From April 13th, 2015:
Smiling in the Face of Adversity
by Maggie Miller
Adversity introduces a man to himself”
– Albert Einstein– C.S. Lewis
According to C.S. Lewis and Albert Einstein, adversity and hard times not only mold us to be better versions of ourselves, but also prepare us to accomplish and achieve more at a later point in life. This sentiment is both comforting and inspiring. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and drowning in work, we can feel anticipation, accomplishment, and admiration. The overwhelming feeling suddenly changes to an opportunity: a challenge to prove talents and skills, or a change to learn how to improve them. This leads to anticipation: a chance to test ourselves and the hope we pass. Many of us are afraid for this test because we could fail; however, if we never test ourselves, how will we ever know what we are truly capable of? This question leads in to the feelings of accomplishment. Even if our efforts fall short of our desires, we can feel proud of having the courage and guts to try in the first place.
We also learn to admire what we accomplish and the adversity we struggle through. Struggling through adversity breaks us down to our most fundamental pieces, and we must build ourselves back up, stronger, smarter, better. In a way, the key to self-worth, self-confidence, and self-improvement is hardship. Without hardship, where would the need to improve come from? Without the need to improve, we settle on whom we are now instead of looking forward to who we could be and what we could do. Even though adversity, hardship and stress complicate and often inhibit life’s joys, these are the greatest thing that could happen to anyone because it provides a chance for improvement. For me, I am nearly through the most difficult semester of my school career and I could not feel any more stressed than I already do. Yet I can smile at the stress and hardship I feel because I know even if I do not accomplish all of my goals, I can find comfort in the effort I put forth and the knowledge that I will not falter to the same struggle in the same way again.
This post was provided by: http://niuhonors.blogspot.com/
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