(This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025, wherein 10 posts are published in 15 days. This is the ninth one. The prompt: Who has been the most unexpected teacher in your life?)
We don’t sign up for these situations. They arrive uninvited, unannounced. And our first instinct is often to protest, raise our voice, or snap back.
But over time, we realise — reacting doesn’t ease the discomfort. The situation remains unchanged.
Looking back, I see that adversity has been my most unexpected teacher.
I remember my father’s words: “If we can adjust to small problems, it becomes easier to deal with the bigger ones.”
In other words, if I can manage a 15-minute delay with grace, I’m better prepared for a half-hour wait. And if I can handle that, then even an hour-long disruption becomes bearable.
Adversity has nudged me to think differently, to act differently.
It has taught me to look inward — to cultivate patience, resilience, and the ability to pause before reacting.
It has shown me that waiting for the world to bend to my convenience is futile. Instead, I must adapt, or find creative ways to work around what is.
It has reminded me that not everything is within my control. Some problems I can solve; others, I must learn to live with.
And perhaps most importantly, adversity has taught me not to fear taking a step back — because sometimes, that retreat opens the path to two steps forward, in a direction I hadn’t considered before.
Absolutely! More often than not, we come out wiser from adverse situations. If we can't control situations, we do well by changing our attitudes. I tend to get impatient. Right now, the road in front of our home has been completely dug up, and God knows how long it will take for the work to be completed. I guess I'm learning patience.
ReplyDeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteSage! 🤗 YAM xx
My personal experience is most problems solve themselves if you just leave them alone.
ReplyDeleteBetter not to get angry, but if that plane delay means you can't make your connecting flight, it's harder to not worry and fume.
ReplyDeleteAdversity is a great teacher, but it can take one down too tragically. You were fortunate to convert it into a teacher.
ReplyDeleteAgain I agree with you, but....when things aren't right, we need to try to make them right, by paper, emails, comments and by phone. We all have our own measures of go with the flow, or not.
ReplyDeleteThis is THE utmost important advice for those reading to take to heart. I have learned those things very late in my life. How much happier I would have been in rough trying times if I had followed your advice given here sooner than when I finally learned it. I especially liked "waiting for the world to bend for my convenience" was the last and probably the most difficult thing I have accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you my dear friend.
ReplyDeleteYour father was a wise man. He left a legacy of values and life lessons as a guiding philosophy for your way of life.
ReplyDeleteThere might be some people who might say that values like being patient, mindful and adjusting make you look laidback and someone who is not a go-getter. But don't let that deter you.
The ending lines... "adversity has taught me not to fear taking a step back — because sometimes, that retreat opens the path to two steps forward, in a direction I hadn’t considered before." are something that I will takeaway as one of my mantras going forward :)