You Transform Because of Hardship

The ocean roared with fourteen feet of fury as the tiger shark's jaws clamped down on thirteen-year-old Bethany Hamilton's left arm. In an instant, her surfboard turned crimson at Tunnels Beach, Hawaii. Sixty percent of her blood gone. One arm severed. Dreams seemingly shattered.

Yet 26 days later (not months or years) she was back on her board, riding waves as if challenging the very ocean that had tried to claim her. Within months, she shocked the surfing world by placing 5th in the Women's Open Division. The girl with one arm outperformed competitors with two, eventually defeating world champions who had never faced such adversity.

When discussing her recovery and perspective, Bethany Hamilton said: "I don't need easy, I just need possible." A simple but profound statement. One that reveals her approach to overwhelming challenges. She didn't seek to avoid difficulty. Indeed, the shark attack had already delivered unimaginable hardship. But instead chose to find the strength to persist through it.

She found the flower that blooms after the storm. In Yogi philosophy, this represents the spiritual awakening that comes not by avoiding life's difficulties but by remaining present through them.

Dr. Stephen Cope, yoga scholar and author, writes that "Yogis have discovered that growth and development often come during or as a result of our most difficult experiences." You transform because of hardship. You grow by weathering the storm. You evolve by finding that sacred stillness at its center.

"Look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm," as Mabel Collins wrote in Light on the Path. Like Bethany Hamilton returning to the water stronger than before, you carry forward the wisdom gained through facing each new wave of challenges with greater awareness and with an expanded perspective.