Finding David

Struggle is a part of life. It's unfortunate that it is so, but there will always be times in our lives that are painful, difficult, and challenging. How we deal with these struggles throughout the course of our lives has a large impact on the person that we are in any given moment. It is no surprise then that there has been a lot of time and money spent on self help books, therapy, etc to help us get through when we feel like the challenges are greater than ourselves. At some times in our life, we're all an underdog. The question is which kind of underdog do we become?

I recently read Malcom Gladwell's David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. It was a good read, as all his books are, but it left me with a burning question that he never touched on. The basic premise of the book is that often times, being the underdog can have significant advantages, and being in a place of power can provide you

with weaknesses you might not otherwise have. The underlying story to the book of course ties back to the classic tale of David's defeat of Golaith, where he used his "disadvantages" to overcome someone far stronger than he.

Throughout the book, Gladwell talks about circumstances where great deeds that change the world comes from underdogs. Examples of individuals or even nations that survive a great hardship or disadvantage, turning around to make amazing impacts because of the very things that would otherwise hold them back. In a nutshell, sometimes people become champions exactly because they ARE the underdog.

This isn't  a new line of thought for me. Many of the most successful and happy people I know come from broken families. I think much of what I am most proud of within myself was forged when my parents' marriage was shattered and again as I struggled to come out. I know that without the hardships in our lives, we wouldn't be the people we are today. The problem is the other side of the coin.

The question that is left out of all his examples, and what I am pondering today, is when someone is faced with overwhelming odds or an incredible hardship, how do we make sure we're David, and not any of the hundreds of warriors  crushed under Goliath's foot? Gladwell highlights that more than a quarter of all US Presidents lost their fathers when they were young. Unfortunately, that percentage is similar to the number of men in prison who had the same circumstance.

The real question is not really whether or not underdogs sometimes have the advantage. If we really think about it, I'm not sure that many would disagree with this sentiment. The real question is how do we bring out the best results of our challenges? How do we ensure that we can do this for ourselves, and then as a society ensure that we can help do this for others? I don't have a magic answer to this, and I'm not even sure that there is one. What I am sure of is that this question is one worth asking. I am a firm believer that awareness creates action even if a solution isn't always present. Perhaps just the simple step of being cognizant that we have different paths to take when faced with adversity can help move us in a better direction. Perhaps this awareness can help us move others in the right directions when faced with the crossroads. Maybe next time David sees his way into a thought provoking book, it will delve into how we can learn from him, and make us all a little more empowered by being an underdog.