Chapter 5

TRIUMPH IN ADVERSITY

Adversity can make you or break you. It can mould your life and make it
successful and beautiful or it can make you crumble. Adversity is like a
strict teacher whose teaching is invaluable but nobody likes it. Everybody
can come out of an adversity stronger, but it requires courage, introspec-
tion and effort. Several instances are there when people have been broken
or shattered by an adversity in their life. But remarkable are those who
do not bow down before difficulties but overcome them by dint of their
effort; they rise above their problems, and find astonishing solutions in the
face of difficulties. They are the ones who are truly admired and respected
by all. They are the ones who make history. They are the ones who move
ahead and grow to great heights; adversity makes them stronger.
There are two possibilities in an adversity: either it will defeat you
or you will defeat it. Which of the following ways do you want to choose?
If you want to defeat adversity then make it count.

Make adversity count

“A fighter never loses and a loser never fights.”
What has happened is past, how you respond is present. Focus on
what can happen rather than on what has happened.
Never give up, fight till the last moment of your life.
Adversity is the moulding phase of life, bear with it and be patient.
Introspect and enquire.
A noble idea, a noble person, a noble cause always triumphs.
Do follow your routine, involve yourself in work and remain positive.
Look at the things that are right in your life as opposed to what is
wrong.

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Have faith and confidence in yourself, believe that you can rise above
every situation and do your best. Eventually you will.
Enjoy the struggle. Focus on the present and enjoy the work; just
detach your mind from all the things that cause you pain and focus on the
work.
Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Have faith in God. Do what-
ever you can.
You don’t have a quick fix for everything; it does not work all the
time.
‘It does not matter where we are,
what matters is where we are heading.’
—Anonymous
In his book, The Wings of Fire, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam narrates one very
interesting incident. It happened when his dream of becoming an air force
pilot was shattered, the dream which he had had all his life. He was very
much disappointed and distraught; he then met saint Sivananda who
spoke to him thus:
‘Desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and
intense, possesses awesome electromagnetic energy. This energy is re-
leased into the ether each night, as the mind falls into the sleep state.
Each morning it returns to the conscious state reinforced with cosmic
currents. That which has been imaged will surely and certainly be mani-
fested. You can rely upon this ageless promise as surely you can rely upon
the eternally unbroken promise of sunrise and of spring.’
‘Moments of despair and adversity are the mirrors
that reflect the deepest truth of life’
When in difficulties you delve deep within and think about your life
and analyse your actions; these moments mould you just as the potter’s
wheel moulds the clay into a pot when it is wet. Adversity is like that
potter’s wheel which moulds you into a better, a more refined person.
How you handle adverse situations is very important; so many people get
disturbed and commit all sorts of unwarranted acts when things are not
going well for them, yet there are others who dig deep and fight till they
achieve what they want. They grow and focus on the things that can be
set right rather than worrying about what has gone wrong. They are the
people who waste no time in crying and complaining about what has
already happened but, with all hope in the world, act and come out stron-
ger and better after every difficulty.

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Don’t stop, keep moving
A Vietnamese boy failed in his school examination. He became very dis-
appointed by his failure and started shunning the school. He did not like
to go to school. One day when he was passing his time away from the
school he saw a Buddhist monk chanting something, as follows.
‘Why does water not get dirty? Because it flows, it doesn’t stop.
Why does water never decay? Because it flows, it doesn’t stop.
Drops of water make a stream,
The stream becomes a river,
The river becomes a sea,
The sea becomes an ocean. How? Because it flows and it doesn’t stop.
Let my life never stop, let it flow, let it flow.’
The boy contemplated on the meaning of this verse after listening it
with rapt attention and understood its real meaning. The verse proved to
be a turning point in the life of this boy. He went back to school with
renewed enthusiasm and developed a new outlook and started concentrat-
ing on studies.
He grew up to be a great leader of his country. He fought against
foreign powers for 22 years. He fought with Japan and France for the
freedom of his country and with America for the unification of his coun-
try. This man of Vietnam, who became the Prime Minister and President
of his country, was Ho Chi Minh.
Never mind what has already happened in life; there are some things
about which you cannot change; don’t brood over the past, remember its
lessons and forget the rest. You always have control over how you act and
react in the present. Don’t let your life stagnate by disappointments; a
moment can change your life; act, just start today, right away, right now,
don’t hold back ,instead make your life a life worth living. Don’t forget
that everything is within your grasp, you can always get it. Difficulties in
your life are like the keys to the hidden treaurses you have; value them
and unlock the abundant reserves within you.
‘The biggest opportunities come disguised in adversity.’
Stephen Hawking, a British physicist and mathematician, is consid-
ered the greatest theoretical physicist of the late twentieth century. He
has contributed a lot to the study of black holes. He has explored the
origin and evolution of this universe by his researches into the nature of
space and time. He has also written several books. Among his books is the
bestseller, A Brief History of Time.

