Things that don't kill us Make us Stronger?

[TiG]

I was talking to a friend last night about things that have happened over the last few years, and the title's words were uttered at some point.

I struck me as particularly true that if an experience you have whether it be positive or negative, makes us stronger providing it doesn't kill us.

So i began to wonder are all experiences positive in this case?, even if you can see them as such.

Do we have to experience bad things in our life to make us appreciate the good things that much more?.

Hey its all a bit philisophical for 8:15am on a Tuesday morning but i'm interested so there.

TiG

[Shorty]

Whoah, very philosophical for 8.15 am but..

Im very much inclined to agree. If you can make it through hard times in your life and come out of it surviving, it will make you stronger in mind.

Also, if you make mistakes that cost you and you learn from them.. then that also makes you stronger. You don't make the same mistakes twice (well apart from falling in love with the wrong person.. you can make that mistake and never learn from it).

[0iD]

All depends on your personal 'life philosophy', that is, whether you're an optimist or pesimist.
As an eternal optimist i'm inclined to agree, but on the other hand I know people who would see these things as disasters & get depressed/suicidal etc.
I've lost everything (wife,kids,home) lived on the streets & then got it all back, new wife, new family etc. Did it make me stronger? or just more wary & cynical.

[TiG]

I'm thinking that I can adapt what you say to remove whether you are an optimist or a pesimist, as if you commit suicide the thing that you experienced killed you, be it in a roundabout way.

Is it possible to be permenantly depressed for the rest of your life?, if so then i'd argue that "you" had died, as in your spirit/personality - i.e whatever was required to be you.

thanks for the opinion tho OiD, interesting stuff.

TiG

[telfer12000]

I think Nietche, in this quotation, should be interpreted as a philosophy on mankind rather than on individual man.

I do think the quotation can be appropriate and accurate at a micro man level but I think its value is far greater when considering a race or culture.

I think, if you look through history, the races and creeds which have been most oppressed have developed the strongest cultures (not the best or the most altruistic just the strongest).

For example, the strength of the USA was built on the acceptance and embracing of the "tortured masses" from every oppressed corner of the globe and these immigrants made the USA the superpower it is today also, whatever your politics, you must admire the strength of twentieth century Judaism which, in the face of insurmountable odds particularly post WW1 and in the period since the establishment of the state of Israel in 48, has survived and flourished against all odds. There are many more examples.

Tig - I suppose what I think is that we do need the darkness to enjoy the light and we do need to understand that in every bad experience there is the potential to make us stronger but stronger is not progressive if we measure strength as an increase in our levels of cynicism.

[Kimo]

In my experience surviving the worst life can throw at you always make you appreciate the good stuff that little bit more when you have it knowing how bad it could and can get. I also think that even slightly, you will learn from that experience and whilst maybe not being able to avoid it ever happening again, you will learn how to deal with it better. Everyday is a new day to experience life, and if you get through to the end of that day you will come out stronger. Maybe not happier, or feeling like it was a good day but whatever may of happened you will of dealt with it and learned how to cope and ultimately that will make you appreciate the ups and downs of life more. IMO 0iD should be one proud man. If you can lose everything like that, and then somehow find the strength to rebuild it all again then it must show how mentally strong you are, and in the end it's just another experience to add to the list.

I would much rather live my life having as many experiences as possible, the good and the bad as I feel it helps you learn, make you stronger and have a more interesting life. When it comes to the end I would rather look back and see I have worked hard and gained a lot from my life than to have had everything go perfectly from start to finish.

[ACiD303]

All depends on your personal 'life philosophy', that is, whether you're an optimist or pesimist.

Im not too sure Id agree - im probably a bit more pessimist than optimist - but I definately see the side of what doesnt kill you makes you stronger.

Much like Kimos post as well, I would rather live my life with as much experience in anything and everything. Life is all about balance and for that balance, you have to try everything - even if its result may not be so good - because then you appreciate the things which are good. When bad things happen, I try and let go asap of it and get a grip, I keep telling myself "its just another life experience, Id know better next time".

I wouldnt give up my childhood for anything. Its made me the person I am, and I like who I am. It wasnt the best childhood (I wouldnt like it for my kid), rascism, fascist father etc. but it made me grow mentally strong. I know that had I not reflected on the bad stuff that happened to me, I would never have appreciate the good things that I have now - and I would be a spoilt brat (something I hate).

And in paraphrasing Buddha's teaching, it's easier if you accept things - bad included - to let go, so you can carry on. And it works, Ive let the past go (well, most of it) and getting on with your life is so much easier this way.

[shiato storm]

yup.
[just answering the title..]

[Zak33]

quite possibly the best "saying" I've seen for a long time.

It is the truth......and as it encomasses the potential off death, it makes it more true.

So long as Stronger is also all encompassing.....ie mentally stronger in the main.

[Stringent]

Having a heart attack throws that statement. A heart attack might not kill you, but it certianly does NOT make you stronger.

[fraggie]

but does it not make u appreciate life more and think more about what u cud achieve in life.

I personally think this is true, i think that maybe sometimes ure down, things go wrong, and they aint looking good, but when u come out of that, u have a different way of thinking about some things and possibly a better way

[MuTTy_Hc]

I was talking to a friend last night about things that have happened over the last few years, and the title's words were uttered at some point.

I struck me as particularly true that if an experience you have whether it be positive or negative, makes us stronger providing it doesn't kill us.

So i began to wonder are all experiences positive in this case?, even if you can see them as such.

Do we have to experience bad things in our life to make us appreciate the good things that much more?.

Hey its all a bit philisophical for 8:15am on a Tuesday morning but i'm interested so there.

TiG

i believe they do make u stronger, as the more you experience the more you learn. And in future you can try not to make the same mistake.

[revol68]

its quite obvious that cod liver oil makes us stronger, and what about M.S. and HIV they dont kill us (wannabe smartarse's sit down and wipe ur mouths, they r covered in collective sh*t, AIDs is the killer HIV isnt) and they certainly dont make us stronger....

oh wait mentally... trying to use Steam has made me mentally stronger as has enduring episodes of Two Pints of lager and a Packet of Crisps...
Also enduring pseudo philosophical poseurs quote Nietzsche is quite a test of mental strength lol Charlie Marx still owns all other philosophers (with a scout) and he would b*tch slap Nietzsche for being a awp ho!

[BEANFro Elite]

well the more fights ure in the stronger you get perhaps even if you lose most of them...

but what has made me stronger is that i'm the youngest in my family (3 bros, 1 sis) and we've always had play fights of some sort even since we were little nippers

murder rugby/football for instance...now that's a REAL man's game!!

[BEANFro Elite]

P.S. the play fights etc exclude my sister

[Frosty]

I suppose its true of diseases/virus's as well.....for example after you have chicken pocks you'll never have them again cos your body already has the anti-bodies logged and filed (or summit along those lines!!) so what disease doesn't kill you makes you stronger cos ur immunized against them!!!

Im not an Optimist or a Pesimist......(about to coin a new phrase) ...im a Denialist... if summit bad happens ignore it lol until it is absolutaly impossible to ignore it any more....also ignorance Is BLISS...oh yuh