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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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Student Essay
by Brendan Pulver
Most of us have had some hardship in our lives. The people born into homes with a lack of money have experienced hardship. They had to learn to live on what they had, which sometimes was too much. The ones born into rich homes dealt with some forms of affliction. They might have had to live up to great expectations from their parents to gain their approval. While not every one of us has had to deal with being homeless, or being poor, or even being wealthy and having more expected of us then we accomplish, all of us have dealt with some kind of adversity. It is inevitable. It comes with the package. And not only have all of us faced adversity, we will have it until the day that we die. But, have we made the most of our adversity? In some cases we have, and in some others, we haven't. No one can make the best of every adverse condition that confronts them. It's human nature to be imperfect and unsure of what to do. Also, it's up to the individual to decide what adversity means to them and how they plan to use it. It is adversity or the rough things in life that shape us and mold us to be what we need to be, provided we look at it in the proper perspective. We must aspire to conquer the adversity in our lives every day. We must not accept ignorance as our personal jurisdictor as we face daily challenges. Some time ago, I was making a picture frame. I had cut it from rough wood, so, therefore, it had to be sanded to make it smooth enough to look good as a nice picture frame. I first hit it very hard with a rough gauge of sandpaper. And, as the wood began to become smoother, I chose a finer grain of paper, until I finished it up with an ultra fine grain. When I was finished, the wood was so smooth, you could have rubbed it upon your face with no adverse effects. I then realized that this example can serve as a portrait of the process we must go through in order to overcome adversity and evolve. So it is with the rougher things in life, provided we will look at them in the proper perspective. When we are having a very tough problem, we should profit from it, and emerge out of it, a better being than before. We cannot panic, and "freak out" and be better off, but, we must keep a "cool" head, and work our way through it, and then we will emerge a better individual. There is an old saying-"no pain, no gain" -- and I believe that to be true. In order to gain a better physical body, we must work out, and exercise, and sometimes that is not too easy when we have let ourselves go for too long. In order to gain a better mentality, we must work at that, too, in the same respect. Use the brain, don't let it get off track or fall into self-destructive patterns, then one will be more able to make better decisions when one encounters some form of adversity. In many cases one will experience the same kinds of challenges and if that person can conquer it once, then the next time will be nearly effortless. Keeping mental skills and thought processes sharp enables one's self to stay prepared for any challenges which may present themselves in the years to come. To gain a more spiritual mind, we must work at that, too. Whether one is aspiring to be a Christian, Buddhist, or an atheist, they must work at it, which means understanding what it means to them. All people will meet adversity in any path that they choose to follow. Something will always be standing in their way. It is up to them to go over it, around it, or through it. But, just get past it! If I am facing a huge mountain, and it cannot be avoided, I must first climb it. But, when I've climbed that mountain, be it a real mountain, or just a "mountain" in my mind, I am standing higher than it is standing. I am on the top, therefore taller than it. I have it beaten! We cannot avoid adversity. It has a way of seeking all people out. No one escapes from it. We all are susceptible to it. But, it is how we handle it that determines whether we emerge a better person, or we let it break us down!
About the Student Author: Brendan Pulver is a senior in high school. This essay is part of a writing project needed for graduation. |
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