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Stephen Hawking was once asked, ‘What do you feel about being in
a wheelchair?’
‘Not a lot …I try to lead as normal a life as possible and do not think
about my condition, or regret the things I can’t do, which are not many.’
By the way, he is not able to walk, he is not able to speak, his body is
weak and he has to remain seated in a wheelchair all the time.
He further said, ‘Before I was diagnosed with this condition I was
very bored with life. But the prospect of an early death concentrated my
mind wonderfully. I realised that life was good and there was a great deal
I wanted to do. I can safely say I am happier now than before my present
condition appeared.’
What a great attitude to life! The attitude with which one faces
difficulties and trying circumstances is what makes an ordinary person
an extraordinary one. Most of us waste our time, the precious time that
is allotted to us, in engaging ourselves in worthless activities, but adver-
sity sometimes makes us realise the value of time and life that is given
to us. Even in the worst of situations, you can win, provided you believe
in yourself.

Overcoming troubles
This young boy’s father died when he was an infant; he had to face all the
troubles and hardships to get education; he used to walk 8 miles to go to
school, and sometimes had to swim across the river Ganga with books
kept on his head to reduce the walking distance to school.
He was always in financial trouble owing to his father’s early death;
life was nothing short of a continuous struggle for him. When the other
children of his age played, he toiled hard; his life took a turn at the age
of sixteen when he was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi; after that he joined
India’s freedom movement and worked selflessly for the country. But the
difficulties were far from being over; he was imprisoned many times by
the British government; he spent about nine years of his life in prison.
He never stepped back but always forged ahead, with all the courage,
in the world; he was a man of great moral character and unshakeable
beliefs; finally he triumphed in life, playing a significant role in India’s
struggle for freedom; later he became one of the greatest politicians that
India has ever produced; he was the second Prime Minister of India; he
was Lal Bahadur Shastri.
A noble cause never fails, come what may.

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Never think that you cannot rise above your problems, al-
ways think your problems cannot rise above you and you will
overcome them.

Potential gains from adversity

Adversity makes you tougher and mature to handle difficult situations.
It gives you a deeper understanding of life.
It makes you realise that you are not the supreme; you can only act
and do your best.
It makes you realise the value of life.
It enhances your inner growth.
It disciplines you and teaches you to utilise your resources, including
time.
It enhances judgement.
It makes you focus on work harder and give up ordinary useless
activities.
It builds and reveals your character.
It teaches you humility.
It teaches that nothing stays for ever, not even adversity.
It adds new dimensions to your life which you never had before.
Buddhist Lama Yeshe sermonises us to look at life in a manner that
we can get rid of our anxieties and increase self-awareness—honesty,
acceptance and sincerity can help in understanding life. He says,
• Death is a fact of life.
• Change is the only constant phenomenon.
• Life goes on.
• Life moves on like a river.
Understanding these things is a must in life. At some point or the
other each and every one will be confronted with these. Pain and suffer-
ing will be caused if we do not understand them; they are an integral part
of life like our existence. We cannot run away from them.
‘When the heart grieves over what it has lost,
the spirit rejoices over what it has found’
—A Sufi proverb

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There is meaning in everything that happens; there is deep philoso-
phy involved, lessons worth a lifetime to be had. Sometimes we may not
superficially observe what we have gained but at deeper levels of con-
sciousness there is a significant gain from all the suffering or bad times
that one goes through. To understand what life is one has to go through
these experiences; to appreciate all that is good, you must know what is
bad. So in order to rejoice one has to go through suffering and develop a
higher understanding of the meaning. Life cannot be celebrated without
suffering or facing adversity.
‘If God is with us, who can be against us’
—8.31, Romans
Trust God and have faith in Him. Do your duty and don’t worry
about other things. There are times when you cannot help things but even
in the most trying circumstances and difficulties faith can help you fight
back. Have faith in yourself and whatever you do, do it as well as you can,
and always remember that sooner or later you will be the winner, what-
ever may be the situation.

