Hardship and suffering bring out the best in

peopleDone by : Elgin Low . Kang Yan . Clarabelle .

Jit Sheng . Zong Wei . Shawn lim

Sunday, March 17, 13

Defining...

Hardship : A condition that is hard to endure.

Suffering : Process of undergoing/enduring pain and/or displeasure.

Bring out the best in people : Promote the greatest performance and values of oneself.

Sunday, March 17, 13

IntroductionG: In the current society, hardships and suffering are unavoidable. Every individual will have to come across difficult situations which affects them emotionally, morally and physically.

I: The hardships are often referred to as undesirable conditions one has to endure, while suffering is the undergoing of such situations. They bring out the best in people, which can refer to having the greatest values and performing to the best of ability.

S: While any rational people will agree that hardships and suffering are bad things and should be avoided at all cost, some will believe that they do not only bring trouble into our lives. Hardships and suffering may beget better performance for many successful people.

T: With respect to this, I strongly agree that hardships and suffering bring out the best in people in both their performance and their morals.

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P1 : It increases the tendency of people to help each other out in

extreme times of need.Elaboration :This is so as after one has undergone certain hardship, he/she will experience the pain caused by it. When others suffered in the same situation, he/she will be able to empathise with them, as they all share or once shared the same feelings. This increases the tendency of him/her helping those who are in need, hoping that they can successfully overcome the hardship.

Example : The Sendai earthquake was a devastating event in 2011. After the earthquake, many had lost their homes. Fortunate people, whose homes did not get destroyed by the earthquake sheltered those who lost their homes in their own house. This is because the japanese residents who were affected by the earthquake had all felt the sense of loss from the destruction resultant of the earthquake.This compelled them to emphatize with other victims of the japanese earthquake, pushing them to use whatever means they can in order to help these people in needThis is a significant action as in Japan, it is a societal norm that one should not invite strangers to enter their house.

Link :When people are desperate in extreme situations, they might become less selfish as they are able to understand how others feel, especially if they have undergone the same situation before. Thus, it will cause one to end up helping each other out.

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P2 : Hardship and suffering serves as an inspiration for many people to work harder and achieve their best.

Elaboration :After suffering for a long time, one will want to end the hardship by overcoming it. Thus, they are motivated to work hard for their goals and achieve the best with their ability. This would then increase efficiency in which one works towards the common goal, thus allowing one to achieve it in a shorter period of time.

Example : The life story of Edgar Allan Poe is a good example for this.Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant. In 1826 Poe left Richmond to attend the University of Virginia, where he excelled in his classes while accumulating considerable debt. The miserly Allan had sent Poe to college with less than a third of the money he needed, and Poe soon took up gambling to raise money to pay his expenses. By the end of his first term Poe was so desperately poor that he burned his furniture to keep warm. Humiliated by his poverty and furious with Allan for not providing enough funds in the first place, Poe returned to Richmond and visited the home of his fiancée Elmira Royster, only to discover that she had become engaged to another man in Poe’s absence.   The heartbroken Poe’s last few months in the Allan mansion were punctuated with increasing hostility towards Allan until Poe finally stormed out of the home in a quixotic quest to become a great poet and to find adventure.

Link :With a reason to work harder for, one would want to prove to themselves that they are able to overcome the challenges they are facing. Thus, it strengthens their resolve to persevere to achieve the results they aspire to get.

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P3 : Hardship and suffering encourage exceptional instances of cooperation

between people to achieve common goal.Elaboration :In times of extreme hardship and suffering, the truest of hearts will surface; people have a common goal: to get out of those incidents of hardships & suffering. Thus, people will help each other to advance their mutual benefit.

Example : In Japan, after the Sendai earthquake, many Japanese in the affected regions would cooperate to queue up orderly outside evacuation centres, to be evacuated, despite the temptation to make a rush for the front of the queue to seek aid. This allowed the evacuation procedure to be more efficient.

Link : Thus, hardship and suffering do indeed bring out the best in others as people are pushed to work with each other to achieve a common goal, encouraging them to give in to others and foster better social relationships

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Conclusion

All in all, hardship and suffering could be seen to bring about the act of kindness, serving as inspiration and motivation and bonds people together under such extreme circumstances. Hence, hardship and suffering do indeed bring out the humanity of human beings and excellence in oneself, the best in people.

Sunday, March 17, 13

The end.Thank you.

Sunday, March 17, 13