Overcoming Adversity
A colleague remarked to me, “Why aren’t the libraries getting more copies of (insert: your-favorite-self-help-guru’s latest title)? Our readers can’t get enough of them.” Self-help books are popular. We are taught to embrace change, be positive and shape our destiny. We are invited to invent and then re-invent ourselves to remain employable and enjoy better relationships.
However, most readers fail to appreciate the fact that the self-help market is a billion-dollar industry. Its revenues are generated through offering advice via books, seminars, coaching programs, in both online and offline formats. Besides the potential conflict of interests resulting from the highly lucrative self-help industry, readers need to recognize that solutions are often generalized, especially when they are presented to the public in book format. Some, if not great, caution should be exercised to verify the background and experiences of gurus.
There are, however, alternatives. Instead of hearsay favored by self-help gurus, biographies and memoirs offer valuable insight. Unfortunately the latter lack the necessary sex appeal as they are often not backed by a well-oiled marketing machine. However, they are real accounts of the lives and times of the individual. The following five titles, as diverse as they may seem, are nothing less than inspirational and celebrate the greatness that each and everyone of us could and should strive towards.
“Whatever Happens, Never Give Up”
Africa, the cradle of civilization, has not been dealt a good hand. Civil wars, corruption, famine, and diseases run rampant. But as the wise constantly remind us, it is never the hand you are dealt with but how you play that matters. William Kamkwamba’s tale is so unreal that it could easily been science fiction. Chancing upon a picture of a windmill in a library, at the age of 14, and with little formal education and resources, he proceeded to build a windmill to generate electricity for his family. While accepting failure as part of life, The Boy Who Harness the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope challenges its readers to persevere and provide undeniable proof that dreams, however wild, do come true. [Online: William’s ‘07 TED speech, ‘09 TED speech]
“No one is in control of his own life.”
We are all blessed in our own ways. Some are born with privileges, others with talents. Deogratias or Deo, the hero of Strength in What Remains, serves as a necessary reminder that the destitute are our equals, dignified beings that demand our respect and help. Deo survived two genocides in both Burundi and Rwanda by miraculously fleeing to New York. Barely able to converse in English, he has slept in Central Park. Yet he went on to graduate from Columbia University, medical school and gained American citizenship. More amazingly, he returned to Burundi to create a clinic and public health system that has treated 21,000 patients in its first year of operation.
“All I care about is that you keep going, Boy Wonder.”
For those who feel that Africa is too distant and remote, Norman Ollestad’s Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, serves as a powerful reminder of the great gifts we can bestow our loved ones. Crazy succeeds on so many levels. Firstly, it is about survival. Norman is a survivor, he survived his parents’ divorce, a plane crash that killed his father, and an abusive step-father. Yet “there is more to life than just surviving it,” he writes. “Inside each turbulence there is a calm — a sliver of light buried in the darkness.” Secondly, Crazy carefully explores the father and son relationships, that between Norman and his father and stepfather and especially of his own role as a father. A moving tale beautifully written, it is the ideal gift for any family.
"Before it happened to me, I didn’t think a mistake like this was even possible."
Bad things happen, even in the most advanced societies. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino is a victim of rape. Unfortunately, Ronald Cotton at 22, was wrongly accused of the crime. Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption is the astonishing tale of how the two victims learnt forgiveness, became good friends and joined forces to campaign against a justice system gone wrong. While both shared equal portions of the book, one cannot help but admire Ronald who fought for and won his freedom while being locked up for 11 years. Yet he managed to forgive the people responsible for his plight, including the rape victim Thompson-Cannino, who wrongly identified him in a police line-up. Remorse, fear and anger are powerful emotions but Jennifer and Ronald have shown that forgiveness and grace can and will heal all wounds.
“Good farmers know the conditions for growth, and bad ones don’t.”
Sir Ken Robinson’s The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, offers an expanded follow-up to his ’09 TED speech “Do schools kill creativity?” Suitable for students, teachers and parents, Robinson’s book is not an instructional self-help text. It is, however, a synthesis of extensive research and interviews conducted with individuals like author Paulo Coelho and choreographer Gillian Lynne, who have against all odds, followed their passions and triumphed. Robinson, himself, was a victim of polio and wrote about his own struggles to overcome his own physical handicap. The book concludes with a quote from Michelangelo, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
Sebastian Song
7th Jan 2010
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