841 Words Essay on Sweet are the Uses of Adversity (free to read)

Senior Duke, who is living in Forest of Arden, consequent upon being dethroned and exiled by his own brother, makes many favourable comments, including the one that forms the title of this essay, on a life of adversity- Adversity here refers to the adverse circumstances of those people who were earlier prosperous. People in prosperity and power lead an artificial life.

They get so much of false admiration and regard that they forget that those honouring them are doing it not out of any sincere admiration for their personal qualities but for some ulterior motives of gaining some advantage from them. They live, therefore, in a false sense of security and plenty unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Powerful and prosperous people are always subject to conspiracies and intrigues on the part of those who envy their positions and want to cheat them. They have few friends and benefactors. Oi.ce they lose their position of eminence and prosperity, they come to know people in their true colors.

In adversity, only true friends stand by you. Only those will come to you who have nothing to profit by your position or wealth. Adversity thus greatly benefits a man by distinguishing between the true and false friends.
It strengthens bonds of affection and imparts great emotional strength. Man becomes better prepared to face the world of reality.

Again, adversity reveals what are the stark necessities of life and what are the luxuries, a prosperous man takes his luxuries for necessities and is unable to distin¬guish between the essentials and inessentials.

A man in adverse circumstances can realise the difficulties of similarly placed people and develops sympathy for the de¬prived. Many a time, he makes it a mission of his life to bring relief to the poor and to make for their emancipation.

The life of Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin but went on to become the President of USA, is a case in point. Nobody did greater service to the slaves and the deprived as Lincoln did.

Adversity brings out the latent strength of an individual to fight the adverse cir¬cumstances and to overcome them. It, therefore, develops the skills, talents and forti¬tude of a person. These qualities stand a man in good stead during his life and career.

He becomes hard working, pushing and self-dependent. He becomes an asset to him¬self and to them among whom he lives. He is always sought by people in distress.

Charles Darwin in his masterpiece “Origin of Species” has dilated upon the struggle for survival among the different species of life on this planet and has concluded that only the fittest survive while the weak or the unfit that are unable to adjust or adapt to the environment become extinct.
The struggle one has to wage while in adverse circumstances equips a man to face hardship and strengthens his body and mind. He gains mastery over environ¬ment and acquires self-confidence.

He good humouredly faces minor inconveniences and thoroughly enjoys the simple pleasures of life. He never loses his temper.
It is often said that only that person can enjoy life to the utmost that has come face to face with death.

It can be said with even greater justice that a man, who has experienced the adverse circumstances, can enjoy the good things of life to the ut¬most.
The sweet uses of adversity tell only one side of the story and overlook the flip side of adversity. Passive acceptance of adversity often fosters an attitude of complacency and abject submission to one’s lot.

Such an attitude discourages a person from making efforts to extricate him from poverty and misery. Sweet uses of adversity are relevant only for the once prosperous persons who subsequently fell on evil days, but not for the poor and miserable people of the world who have been merely subsisting, staving off starvation somehow or the other.

If the workers of the factories, who were subjected to long working hours and inhuman working conditions, had not revolted against their employers and had not organized themselves for collective bargaining, they might not have been able to improve their lot.

Reduction of work to 40 hours a week and 5 day working week along with better medical facilities, decent wages are the result of refusal of human spirit to submit to one’s adversity. It is also attributed to the fighting spirit of man in all circumstances.

Even today, millions of people in Asia and Africa are leading a miserable exist¬ence deprived of clean drinking water, medical attendance and civil liberties. They are still suffering the dictatorial rule of tyrants and the depredations of multinational corporations who have systematically ruined their symbiotic relationship with forests and nature and have reduced them to work as slaves on their own land.

They should not be deluded by any real or supposed uses of adversity but should be supported by all right thinking people in their struggle against tyranny and exploitation and also in their endeavour to transform their lot from adversity to prosperity.