Practise the art of dissociation

When the things are not happening as you would want them to happen,
when you are struggling, try to dissociate yourself from the things that
are happening. Remember when you were a child, you feared even an
injection; it was the most painful thing in the world for you at that time.
After some time going to school became the most painful thing for you.
However, you became used to school and made friends, then the report
card gave you trouble. It continues like this in life. Think about your
biggest troubles five years back; now you can look back and dissociate
yourself with those events; you can even smile at some of the troubles
that you had. Similarly, whatever the distress you have, try to develop a
sense of dissociation and see it as if you were watching it on the screen
as a movie and become an observer. Everything will pass. Always remem-
ber whatever happens, happens for the best. Your troubles are your as-
sets; find value in them.
The test of character is adversity.
The test of a friend is difficulty.
The test of toughness is pressure.
The test of strength is endurance.
The test of greatness is nobility.
The test of power is forgiveness.

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The test of courage is taking the roads less travelled.
The test of success is in repeating it.
‘If on your way to success you have not encountered
adversity, chances are that you are not really
successful; real success comes after adversity’
Most of the successful people owe their success to the difficult times
they had had to face; there is a lot of introspection and self-examination
that you go through when you are not successful. You don’t do so when
everything is going well, but when you are down that is the time when
you do introspection and think about your weaknesses and try to im-
prove yourself; that is what brings real success. The things that you
learn when you are down are the things which help you to get up and
reach greater heights.

Adversity is like friction

Science teaches us that resistance in the form of friction is needed for
creating motion; without friction motion cannot be created as desired;
even the tyres of the car would slide not be able to turn it or stop it.
Thus friction is imperative for motion, though it is resistant to nature.
Similar is the role of difficulties in life. Adversities create the necessary
friction, which is important for us to move forward and make progress
in life. They are the source of motion in our life; it appears that they are
restricting our movement but, in fact, they ensure that we do not collide
with anything by going too fast in a wrong direction. Realise the fact
that you cannot lead a life without difficulties, so ensure that you get
the best out of these adversities and that is the best thing that you can
do. These adversities come to test your resolve, your attitude and make
you a better person.
‘Often it is adversity that makes one access the most
valuable resource that is the power within;
with it anything is possible’
There are a lot of lessons taught by adversity you begin to under-
stand others, you grow, you learn to deal with difficulties, but perhaps the
most valuable thing is that adversity introduces you to yourself, your real
nature is revealed, doubts are dispelled; when you look within. It is ad-
versity which makes you access the abundance that you have but you
never bothered to tap it. You begin to understand yourself better. You
become equipped to copy with changes once you know and understand
yourself. Once you know yourself, you develop belief in the power within
you and think that there is nothing that you cannot achieve.

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‘The purest ore comes from the hottest furnace’
—Anonymous
A very well-known person who fought with adversity and overcame
his disability was Franklin D. Roosevelt; even though he was handicapped,
he was in no way inferior to any person having no physical disabilities.
He became President of the USA. Roosevelt was a handsome man; he was
nominated for the Vice President’s post at the age of thirty-eight. One hot
day he bathed in the chilly waters of the Bay of Fundy and contracted
paralysis at a young age and became crippled for life. He could not move
his body below the waist.
But Roosevelt was not someone who would go down without making
a mighty effort; he was a man of tremendous will power and firm resolve.
He used them to fight against disability and achieved amazing success.
After some time he was made the Governor of New York. He was diligent
and worked hard as the Governor and was soon nominated and elected as
President of the USA.
His task as the President of the USA was not easy. When he became
the President, America was facing an economic crisis. Millions of people
were struggling for jobs and were short of food, abodes and basic neces-
sities of life. He worked hard and formulated a plan which bailed the
country out of the crisis, thus proving his mettle as the President.
History of mankind is full of men who just did not accept defeat, no
whatever the situation; whatever the difficulties they faced them with an
ability that comes with poise. They were the people who had faith in
themselves and fought against all odds; they were the people who were
capable of doing things which the ordinary people could not imagine. A
physical disability can paralyse your body but make sure that it does not
paralyse your will power and mind, because they are most essential to
win the battle of life. Roosevelt is a great example of achieving an as-
tounding triumph.
‘Nothing can defeat you if you make up your mind
to fight, and nothing can save you if you have
accepted defeat’
If you continue to do your best irrespective of the situation you are
in, sooner or later you are going to change your life and circumstances.
Look at the great leaders, like Gandhi, Lincoln and Roosevelt, and you
will see something common in them. They were the leaders who grew up
in adversity and that was what made them strong and honoured; their
ability to handle difficult situations was a testimony to their fighting
prowess in critical moments in life. They had to face a lot of hardships,

