Does hardship make a person stronger? If so, under what conditions and at what point is it too much hardship? If not, what makes a person stronger?
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There are all kinds of hardships. Probably the most common ones are financial, physical and emotional. These can be considered true hardships if one cannot just walk away from them. Financial hardships include not having enough money to survive decently, in debt or business not doing well. Physical hardships include illness or disability. Emotional hardships include depression, relationship break-ups or family problems.
Some of the above hardships are short-term and some are long-term. Short-term hardships can make people stronger but might also scar people for life. That depends on the intensity of the hardship and the personality and attitude of the person who experienced it.
Ongoing long-term hardships might have the potential of desensitizing people, making them numb as their way to cope. I am not sure if that can be called "stronger". Long-term hardships would be tough to deal with because of the unending suffering, which could lead to despair and giving-up. For example, taking care of a disabled person or raising an autistic child. If the person experiencing the hardship can still function after years with the hardship, then he/she must somehow be "stronger".
ADDED:
It would be unfair not to address many folks who actually became mentally and emotionally stronger by enduring a hardship. They are "battle tested" or "baptized by fire". Coming out of previous hardships without an emotionally crippling damage, they may reinforce their minds with a can-do attitude or the belief that nothing will be able to break them. We heard of stories about individuals who still carried on despite their spouses dying or leaving them, they having major illnesses themselves, and financially broke
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Most definitely. Not only me, but a major chunk of people will believe that undergoing hardships does make you a whole lot stronger.
When you go through something that challenges your emotional well being, and come out of it sane, you percieve yourself to be at a higher level than you earlier were. It's just like when you get chicken pox, the antibodies that are left behind after the virus leaves your body prevent it greatly from coming back. Also, it gives you an experience of what to do in the situation if it ever does come back.
Hardships happen, to everyone. No one has been spared, no one will be. It's upon you whether you want to break down on their arrival or get back up on your feet, fight them, and come out stronger than you ever were before. Because now you see yourself ready to face challenges. You have this fire burning inside of you to defeat whatever pulled you down. You have a higher image of yourself, a more confident image of yourself. And trust me, a boost in self-confidence can be life-changing :) Infact, a hardship can be life-changing - for the better.
That entirely depends on if you learned from the hardship or not. A person who doesn’t learn anything from their experiences will not get as far, as fast, in life as someone who learns something from every experience, positive as well as negative.
It can also be that a person has only had positive experiences, but if they learned from every one of those they will be further, faster, than someone who has had few hardships and learned from them.
All of that being said, to answer your question I would say generally speaking: Yes.
The more hard times you have had, the more hardships you have had to endure, the more likely it is that you learned from them, that there was one time where you actually took the lesson with you.
Hardships are blessings in disguise. The hardest moments I had to go through were the ones that propelled me forward the most, they are the moments that made me into the man I am today. I believe that without them I would still be a arrogant, annoying, self-righteous little boy with no self-confidence at all.
Endure the hardships, but do not forget to look for the lesson. That is the only reason you have to go through it in the first place, but if you can find the lesson, then you will emerge stronger than before.
Some of the above hardships are short-term and some are long-term. Short-term hardships can make people stronger but might also scar people for life. That depends on the intensity of the hardship and the personality and attitude of the person who experienced it.
Ongoing long-term hardships might have the potential of desensitizing people, making them numb as their way to cope. I am not sure if that can be called "stronger". Long-term hardships would be tough to deal with because of the unending suffering, which could lead to despair and giving-up. For example, taking care of a disabled person or raising an autistic child. If the person experiencing the hardship can still function after years with the hardship, then he/she must somehow be "stronger".
ADDED:
It would be unfair not to address many folks who actually became mentally and emotionally stronger by enduring a hardship. They are "battle tested" or "baptized by fire". Coming out of previous hardships without an emotionally crippling damage, they may reinforce their minds with a can-do attitude or the belief that nothing will be able to break them. We heard of stories about individuals who still carried on despite their spouses dying or leaving them, they having major illnesses themselves, and financially broke
A pathway towards exam success.
Learn how to improve concentration, memory power, attention span and recall ability.
Most definitely. Not only me, but a major chunk of people will believe that undergoing hardships does make you a whole lot stronger.
When you go through something that challenges your emotional well being, and come out of it sane, you percieve yourself to be at a higher level than you earlier were. It's just like when you get chicken pox, the antibodies that are left behind after the virus leaves your body prevent it greatly from coming back. Also, it gives you an experience of what to do in the situation if it ever does come back.
Hardships happen, to everyone. No one has been spared, no one will be. It's upon you whether you want to break down on their arrival or get back up on your feet, fight them, and come out stronger than you ever were before. Because now you see yourself ready to face challenges. You have this fire burning inside of you to defeat whatever pulled you down. You have a higher image of yourself, a more confident image of yourself. And trust me, a boost in self-confidence can be life-changing :) Infact, a hardship can be life-changing - for the better.
That entirely depends on if you learned from the hardship or not. A person who doesn’t learn anything from their experiences will not get as far, as fast, in life as someone who learns something from every experience, positive as well as negative.
It can also be that a person has only had positive experiences, but if they learned from every one of those they will be further, faster, than someone who has had few hardships and learned from them.
All of that being said, to answer your question I would say generally speaking: Yes.
The more hard times you have had, the more hardships you have had to endure, the more likely it is that you learned from them, that there was one time where you actually took the lesson with you.
Hardships are blessings in disguise. The hardest moments I had to go through were the ones that propelled me forward the most, they are the moments that made me into the man I am today. I believe that without them I would still be a arrogant, annoying, self-righteous little boy with no self-confidence at all.
Endure the hardships, but do not forget to look for the lesson. That is the only reason you have to go through it in the first place, but if you can find the lesson, then you will emerge stronger than before.
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