A life without a struggle?
The path to success is full of obstacles that need to be overcome. It is these trials that prepare us for the gains in life. Triumphs don’t come without effort and success is not measured by our position in life but by the obstacles we overcome to get there. It is measured not only by how high we go up in life, but by how many times we bounce back when we fall down. It is our resilience that sets us apart.
An English proverb says, “A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner”. Life is a continuous struggle, where each experience makes us gain in strength and grow wiser. A beautiful story ‘The trials of a Tea Cup’, by an unknown writer, has been an unfailing source of inspiration for me whenever I have faced a storm in life. It has made me set my eyes on the safe shores and overcome the threatening waves courageously.
This is how the story goes:
“I haven’t always been a tea cup. There was a time in my life when I was just a lump of clay. Then my master took me and began to pat and mould and shape me. It was very painful and I begged him to stop, but He only smiled and said, “Not yet”. Then he placed me on a spinning wheel and I went round and round. I got so sick that I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but then he finally let me off. Just as I thought I was going to be all right, my master put me in an oven. I didn’t understand why he wanted to burn me. I yelled and begged for him to stop. He only smiled, shook his head and said, “Not yet.”
Finally, when he took me out of the oven I sighed with relief. But, all of a sudden, my master picked me up and started sanding and brushing me. He took a paintbrush and started painting colours all over me. The fumes were strong. I thought I would pass out. I pleaded with him to stop, but he smiled and said, “Not yet!” Then he placed me in another oven. This was twice as hot as the first. I knew I would suffocate. I begged and pleaded and cried, but he only smiled and said, “Not yet!” I lost hope. I couldn’t take it anymore. It was all over for me. Then the door swung open and my Master said, “Now!” He placed me on a shelf and brought a mirror and told me to look. I could not believe my eyes. I was a beautiful teacup.
Then the master explained, “I want you to understand that I knew it hurt when I patted and moulded you. I knew the spinning wheel made you sick. But if I had left you alone, you would be just a lump of clay. You would not have had a personality in your life. If I had not baked you, you would have crumbled. I knew it really bothered you to be brushed and painted, but if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have had any colour in your life. Oh how I knew the second oven was hard for you! But you see if I had not put you there, you would not have lasted, so you would not have survived very long. So you see, when you thought it was all so hard, I still had you in my care. I knew all along what you would be today. I had the finished product in my mind from the day I first touched you.”
That’s how we all have been created - to struggle and achieve. Right from the beginning a child has to struggle to crawl, to stand, to walk, to talk by himself. Even the most doting parents, at best, can only assist the child. He alone can master these. These are the first lessons of life that clearly indicate that nothing worthwhile in life comes without a struggle.
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