“Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life,” writes Joseph Campbell.
“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me,” he continues in Reflections on The Art of Living. “At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called ‘the love of your fate.’ Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, ‘This is what I need.’ It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment–not discouragement–you will find the strength is there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow.
“Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.”
Michael Murphy wrote a more stoic corollary in Desert Rat, a track from his 1975 album Blue Sky Night Thunder.
“Success is survival. We’ll all tough it out.”
The chestnut, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger,” has particular value right now. There are days when fate may dictate survival as victory. Celebrate it.
