and started working there. At first, they were a bit hesitant but when I told them about my marketing skills, they didn't even think twice and hired me.

From their perspective, I was a perfect fit for the job despite the language barrier. I am an Indian and they had a preconceived notion that Indian people were good at running businesses.

I was happy that I was in demand. I had a  thought that if I accepted this job now, I would get a decent salary and might even get promoted one day. There was no turning back. I swallowed my pride and started going there every day. On the day of my interview, I didn't know what I was getting into. I was just determined to get a job to make coin and both ends meet. Neither did I ask about the job description nor did I enquire about the salary. When I started going there, I realized that I got myself into troubled waters. At the end of the month, they gave me a meager salary and made me work 12 hours a day. I had to stand there the entire day. My legs started painting. I had several thoughts of quitting.

I was in a phase where I was befuddled and clueless. It was a traumatic phase. I was the one who used to go to a sweet shop and buy sweets for my kindred and cronies. I never thought that a time would come when I had to be a counter boy and hear the same words from a customer.

Once again I swallowed my pride and made a firm belief that no work was big or small. Two months into the job, it started getting worse because the workload was too much and to stand continuously for 10 to 12 hours with only a 30-minute break in between was not an easy choice for me.

Somehow I managed to keep a positive attitude throughout to overcome the situation by involving myself in senior management tasks by showing keen interest in their work, side by side. I said to myself,  “clouds in the sky can stop the sun from spreading its effulgence for a while but not permanently.” I started showcasing my skills by managing almost everything from handling sweet counters to working on google sheets.

I was climbing the ladder of success by getting promotions but my salary was still not enough to keep the wolf from the door.

After working in that company for a substantial amount of time and gaining significant experience, I decided to quit. One of the factors that contributed to the thought of quitting was not getting enough rewards for my hard work and extra work. I was completely aware that if I quit this job, I would be unemployed and have to start everything from scratch again. I stayed dug in my heels because I believed in myself and my abilities, which I knew will surely help me to get into a rewarding organization. At least better than the previous one.

My Verdict:

Last but not least, I want to conclude by saying that one should never give up on oneself, whatever the circumstances are because giving up on yourself means giving up on everything. Keeping yourself pragmatic and showing hunger for opportunities while such adverse situations is the key. Because if you succeed in developing a positive mindset during such an inimical turn of events, you can achieve and overcome anything.

Vedansh Sinha(A good friend and doctor-to-be) 

I've had my fair share of vicissitudes in life(though it's just the beginning). Neither am I too experienced nor am I a consummate in this field but I am sure what I am about to say will surely help the readers of this excerpt to a significant degree.  

What I have found to be veracious every single time is that no one really cares about your plights or predicaments because their lives don't get affected by you or depend on you. The only person who gives a hoot about you and depends on you is none other than you. If I were to give my advice,  I would advise people to think about themselves, what their ambitions are and what they are doing to achieve those. I tried to seek the counsel of many of my companions and each one of them told me a million ways to cope with the issues I faced but that never did me a good turn. What it did was give me some gratification or complacency. Some inquisitiveness from people made me feel good because that's human nature but the person who would not only commiserate with but help you do away with your problems is none other than you. 

In my opinion, the best way to cope with your issues is – to sit down, give a wide vent to your feelings, and once you are done doing that, take a moment to realize why you are in such a sitch and then, how you will break out of it. No matter how much commiserations you gather from people around you, it will never help you fettle the issue. It will only camouflage its effect. That is my way of looking at it and what has worked the best for me.

A couple of months ago, I parted ways with my girlfriend. I told a few people. They said they felt abysmal. It felt good that someone had solicitude for me. In the beginning, it felt good but soon I apprehended that I was just suppressing my issue by masking it so I stopped talking too much about it and started working on myself.