Make Use of Hardship

I have never heard anyone say, “I love hard times.” Well. Okay, maybe those who suffer from extreme poverty also dislike their condition not to be permanent. Will the favored among us stretch our hands for the needy? Which has been their long desire to live again?

Last year and this year we witness the economic down turn in many countries. Experts say it will be long and hard. So it calls for tighten belt of every individual. Hard times or adversity are always too long in our eyes. But adversity is necessary.  In this world geographical climate, winter and dry seasons kills crops and then makes way for something new. During winter or dry seasons creation loses its sparkle. A once luscious, green forest becomes dismal gray. Most flowers die while others crawl back under the soil to hide from the wintry or dry seasons and there is bush fire. Color, for a season, vanishes, and it seems, so does all of life. To add to the drab surroundings, the song of nature is stilled as birds take their song to a warmer environment, wild animal travel long enough for water. Is it any wonder that a greater percentage of people suffer from this hard times?

Like all creation, we too experience seasons in our life. Without exception, no one can live without going through personal hardship. Most of them are cold, lost of the love one, lost of property, stress, confusion and hardship. In other words Personal hardship can be categorized as dead, gray, and colorless tress and plants. It is easy to lose your song during these days. Many of us weep during hardship   and make us thinking of the good old days.

The recession, job losses, depression, home foreclosure, rejection, death of a loved one, abuse, sickness, marriage problems, divorce, addictions, loneliness, failures-these and more are the gray circumstances of a personal hardship. During adversity “something dies” so to speak. I don’t like hardship. However, it’s necessary. Hardship always precedes spring and every living thing must pass through a hardship to enter spring. This is a natural principle of life that applies to everyone and everything.

One would hardly hear rich country crying during hardship in years past. The ordinary rich today is confused, and bloody to the point of robbing to survive, but the few good ones maintain their inward charm and character.  For the bad ones their outer shell is not recognizable in hardship. Finally, when hardship takes its toll our characters come to bear. Whiles others die, other brings out their generous nature by feeding the poor and the needy.

Folks, I’m not surprised. Hard times are only doing its job by testing our character on modesty, patience, endurance, persistence, tolerance and empathy. I will end by a question and an advice from Henri Frederic Amiel which says “do you desire to know the art of living, my friend?  It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering”.