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but they never accepted defeat. In fact with every blow their will power
grew stronger and they fought harder and succeeded when nobody ex-
pected them to succeed. If you accept defeat, you cannot move forward but
if you stick to your work and keep doing your best you create the best
opportunity to succeed.

A remarkable comeback
His head was shaved with small markers and the doctors said to him,
‘We’re just going to make a little hole, pop it out, remove the lesions, put
it back in and cover it up.’
They were talking about his skull. Suffering from chronic pain, Lance
Armstrong’s disease was diagnosed as testicular cancer that would even-
tually spread to his lungs and brain. The doctors told him that he had less
than fifty per cent chance of survival, what to say of participating in a
cycle race.
Tour de France is one of the toughest and most gruelling events for
an athlete to participate in. One has to cycle more than 100 miles a day
for three weeks straight in inclement and uncertain weather. Armstrong
says that even some of the cars would break down under such conditions.
It is almost draining for a human body. The cycle race involves a tremen-
dous physical and mental strain. The riders sustain injuries and bruises
and meet with serious accidents. They suffer aches and pains.
Armstrong participated in the race before he was diagnosed as suf-
fering from cancer in 1996, and here is how he faired
1993 - Did not finish.
1994 - Did not finish.
1995 - 36th position.
1996 - Did not finish.
1997 - Did not enter.
1998 - Did not enter.
Tour de France is not an easy race to finish; he could not finish it
three times. Not anybody on earth could have believed that this man
would ever participate in a race which involved three weeks of gruelling
and torturous peddaling after suffering from cancer. But this man had
the strength of mind and conviction to do that; yes he was great Armstrong.
After being declared a cancer patient, and having failed to even
finish the race in three of his four previous attempts, Armstrong again

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started preparation with great perseverance, despite tough conditions,
several injuries and painstaking efforts along the way, and he was again
ready for the big event, finally doing what he loved the most, riding
the bike in the most prestigious and the longest cycle race in the world.
The battle was tough but Armstrong was tougher and, with all his
struggle and effort, he won the race. No one could believe it but the
miracle had happened.
When Armstrong won, some of the people lost. They were the scep-
tics who lost, they were not able to believe his winning the Tour de
France. They believed it was a case of taking banned drugs and still
maintained their scepticism. They were proved wrong again after his
medical tests were found clean. The triumph of Armstrong is a testimony
to the fact that all of us have a tremendous power to fight and the ability
to triumph, come what may.
He won and created a record of winning the race no less than seven
times. He won the race from 1999 to 2005, and made a world record as
regards the number of Tour de France victories. It almost sounds unreal
but it is the true story of a man who believes in his dreams, who believes
in miracles, and who is willing to sweat and pay the price for success. The
story of Lance Armstrong’s the story is the stuff dreams are made of.
When things are not going well for you, that is the time for learning
and deep introspection, that is the time when you ask yourself some of
the most important questions of your life. Lance Armstrong mentions in
his autobiography, about 2nd October, 1996, a day which was one of the
most crucial days of his life when he was diagnosed as suffering from
cancer. He says, ‘It remained the most important day of the year,
larger than any birthday or anniversary or holiday, and it was a
day, filled with introspection, of thinking about second chances.’
He cherishes the day when his illness was diagnosed as cancer; which
focused his mind on the task ahead and is one of the best things to have
happened in his life. He called it,’Carpe Diem Day’, which means, seize
the day. It is about turning your setbacks into opportunities; this is ex-
actly what top achievers do. There are two ways in which one can handle
difficult situations: one is to meekly surrender and the other is to fight,
seize the opportunity and show extraordinary resolve, which is the hall-
mark of greatness.
Truth has power.
Boldness has magic.
Purity has strength.

