Adversity 's Impact On Character

When people are struck with hardships in life, the way they react reveals their true character. Having a certain mindset can greatly influence how they handle problems, differentiating one person from another. Many can feel discouraged and feel like giving up when they hit a rough patch. In other cases, the will to be in a position better than where they are at the moment gives them the motivation to succeed. Adversity can have a positive effect on the development of an individual's character, providing them with the drive to overcome their current situation.

Similar to a cactus’ bloom in the heat of the desert, through adversity humanity prospers and processes. Society, as a whole, has experienced, at least once, hardships in their lifetime, and through these trying situations people acquire compassion. Being familiar with challenges, people more readily accepts the distress of others and offer required assistance during times of difficulty. Although adversity is seen as the creator of contempt and hatred because of its negative effects on mentality, adversity fosters compassion through the creation of empathy, morality, and association in a person with others in a calamity.

In the past 100 years, America has gone through two world wars, a great depression, and a fluctuating economy—all of which have made us stronger as a nation. Though adversity is a hard thing to over come, it helps our society grow. Would America be the same if we had never gone through the Great Depression? Of course not. There are however, other bouts of adversity that even children can relate to. One may have abusive or alcoholic parents, or even experience death at a young age. I can strongly agree with Horace in that adversity elicits talents, which would have lain dormant in prosperous circumstances. Adversity, summed up, is the long-term hardships and misfortune that guide us into growing as people and as a country.

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” What the Roman poet Horace was saying was that when there is an obstacle in our way, our true colors will radiate. I could not agree more. When we as human beings feel passionate about achieving a goal, we may learn something new of ourselves, maybe a new trait that we did not know we possessed, when we reach new heights we did not know we could push ourselves towards. Challenges are similar to tests. Challenges are faced every day, but how we respond to them determines how strong we really are. Prime examples are superheroes and students that move dramatically.

Adversity has a way of bringing up challenges unexpectedly, most people shrink away from it and get consumed, but when they push through it people come out stronger than they were before.

From my adversity and hardship I unveiled who I am and what I am capable of. I ventured outside my comfort zone; challenging myself to start new conversations everyday and foraging friendships faster than a tempest. I also started to express my curiosity and discovered the metamorphosing world in which I live by throwing myself into the wilderness with Outdoor Ed. Most importantly, I embraced others and helped them be happy, to stop them from feeling alienated like I did. l saw that I held the power and I hoped that I could help others see the same.

Adversity will be overcome when one becomes brave , determined , and has the willingness to fail.As being born without a arm, baseball player Jim Abbott, had a long journey ahead of him.Or the brave runners who ran the Boston Marathon after two bombs went off at the finsh line. last year.Even Malala Yousafzai, a young who got shot in the head by the taliban because she thought that girls all girl should get an education.All of these people remember to maintain in control , be brave , and accept failure when overcoming adversity.

The Roman poet Horace states that “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” By this, he explains the role these hardships play in shaping and developing a person’s character. I agree that adversity not only elicits talents, but also brings out the hidden aptitudes within a person that which they were unaware of before. Through learning experiences and observations, I have witnessed the significant outcomes that come from the result of adversities.

One place where Horace’s quote holds true is in current events. In the national news there is misfortune and chaos seemingly everywhere. A first example of this is with Hurricane Harvey, hitting Texas and the surrounding area, in August-September 2017. This category 3 hurricane has been one of the worst and most destructive hurricanes to hit the United States. Texas and Louisiana flooded, causing billions of dollars of damage and nearly a hundred lives to be lost. Despite all of this, the citizens of the community came together to volunteer and help each other, and it revealed their spirit and resilience. Just like the quote, adversity brought out the best of Americans and tested their strength in a way that would not happen if Hurricane Harvey hit them. A second example is with the Vegas shooting which happened October 1st at a concert, leaving 58 deaths and 546 more injured, making it America’s deadliest shooting. Following the tragedy, it gave anti-gun activists opportunity to fight for stricter gun control. Also this incident, like with Hurricane Harvey, has brought the country together, supporting the victims and their families, and wanting to stop the violence and hate in America. It shows that misfortune can play a positive and influential role.

Each and every individual faces obstacles and limitations unique to their own circumstances, and the way that those obstacles are met and overcome ultimately determine the fulfillment and happiness that person is able to acquire. Perhaps one of the most influential but commonly looked over influences on one’s development is the attitude of others, in addition to one’s own attitude. While a kind, strong, responsible, driven attitude can empower one to lead a fulfilling life, the positivity of others is equally as effective. Whether it be despite perseverance and optimism of the individual or in junction with the two, the attitudes of others’ have the ability to influence one’s life in significant ways. The

Dwight Lyman Moody once said, " Character is what you are in the dark." This means that a person's true character is brought forward when they go through challenges. I agree with this quote, when people go through hard times the unimportant things are stripped away, and they have to learn to grow and adapt despite the obstacles they face. In the book "The Hunger Games," Suzanne Collins shows how some people's challenges change them for the better, other characters don't know how to cope and take longer to adapt, and how people's reactions differed from each others.

However, overcoming these hardships allows paramount growth and reward to become prevalent. The statement accurately reflects these concepts within the text and extract, as transitions are explored, and change becomes prevalent due to the experience on an individual.

Quite often you hear that we do not grow without failure; that failure is what teaches us a new skill and how to then succeed. I was not familiar with the quote, “adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant,” by Horace, however I think this quote is true. To me, this means that when someone has some kind of disadvantage, that person can use the challenge to his advantage through self-reflection, determination, and hope. Every person faces an obstacle, usually many and of various degrees of challenge, and although you cannot control the situation, you can control your reaction. Those of us that learn from adversity take our time to figure out how to approach the problem in a new manner. We recognize that one barrier is not a reason to abandon our course. We think outside the box for how to overcome the challenge. We learn from the first failure and we regroup for the next approach. Failure teaches you how to define yourself rather than how others define you. All four of the

Being strong. Never breaking under pressure, but only standing robust. Being grateful. These are all attributes that can be tested with seasons of hardships. For these times is what constructs principles in the lives of many. Hardships are essential to one's life to teach the soft to be tough when plans crumble.

Many people face challenges and obstacles at a very young age and that can change who they are as they grow up. My grandma faced a very harsh and unfortunate childhood. Her father died when she was 17 and that changed her life and her future. It meant she was given many responsibilities since she was the eldest out of her siblings. She had to do many house chores such as cooking, washing the clothes and dishes and waking up early in the morning to get water from a nearby well every day! This placed a very large obstacle in her life at a very young age. She had to leave school at a very young age because of all the responsibilities she was given and had to overcome these obstacles and face them with great integrity. But due to these obstacles that she has overcome, it has changed who she is now. She struggled in life right from when she was just a little kid. But if she hadn’t overcome these obstacles she wouldn’t have been a very independent woman like she is today. If her father hadn’t died when she was young, she probably would have had a completely different