The Only True Tragedy

There is a saying in Tibetan, “Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.” No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster. – The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama)

This reminds me of something I read – that really interested and excited me – in Martin Seligman’s most recent book.

In Flourish he explores the phenomenon of Post Traumatic Growth (not Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Seligman found that a fair amount of people grew stronger and more resilient as a result of combat and related stressors.

What a wonderful alternative.

Given the choice, which would you chose?

Similar Posts

  • The Mistake So Many* Make

    What is the secret behind every tragic misstep on the path to success? It happens right here: People believe their emotions have an external cause. That’s it. That’s the only real problem. – Steve Chandler *  *  * Your emotions create your experience, the visceral, palpable real part of your experience. You create your emotions. (By…

  • Winning The First Victory

    Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I’m doing. – Phil Jackson You can always win once: be engaged and present with what you’re doing and you’ve won the first victory. To win again, at the end, is nice, but wholly unnecessary….

  • Are You Floating, or Improving?

    However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. – Winston Churchill We often think we have the right strategy, usually because it isn’t creating something painful or terrible, but don’t regularly examine our results. It’s a form of floating through life that’s really just avoiding pain. Sure, we make some plans and…

  • How To Live

    There’s no shortage of pithy sayings about, or formulas for, living in the world today. At the risk of adding to the “noise,” here is my basic formula: just A.S.K.. First, be Authentic. Easier said than done, especially in the Western/Modern world. In a consumer-oriented culture we are barraged with entreaties to consume this, that…