RUIN — BANE OR BOON — AN OPPORTUNITY IN ADVERSITY
The title of the blog, not just maybe, but will actually sound paradoxical, even irritating and annoying. For it seems beyond the limits of any reasonable comprehension and rational thinking as to how a ruinous state, with its accompaniment of sheer adversity and untold misfortune and suffering can be a boon — it has to and in fact is a bane — a state which should not befall even our most despised adversaries.
Well that was exactly how I looked at the ruinous state — despicable and debilitating to the highest degree, of course, till I recently saw the 2010 Hollywood movie — “Eat, Pray, Love” starring Julia Roberts based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir of the same name. The film revolves around the life of Elizabeth Gilbert (portrayed on screen by Julia Roberts) who had everything and everything(material possessions, emotional support or anything else) a modern woman nee human being is supposed to dream of having and can reasonably have — a loving and understanding husband, a house, a successful career and the works — yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life — an gut-wrenching emptiness in the heart and a dissonated state of mind.
Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world in a quest for self-discovery (what can be simplistically but rather paradoxically called- “finding herself”). In her travels, she undergoes a sheer diversity of experiences- the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Indonesia. While the movie was not an unqualified commercial success with somewhat mixed critical acclaim, I found it to be intimately charming and to some extent inspirational.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s travels across the world in search for inner peace take her to the Augusteum in Rome — the Mausoleum built by the Roman Emperor, Octavian Augustus in 28 BC to house his remains. Her sojourn through the imposing architecture of the Augusteum makes her marvel at its endurance which she finds reassuring and how it had managed to stay intact even through a series of upheveals and as she says “adjusted to the particular wildness of the times” which is what prompts her to think (and speak in the movie) — words which to me sounded immensely inspirational and relevant in any situation when one is hounded by adversity or engulfed by emotional turmoil and mental imbalance:-
“Ruin is a Gift”
Ruin is the road to transformation”.
The expression ruin is perhaps a reflection of the Author’s experience and thought process while rummaging through the ruins of the Augusteum — the broad yet unquestionable message being that any failure, adversity or set back is the springboard for renewed and purposive action which acting in the tandem with a positive thought process and frame of mind can bulwark transformation thereby ending up as a gift.
While Elizabeth Gilbert talks of the ruinous state being the road to transformation in the sense of cutting the trappings or the cords of attachment that come with anything whether physical or emotional and adjusting to the times, for me what is meant to be conveyed is that “ruin” (or the less extreme version of an occasional “failure” or “set back” ) could actually and invariably, be the basis for change in direction or a subtle nuance of approach that ruin brings with it which should bulwark transformation.
History is replete with instances where failures, impending ruin or even ruin (akin to a bankruptcy in the commercial and business world) has propelled, backed by steely determination, invigorative thinking and a deeply ingrained and focussed mindset to usher in a radical transformation. Just as a river wile encountering obstacles in its path, meanders its way and by slowly but incessantly gnashing away at the stones and boulders in its path, does not dry up or lose hope but finds an alternate route, champions and achievers find opportunity in adversity and even ruin to chart a course of rapid and unequalled transformation paving the way for unqualified success.
The Legendary American President Abraham Lincoln widely remembered for the abolition of slavery suffered a litany of failures including his family being forced out of their house, losing his job, bankruptcy in business, death of his sweetheart, successive defeats in the nomination and run for public office — a perfectly glum, unattractive and shady resume at that — a tale of successive decay into ruin — a sureshot recipe for ignominy and disaster. But the reality is that by sheer persistence and capacity to turn adversity into opportunity he used ruin as an opportunity to transform, reinvent, re-establish and rediscover himself — a tale which has become one the most inspirational stories of all time — a story which is repeated in motivational seminars and graduation speeches — a perfect example of how ruin is a gift and can lead to radical transformation.
Remember the legendary words of Herb Brooks (so admirably portrayed by Kurt Russell in the memorable movie “Miracle” ) while motivating the US Ice Hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympic when faced with a seemingly invincible and daunting Soviet Hockey Team — “Great moments are borne out of great opportunity and that’s what you have here tonight, boys” Look upon hardship, failure, rejection, rebuke , reprimand and even ruin as an opportunity to transform, find and rediscover yourself — therein would lie limitless internal peace and mental solace and the path to rapid recovery and sustained progress.
In my moments of despair, I always find solace from Swami Vivekanand’s most popular quote: ‘Arise, Awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.’ Life might have battered you with a series of lethal blows- use that as an opportunity to wake up, get out of your slumber to discover and be aware of your true and real identity, continue your struggle and stop not till the goal is reached- which might appear distant but definitely and ultimately achievable. It is for all of us, akin to taking a bull by the horns to take hardships headlong and rephrase them as growth.
Before closing and for the record, Elizabeth Gilbert is an American journalist and author who, in her own words, was once an “Unpublished Diner Waitress” devastated by a series of rejection letters before tasting success with his memoir “Eat, Pray Love” and found both successes and failures to be inspirational in the drive to keep creating.
