Reaction to adversity.

There are two basic ways in which humans react to an adversity in life. Actually three, if you count our first reaction of asking God, "Why me ?".

One is to do something so that others do not have to suffer like you had to. I have a friend
whose younger brother was attacked by polio as a kid. He is a handsome young man today except for the pronounced limp, thanks to polio. Every year, when the government announces the polio vaccination programme (Polio Plus) for kids, his family makes available the ground floor of their house for the cause. So that other kids don't have to live with the handicap caused by the disease. This is their way of reacting to an adversity.

In this context, I am reminded of what a friend told me about auto-drivers in Europe. If an oncoming driver flashes his light at you for no obvious reason, it usually means that there are cops ahead, who are stopping drivers going above the speed limit. It is the driver's way of warning you to slow down to the speed limit. He might have just paid a hefty fine for speeding, but still wants to warn others so that they do not end up paying the fine like him. He also believes in following the former approach.

On the other hand we have people who wish that others also are stricken by the adversity
that they were hit by, and derive some kind of crude pleasure by knowing that its not just
they that are suffering.

We do not gain anything by behaving either of the two ways. But if our reaction is the former, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we could do our bit to help others escape suffering.