It has been said that without trials and tribulation, there would be no heroes, and without heroes, there would be no stories, and without stories, there is no life as life is made up of vignettes of loving, learning and overcoming. That may be true, but is it easier said than done? Is it easier said than lived? That was the topic of discussion recently as I shared a meal with a friend.
We were talking about my Weekend Inspirations and the conversation ultimately turned to overcoming adversity. My friend then challenged us both with the following questions. Do we really know what true adversity is? If extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it, can we fit into the mold of extraordinary? That got me thinking.
I have never faced abject poverty. I have not endured persecution. Opportunities for love, advancement, education or enrichment in my life were never shrouded in darkness. Oh sure, I have encountered difficulties and challenges. I have endured the deep felt loss of loved ones. But, on the whole, my life has been an overflow of blessings. With that being my reality, I pondered, is it possible that inspiration is a luxury reserved for those who don’t really know extreme hardship?
Through most of my adult life, and certainly through the years that I have penned this weekly missive, I have been a proponent of the viewpoint that to live greatly, we must develop the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness and triumph with humility. Now, I found myself contemplating the veracity of such preaching without bearing the deep scars of a life lived amid misery, threat or disaster. And, assuming I was placed in such circumstance, would I remain so positive? Could I be inspired? Could anybody?
As is my propensity when confronted with such questions, even when my soul and spirit knows the answer, I searched for validation. I found it in a familiar, but today, perhaps a less remembered young lady.
Annelies “Anne” Marie Frank the author of The Diary of a Young Girl was born June 12, 1929 in the city of Frankfurt in Weimar Germany. She lived most of her life in or near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Born a German national, Frank lost her citizenship in 1941 because she was Jewish. The Frank family moved from Germany to Amsterdam in 1933, the year the Nazis gained control over Germany. By the beginning of 1940, they were trapped in Amsterdam by the German occupation of the Netherlands.
As persecutions of the Jewish population increased in July 1942, the family went into hiding in some concealed rooms in the building where Anne’s father worked. It was during this period of hiding that Anne began putting her thoughts down in a diary. After two years of living under the constant fear of discovery, the group was betrayed and transported to concentration camps. Anne Frank and her sister, Margot Frank, were eventually transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they died of typhus in March 1945, less than three months shy of Germany’s surrender. Anne was not quite 16 years old when she perished.
Anne’s father, Otto Frank, the only survivor of the family, returned to Amsterdam after the war to find that Anne’s diary had been saved, and his efforts led to its publication in 1947. It has since been translated into many languages. It was translated from its original Dutch and first published in English in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl.
Clearly, Anne Frank would qualify as one who knew and experienced extreme hardship, adversity and persecution. She, as much as anyone, would be justified in light of her circumstance as being critical and bitter of life being depicted as beautiful, fulfilling and inspirational. But just listen to her words as she clings to the beauty that surrounds her vision of the world and avoids her spirit being consumed by the beast that lurks just outside her tiny space – a beast that would ultimately destroy her body, but could never vanquish her heart and soul:
- Although I’m only fourteen, I know quite well what I want, I know who is right and who is wrong. I have my opinions, my own ideas and principles, and although it may sound pretty mad from an adolescent, I feel more a person than a child, I feel quite independent of anyone.
- Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.
- The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is what it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and certainly it always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace to all troubles.
- Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?…Women, who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make more tougher and courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together.
- It’s really a wonder I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart…Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with basic goodness.
- No one has ever become poor by giving.
- In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.
- Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.
- How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
- I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I have never met. I want to go on living even after my death.
- Look how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.
I have often wondered what Jesus meant when He said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” After revisiting dear Anne’s words, I understand.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Have an AWE-full Weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque