You ask Why Me. I ask Why Not You?

Yesterday, novelist Chinua Achebe was buried in Nigeria. He died in March in New York, where he spent his sunset days following a near-fatal accident that left him largely paralyzed.

On the day of his burial, BBC Newsday ran an archive interview in which Chinua Achebe talked to Veronique Edwards. He spoke about how he'd like to be remembered. Additionally, he shared some interesting insights about tragedy, both in his life and in his written works.

Listen to Chinua Achebe below:

listen to ‘Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe reflected on how he will like to be remembered’ on Audioboo

The above audio clip is loaded with insights.

When Veronique pointed out that Mr Achebe does look younger and doesn't seem resentful, Achebe found this interesting, and asked, "..resentful about what?"

In the interview, Achebe goes on to acknowledge that tragedy is ever present in life, just as it is in his books. When one asks "Why Me?" he asks "Why Not You?" When we think we should not undergo some things, Achebe wisely asks if we do have someone in mind who should instead endure the suffering.
The entire interview of Chinua Achebe speaking to the BBC's Veronique Edwards:



Here's a similar post remembering Chinua Achebe on PeteRNjenga.com.

In addition to being a celebrated author whose books continue to shape opinion, Chinua Achebe presents a most admirable take on life, especially in the face of tragedy and what many of us consider undeserved fate.

Have an awesome weekend.

The Right Kind of Bad

"Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune."

- William James

Good from Bad?

Lately, I have been thinking about the good that often comes out of bad things. Yeah... I deliberately used the word 'often' right there :)

That reminded me of this blog post that was written in July 2009, based on an unfortunate incident in October 2008.

Challenging Convention

While on a brief phone conversation with my lovely friend L this morning, we both agreed that a simple and uncommon life can be profoundly fulfilling. Such an unconventional life is hard to come by however, and often involves much sacrifice, courage, resilience and unrelentingly sticking to one's stated objectives.

Going against the grain often seems a bad thing, but I'm willing to bet that it is the right kind of bad.

The Benefits of Tragedy

That aside, we often undergo difficult and unfortunate situations in life. They often seem insurmountable, hitting us at the worst possible time. Two women had such experiences, and they proceeded to draw much needed insight and shared this with the world. It is indeed true that beautiful disasters exist.

In the following video, Jill Bolte Taylor had a stroke of insight...

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

For Stacey Kramer, an unwanted, frightening, traumatic and costly  experience can turn out to be a priceless gift.

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

See the GOOD in BAD

Have you recently had a misfortune that you find very hard to understand?

Well, there is something worth learning in that misfortune. Even better, it is most likely that there is much benefit in it too. So stop whining and seek to uncover, learn from and benefit from your bad experiences.