How do you handle adversity? That long road through dark clouds of hardship without an end in sight.
Most of us experience adversity at least once in our lives, some of us several times. It can be caused by financial setback, family tragedy, illness or accident, break down of a relationship, the result of legal action or for a few of us, deliberate political persecution.
No matter how bad things may seem, we don’t have to look far to find someone with far more serious problems than we have.
Today Oscar Pistorius, the Blade Runner who soared to fame at the London Olympics last year was granted bail and released from a week in police custody after being charged with murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend. Details are in this New York Times article.
The judicial process will run its course, we can only hope that justice will be done even though the prosecution has already made several mistakes. It is easy for those in the safety of the first world to react with horror at the idea of some one shooting a burglar in his home, and pass judgement.
I lived in South Africa in the 1990’s, I carried a gun most of the time and I almost shot someone thinking I was about to be attacked by criminals, so I understand how incidents like this could happen.
Oscar Pistorius had already faced more than his share of adversity to become a competitive athlete. Now he has gone from being one of the most famous athletes on the world stage, a beacon of hope for disabled people, with a brilliant future ahead of him to being a murder suspect.
Even if he is cleared of the murder charge, he has a hard road ahead of him.
- He has to live with the knowledge that he killed his girlfriend.
- His sponsors are abandoning him.
- He is facing a lengthy and costly trial.
- He may receive a prison sentence.
Will he overcome this latest test of adversity, resume his training and become a role model again? Will he achieve the same performances on the track that thrilled the crowds in London and around the world?
A fellow sportsman, Tiger Woods has bounced back from his fall from grace, at the time it seemed that his extra-marital misadventures and treatment in the media would be difficult for anyone to recover from. Compared to Oscar Pistorius’ problems they now look like a walk in the park.
It is going to take huge reserves of resilience and strength of character for Oscar Pistorius to overcome this adversity.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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