There Is a Bright Side of Things

If you ask me, I'd say that usually what doesn't kill you fails to make you stronger. But there are exceptions to that. And quite fortunate ones, actually.

As it happens, certain uncontrollable events in our lives leave a footprint on the person that we choose to become in the future. This is a trivial fact that is in no need of much discussion. What I'd like to emphasize, though, is the importance of choice.

Whenever we encounter an obstacle or face some kind of hardship, we have two options ahead of us: to accept or to respond to them. Responding to adverse turns of events leaves one better off than embracing the acceptance route, but, sadly enough, it cannot compensate for the beatitude of the initial perturbation-free state. There is a bright side to what I just wrote, though, and it consists in the fact that it is not always true!

There are some cases when an unlucky situation leads to highly favorable outcomes. Of course, if one chooses to respond to the challenge, rather than to passively accept it. Look at health and body weight, for instance. It is a well known fact that not all thin people are healthy. Moreover, those individuals that have the tendency of being thin without investing too much effort into their lifestyle might very well end up disregarding important aspects related to their diet. Ultimately, why not have a dessert everyday if it doesn't show?

Now, on the other hand, there are those people who are unlucky enough as to be predisposed (by genes and/or early life environment) to store fat rapidly, lose it with great difficulty and to be constantly haunted by terrible food cravings. Without any act of will on their part, scale numbers are nothing but a very bad, though lucid, nightmare. 

As many people care about the way they present themselves to others - sometimes even more than they care about  regular blood tests -, the tendency to gain weight might act as a propeller for positive lifestyle changes. Eating less refined carbs or engaging into regular physical activity do not only improve one's body measurements, but they also have a good overall impact on one's general state of health.

At the end of the day, it might just be the case that bad luck will give you the impetus that you need in order to do the right thing or to grow in some way. Of course, it's not going to be easy, because otherwise nobody would wait for the push.