{"id":276,"date":"2010-09-10T15:09:50","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T23:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=276"},"modified":"2011-06-15T09:46:38","modified_gmt":"2011-06-15T16:46:38","slug":"expert-series-overcoming-adversity-some-survive-the-great-ones-thrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/expert-series-overcoming-adversity-some-survive-the-great-ones-thrive\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert Series: Overcoming Adversity. Some Survive. The Great Ones Thrive."},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>In a mall bookstore, I began flipping through a book at random. It could have been any book. But it was \u201cThe Beethoven Factor,\u201d<\/em><\/a> by Dr. Paul Pearsall<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 A random flip had landed me on page 101. Every once in a while, in one of those delightfully rare and magical moments of accidental discovery, a jarring thud of healing inspiration and hope occurs. I had one of those moments. On page 101 of \u201cThe<\/em> Beethoven Factor,<\/em>\u201d I looked down and read a brief snippet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It described a 22-year-old woman. She had just begun her life, just started teaching English Literature in high school. Then \u2026 she was struck down by a drunk driver. She was left pentaplegic (unable to move her arms or legs, and unable to breathe on her own.) She was on a ventilator. Life for her was over, right? Wrong. At that time, she was writing a book about her experiences on a computer that had been specially adapted to allow her to operate the keys with a stick held in her mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0And yet, she still had a sense of humor.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to feel screwed. You can construe. Trust me, that one word has very special power. The dictionary says it means to discover and apply meaning, and what a power that is. It means your life is all in your mind. I am actually happier and more productive now than I have ever been. I sure have more friends and, as you can easily see, I am totally free from multitasking.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>– <\/em><\/strong>From Dr. Paul Pearsall\u2019s <\/em>\u201cThe Beethoven Factor\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Why Beethoven?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

His ninth symphony, \u201c<\/em>\u00a0Ode To Joy,\u201d<\/em> was written when Beethoven was totally deaf. The chords and chorus heard only in his mind. Was he so crazy as to think that this musical wonder haunting his mind could be adequately expressed to others though he could not hear himself?\u00a0<\/p>\n

On May 7, 1824, at Vienna’s K\u00e4rtnertor Theater, \u201cThe Ninth Symphony\u201d was first performed. Beethoven, totally deaf, could not conduct the premiere.\u00a0He did stand next to the conductor during the performance to indicate proper tempi. On the final note of the premiere, the audience exploded with thunderous applause, and some of the players in the orchestra wept. Beethoven, standing next to the conductor with his back to the crowd, looked straight ahead–he didn\u2019t know. He had heard nothing. The solo contralto noticed and turned him around. One could only wonder what went through his mind at that moment. He could not hear. But he could see. He bowed before the cheering crowd. His \u201cOde to Joy\u201d was received with rare, effusively raw human emotion. The kind reserved for awe-inspiring moments of a singular human\u2019s triumph over seemingly unconquerable odds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Pearsall uses Beethoven as a stellar example of what he calls a \u201cThriver.\u201d<\/strong> Beethoven, not only in spite of his adversity \u2026 but because of his adversity,<\/span> <\/em>epitomized the \u201cArt of Thriving.\u201d <\/em>Dr. Pearsall was a Thriver <\/em>too. He barely survived birth, conquered among a litany of other obstacles, total blindness. And then finally, cancer. Dr. Pearsall\u2019s triumph over terminal cancer is documented in the bestseller Miracle in Maui<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Survive Terminal Cancer?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes. He was told he would certainly die of an extremely rare type of cancer that strikes down young and healthy people in the prime of their lives. And, for a little extra good cheer, Dr. Pearsall was also told that even if his cancer went into remission he\u2019d die anyway. Die from suffocation caused by a deadly virus allowed to attack his lungs by his chemotherapy-and-radiation-weakened immune system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was told the terminal good news on a Good Friday. That day, as he walked slowly down his driveway, the ache of cancer eating away at him, feeling lost and hopeless, he opened his mailbox and noticed an envelope marked \u201cUrgent. <\/em>Internal Revenue Service.\u201d<\/em> Selected for a random compliance audit of State and Federal tax records for three years. How\u2019s that for some good cheer on Good Friday? How did he react? He laughed. Laughed so hard he cried. My kinda guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

INTERVIEW:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steve(S):<\/strong> What is the Beethoven\u00a0Factor?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Pearsall (Dr. P):<\/strong> The Beethoven Factor is “Stress Induced Growth.\u201d Like the composer, there are persons for whom adversity is a stimulus for personal growth and creativity. Also like Beethoven, they aren’t “super humans.” Like all of us, they are flawed beings. They are not just naive blind optimists. They are “benefit finders” who can discover growth where many others see only disaster.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBe a \u2018benefit finder;” discover growth where others see only disaster.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLife has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle!\u201d<\/strong>– <\/strong>Swahili Warrior Song<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

S:<\/strong> You use Beethoven as the epitome of a \u201cThriver.\u201d <\/em>Could you explain?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. P:<\/strong> Beethoven was a brilliantly creative person. Even pending death, total deafness, and often deep despair\u00a0didn’t prevent him from composing the “Ode to Joy” when we might expect him instead to compose the “Ode to Misery.”<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhen Ode to Misery beckons \u2026 find your Ode to Joy.”
\n<\/strong>\u201cLife begins on the other side of despair\u201d <\/strong>\u2013Jean Paul Sartre<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

S:<\/strong> What did you think and\/or feel when an editor told you that you were a “difficult author\u201d because you were likely to die before you could promote your book?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. P:<\/strong> I’ve long ago learned the P’s of dealing with bad news and toxic people. I don’t take criticism or adversity P<\/span>ersonally, and do not view setbacks in one area of my life as P<\/span>ervasive to all other areas, and most of all, I know that that nothing is P<\/span>ermanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The P\u2019s of dealing with bad news and toxic people:<\/strong><\/p>\n