LiveStrong: You may be reading this blog as a sufferer or you may know a person suffering from a natural disease, disorder or ailment. This article is here to give you hope and an alternative approach towards life. I am giving you the perspective and personal experiences of great men among humanity who themselves overcame adversity and did not ever think of giving up. All men, women and children come across pain and suffering in their lives therefore this message is poignant to all mankind.
Lance Armstrong is an American professional road racing cyclist who is best known for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived cancer. In October 1996 he was diagnosed with cancer, with a tumour that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and lung surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. Immediate surgery and chemotherapy were required to save his life. After his surgery, his doctor stated that he had less than a 40% survival chance. He slowly recovered after intense physiotherapy with almost miraculous results and went on to win 7 Tour de France races, one of the hardest endurance events known to man.
After his experiences he stated:
“Without cancer, I never would have won a single Tour de France. Cancer taught me a plan for more purposeful living, and that in turn taught me how to train and to win more purposefully. It taught me that pain has a reason and that sometimes the experience of losing things — whether health or a car or an old sense of self — has its own value in the scheme of life. Pain and loss are great enhancers.”
Armstrong converted that pain into his tool and understood that without it he would not have been as focused and determined enough to win. He exclaimed to the world that:
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
He is an ambassador of beating Cancer and has his own "Livestrong" foundation. Armstrong addressed cancer patients, giving them the correct view on their situation saying:
“Anything is possible. You can be told you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight. By fight I mean arm yourself with all the available information, get second opinions, third opinions, and fourth opinions. Understand what has invaded your body, and what the possible cures are. It's another fact of cancer that the more informed and empowered patient has a better chance of long-term survival. What if I had lost? What if I relapsed and the cancer came back? I still believe I would have gained something in the struggle, because in what time I had left I would have been a more complete, compassionate, and intelligent man, and therefore more alive.”
The Holy Quran describes people who are suffering and under pain, it states that:
“The lightning might well-nigh snatch away their sight; whenever it shines upon them, they walk therein; and when it becomes dark to them, they stand still.” [2:21]
The Holy Quran shows that when the light (lightning) shines on them, they feel happy so move and walk, however when it becomes dark and they are suffering they become still with fear. If we look at Armstrong’s life we can see that in adversity and pain he carries on walking and moving, he never becomes still, he always lives under hope. I pray that we can adopt this same mindset when we come in contact with pain and suffering. Surely! then we will become winners.
Click here to view the Livestrong Foundation website
Zubair Ahmed - Founder of THE AHMADIYYA POST
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