After reading this weeks chapter and going through posted articles and videos, I can say

that I look at adversity in a new light now. I had a rough week of school this past week and
although that isn't traumatic or anything, I was definitely looking at the situation as
something that will make me better. Thinking about the topic of gaining from the struggle,
my family had a health scare with my little sister a couple of years ago and it got to the
point where she was away from the family for a little while. This was an extremely hard
time for my family, but we all noticed that our relationships had gotten stronger through
the whole process. God works in mysterious ways, and I do believe that He intends to put
people through situations in order to make them better people and stronger in their faith.

I grew up in a religious home and was always taught about how adversity and challenges
are used to grow in faith and become stronger. Now after the readings about the
experiments psychologists have been able to conduct that prove that understanding your
struggling and why it is happening can actually make you healthier in the long run is
amazing. In the article, "The Upside of Suffering", I love the connection that the writer
made to the Christian holiday season of Lent. How people are willing to give up something
they enjoy, but know isn't the best for the person, in order to improve as a person for God.
I always never understood Lent as a child but as I grow older I understand now that we are
doing it to test our determinacy and love for God. Through the suffering we do by giving
something up we are showing our appreciation for our God. In Harold Kushner's "Why
Bad Things Happen to Good People", Kushner tries to make sense of the unfair world that
we live in. When failing to make sense of why good people go through such traumatic
events, Kushner poses the idea that we should instead immediately question how to
respond to the event, instead of why it is happening. This will allow for us to move on to
what really matters. Sometime the best thing is to not make sense of why bad things
happen to good people, and instead respond in a helpful manner for ourselves.

When reading chapter 7 and hearing about the scientific benefits of writing about the
trauma we endure has amazed me. Experiments showed that writing down stories about
the traumas in your life will allow for you to make more sense of these issues, and further
result in better health down the line. I never had before heard about a type of therapy like
this, except for when people tell you to write an angry note when you're mad and then
crumple it up and throw it away. In Ryan Fan, "Write to Heal", Fan explains that writing
allows for people to use language to make sense of life's events. With all of these different
psychologists agreeing with the fact that writing about trauma will lead to better
emotional health, it has made me interested in giving it a try the next time I go through
something.

Sources
Fan, Ryan. “Write to Heal, and Give Meaning to Suffering.” Medium, Creative Humans, 31
May 2019,
medium.com/creative-humans/write-to-heal-and-give-meaning-to-suffering-d0a59a626
21a.

Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis: Putting Ancient Wisdom and Philosophy to the
Test of Modern Science. Random House Business Books, 2021.

Kushner, Harold. “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Tparent.Net,

tparent.net/Kushner_ch8excerpts.pdf. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.

Mazie, Steven. “The Upside of Suffering.” Big Think, 30 Sept. 2021,

bigthink.com/personal-growth/the-upside-of-suffering/.

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