2007-09-07 20:34:19 · 5 answers · asked by melinda 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
I think our hardships help MAKE us who we are. As the old saying goes, faith untested is innocence. How a body handles hard times and difficult decisions often defines who a body truly is.
2007-09-07 20:43:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
People who have never had a challenge don't ever have to consider the challenges other people face every day. they are like a marble rolling down an unimpeded slide. there is no need for reflection or awareness. It is true that hardship tells us who *we* are, but i think the most valuable lessons challenge has to offer is compassion, and the knowledge that we are the same as the next guy, on the inside. we are brothers and sisters under the skin, and doing unto others as you would be done to really *is* a necessary thing. It teaches us not only that we are strong, but also how we are weak. It allows us to accept the weakness of others as well as the support of their strengths.
There is a Guthrie song that talks about how so many of us are born armed to the teeth with the weapons of priviledge, race, gender, education or whatnot, but we do not even see that we behave in a manner that is aggressive... Until we feel the weapons of the priviledge of another. We do not see the 'little people' until we experience being one, whether through awareness, or actual physical hardship in our lives.
Another respondent said she was crushed by hardship, and that can be true. Challenge is valuable, but crushing burdens are just... Crushing. When you have hauled a few loads of your own, you know what you can do, but more important, you know what you have to give, and can see who needs it.
Buddha also experienced challenge, when he recognized the injustice of his priviledge. The recognition of the suffering in the world was a shocking challenge to him... So shocking that it changed his entire life in search of the answer to it, and in time the lives of many others, whether you consider him to be a transcendant being or not.
Challenge or hardship need not be physical, or even outward. Some of the greatest challenges are in our own souls: To love or forgive ourselves or others? To remain faithful? To choose between two highly held values. To accept the death of loved ones. To keep breathing when you are lonely or depressed.
It is arrogant to look at another person and think that they are not challenged, just because you cannot see it. We need each other in this world, and we are all both worthy of support and worthy to give it.
2007-09-08 05:05:57 · answer #2 · answered by Gina C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really.It's basically a matter of Awareness.It's true that hardships compel us to learn but that would be a kind of forced learning.It's also the most common way but albeit an inferior one. Lord Buddha was a Prince,had not encountered any hardship in life but chose his way to renounce the world to find solution to human sufferings because of his AWARENESS.
2007-09-08 03:56:23 · answer #3 · answered by brkshandilya 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
all i can say is...i've experienced immense hardships...they didn't make me discover who i am...they only left me lost and scarred.
So...no, i don't think they are necessary. I've seen people who lived normal lives and they seem to do very well...they deal with themselves and their lives better.
2007-09-08 04:15:37 · answer #4 · answered by ♥Slide♥ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's just a growing up process, I think.
In retrospect I can say that my broken-hearted times are gifts.
2007-09-08 03:46:05 · answer #5 · answered by sweets 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