"It may be that instead of giving us a friendly world that would never challenge us and therefore never make us strong, God gave us a world that would inevitably break our hearts, and compensated for that by planting in our souls the gift of resilience." -Rabbi Harold Kushner
Andie memorized a quote I love by Rabbi Harold Kushner. He's one of my favorites when it comes to topics of a spiritual nature.
I also love the psychology behind resilience or what I might call the fine art of coping! Figuring out how we can learn from negative experiences and turn them into a positive is a wonderful skill!
Rabbi Kushner readily admits that none of us are immune to trauma or to suffering. All of us will meet obstacles in life so coping mechanisms that help us bounce back are critical for our survival and well being!
His counsel isn't just grand oration either. The rabbi and his wife had to go through the painful discovery of learning their young son, Aaron, suffered from progeria (rapid aging). Doctors told them that Aaron would never grow much beyond three feet in height, would have no hair on his head, would look like a little old man, and would die in his early teens.
And Rabbi Kushner's son, Aaron, did die just two days after his fourteenth birthday. Much of Rabbi Kushner's interest in resilience was a response to the grieving process as they learned to cope with Aaron's disease and subsequent death.
I am buoyed up by the example of resilience in good men like Rabbi Kushner who find ways to let tragedy make them stronger and better people instead of bitter and unforgiving! Whenever I read about people with difficult trials it makes my challenges seem small, almost trivial, and definitely more bearable!
"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places." -Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
