Rising from the Ashes

Jerusalem is beautiful.

This is a city attacked no less than 52 times, and destroyed at least twice.

Go look at Germany. A nation gutted by the flames of World War Two, yet standing higher, stronger, and greater than any other nation in Western Europe.

Have a look at Japan, the only country on this planet to have faced the power of the atomic bomb. Not just once, but twice. And yet it stands firm today as one of the most developed nations in the region.

The question: how? Is destruction not what halts progress? Is violence not what stops development in its tracks? Is bloodshed not what obliterates a stable society?

The answer lies in moving forward, moving onward, and rising from the ashes.

We’re humans, not lines of computer code. We make mistakes, and not every execution of ours is flawless.

We’re humans, we have choices. We make good choices, and we make bad choices.

Making bad choices isn’t something to be ashamed of. What matters is that we realize where we went wrong, capitalize on what we learn from our mistakes, rectify our mistakes, and rise from the ashes.

I’m writing this in the wake of a not-so-stellar result day. But the message here is universal: rise from the ashes. You may have been handed the pink slip at work or been involved in an accident. You may have been mugged or lost a loved one. All of the scenarios in the last two sentences sound bad. I would differ. Often, we are faced by a calamity to save us from a greater calamity in the future.

Take this story as an example:

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe,” the farmer replied, “maybe not.”. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe,” replied the old man, “maybe not.”. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe, maybe not” answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe, maybe not” said the farmer.

There’s also the part about destiny. Look at the founder of Subway as an example. He started making sandwiches as a way to finance his med school. Turned out he never needed to finish med school, since his sandwich-making business was highly profitable.

So, to wrap it up: wherever you are, whatever you’re going through, be that phoenix that rises from the ashes. Just because you hit a couple of speed bumps at 60 mph is no reason for you not being able to turn your life around 180 degrees. If Abraham Lincoln could become President despite facing an immensely long list of tragedies, if Steve Jobs could own the most highly-valued company on Earth despite being kicked out of the company he helped found, there is no reason on Earth for you to not be able to overcome that speed bump. Believe me, there is precious little out there that is more beautiful than looking forward, looking onward, and rising from the ashes!