As an English major, I loved reading and writing essays of great thinkers both modern and ancient.
Choosing how best to summarize a poem, play, short story or novel, my writing improved as did my knowledge of the human condition.
When I was a student, I took a course on James Joyce. I asked my professor how I should approach my studies of Joyce, a mean feat for many junior-level students. He told me ‘All success comes from suffering.’
Like Yoda in Star Wars, I found it hard to understand what he meant. Surely, I suffered already. Hospitalized for schizophrenia, I truly did some soul searching already.
When I was a child, I remembered listening to my grandmother tell stories, listening to ghost stories from camp counselors, and listening to my father tell jokes.
But, as teenagers and young adults, we forget to listen to our elders. It is a part of growing up. Without making mistakes, one never learns from them.
This is part of ‘success through suffering’.
I was at the beginning of my recovery journey when I entered college. I was still discovering myself.
Throughout my adult years, talking with social workers and psychiatrists made me a better man no matter how emotionally draining it became.
I began to understand myself every time I stepped into the therapist’s office.
Success follows human experience that takes years to achieve. That’s how wisdom grows.
When I launched my journalism career, I then began to relate to other people. Through research, interviews and interpersonal communication, through the process of organizing thoughts on paper, these years of journalism provided me with skills that served me well.
Wisdom comes from human understanding as gleaned from human suffering.
I finally knew what my professor meant about suffering and success. Whatever doesn’t break you, makes you strong.