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Character has morality.
Practice has performance.
Honesty has trust.
Persistence has reward.
Selflessness has the world at its feet (immortality).
Good conduct has admiration.
Ceaseless striving has accomplishments.
‘Very often the worst situations in life present
best opportunities’
Very often the worst situations in life present the best opportunities.
But we are unable to grab them as we are not ready. Walter Raleigh’s
famous book The History of World was written during his imprisonment;
the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote Glimpses of
World History when he was in jail. Adversity adds another dimension to
you, which makes you accomplish great feats, dormant faculties become
active and you are no longer the same person; your capabilities are en-
hanced, your perspective on life changes, you begin to take life more
seriously and do a better job of it. He who has not seen adversity has not
seen life. This extra dimension is what distinguishes the ordinary from
the extraordinary.
So whatever the situation, the way you deal with it decides who you
are, whether you succumb to adversities and crumble before them or you
make an extraordinary effort all setbacks and misfortunes. Even in sports,
the great players are they who excel when the team needs them most,
when the team is in dire need, when the team is not in a good condition,
when the conditions for playing are not favourable, when the going is
tough, that is the time for the real test of a player. Special are those who
excel in all these situations.
Everybody has the capacity to turn around but very few men actually
do so. Are you one of them? Are you ready to face the challenges that life
throws at you? Yes, you can face them. Always remember, adversities
come to make you and not to break you.

Winning against all odds

Victor Frankl’s wife, father, mother and brother died in the concentration
camps of Nazi Germany. He survived along with his sister. The experi-
ences that he went through in the concentration camp were traumatic
and torturing to say the least; amidst several barbaric atrocities they had

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to face extreme hunger, cold and brutal assaults. Several times people
were baked in gas ovens. Even Viktor Frankl had been under the threat
of being consigned to the gas ovens many times.
He was writing a book, the manuscript of which—his life’s work—
had been snatched away from him. Any other person would have given up
the desire to live and would have lost all faith in himself, but Viktor
Frankl showed a triumphant spirit and eternal optimism and fought his
way out of this extreme suffering.
He reasoned that even in the most terrible circumstances, people
have the freedom to choose how they look at their circumstances and
what meaning they draw out of them.
It was this spirit with which he lived and later developed a therapy
called the logo therapy, and wrote several books, among which the book
‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ became a runaway best seller, a book in which
he described his experiences of the concentration camp.
Viktor Frankl remarked that there were two kinds of people who
lived in the concentration camp. One, those who had a desire to live and
chose to fight, and, second, those who gave up and had no interest in life
and this kind of thinking made their condition worse and finally they died
of misery and hopelessness.
It was due to his and others’ suffering in these camps that he came
to his hallmark conclusion that even in the most absurd, painful and
dehumanised situation life has a potential meaning and therefore even
suffering is meaningful.
One must have the courage to go through the pain with an attitude
of gratitude which is the way to triumph in adversity. The greatest tri-
umphs, the greatest victories, the greatest moments come when you learn
to overcome troubles and come out stronger from the most difficult situ-
ations. Believe that you can confront your troubles and difficulties with
strength and grow even in the most hopeless situations.
‘The enormity of your problems is nothing compared with
your ability to solve them. By overestimating the problem
you underestimate yourself ’
Viktor Frankl came out of the tragedies stronger than ever before.
He wrote 32 books which were translated in several languages, devel-
oped the logo therapy and lectured and spoke at seminars all around the
world. He is the recipient of 29 honorary doctorates. He stands as a role
model for every man. His life is a lesson for all mankind as to how to
get the best out of the worst situations. It is not just Viktor Frankl’s

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victory but a victory of human ability to win, in the toughest condition,
the toughest battles. It is also a victory of the will power, conviction and
human bravery.
Few men defy all odds and succeed when nothing seems to work in
their favour, when they are down, when they are in a hopeless condition;
they rise like the phoenix and set before mankind great examples to
follow. They are the men who keep pushing up the limits of human
excellence beyond imagination by coming out triumphant out of all the
adversities which life can create for them. Not all men succeed in adver-
sity but the adversity does bring out the best in men. Adversity makes
men strong. Be tough and don’t hold back from fighting; when you are
pitted against difficulties see them as opportunities to grow and excel.
Your conviction can conquer anything; don’t be afraid and go for it.

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