Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of my coin. Similarly, life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success, and comfort punctuated by misery, defeat, failures, and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise, or rich, who has not experienced, struggled, suffered, or failed.

No doubt, life is beautiful, and every moment – is a celebration of being alive, but one should be always ready to face adversity and challenges. A person who has not encountered difficulties in life can never achieve success.

Difficulties test the courage, patience, perseverance, and true character of a human being. Adversity and hardships make a person strong and ready to face the challenges of life with equanimity. There is no doubt that there can be no gain without pain. It is only when one toils and sweats it out that success is nourished and sustained.

Thus, life is and should not be just a bed of roses; thorns are also a part of it and should be accepted by us just as we accept the beautiful side of life.

The thorns remind one of how success and happiness can be evasive and thus not to feel disappointed and disheartened rather remember that the pain of thorns is short-lived, and the beauty of life would soon overcome the prick of thorns.

Those, who are under the impression that life is a bed of roses are disillusioned soon and become victims of depression and frustration. One who faces difficulties with courage and accepts success without letting it go to its head is the one who experiences real happiness, contentment, and peace in life.

Those, who think, that good times last forever, easily succumb to pressure during difficulties. They do not put in the required hard work and effort because they break down easily.

You can take the example of a student, who burns the midnight oil, makes sacrifices, and resists temptations so that he can perform well. Similarly, a successful executive has to face the ups and downs of life, not forgetting that life is a mix of success and failure, joy and sorrow.

If he loses hope during difficult times, he would not achieve success and would be replaced by others. Even the strongest Kings and Emperors have had their cup of woes.

Life has not been a bed of roses for them. The adage ‘Uneasy lays the head that wears the crown has been rightly used for people, who are successful and are enjoying power and authority.

To sum up, life is beautiful just like roses but it has challenges that are like thorns and have to be faced and overcome by all. Those, who accept these, challenges and succeed, are the ones, who know how to live life in its true sense. Thus, enjoy life but also be prepared to bear the pricks of pain.

            I remember so well when I had my most embarrassing moment. I was in Form 4 and it was during the school recess. The minute the bell rang for recess, I rushed to the toilet because I had been controlling my urges since class started. I didn’t want to miss class because the lesson taught that morning was to include tips for the forthcoming examination.

            Without realizing it, I had rushed to the girls’ toilet. The prolonged control and an upset stomach made worse by two glasses of cold milk in the morning made me grunt and groan in what I thought was the privacy of the cubicle. I thought I heard giggling outside and wondered why the giggles sounded unusually near. A few minutes later I came out of the cubicle and discovered my horror that I had entered the girls’ toilet. To make matters worse, the few girls standing outside didn’t even turn away when I came out. Instead, they looked down at me, then only they turned quickly away. The horror of horrors, I had forgotten to zip up! No beetroot could have matched the color of my face at this point!

            The news of my predicament spread like wildfire throughout school. I was truly the talk of the town. I felt like I could either walk around feeling perpetually self-conscious and embarrassed or I could turn the situation around, perhaps even to my advantage. I remembered my mother’s words that ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. So I decided to make fun of myself, to laugh at myself too. It works. Everyone got bored after a while and nobody teased me after that.

            It was indeed an eye-opening experience for me. I have learned that when people laugh at you, you should laugh along. You must not take yourself seriously. Learn to look at yourself through other people’s eyes and you will realize that most of the time when they laugh at you, they just want to have some fun. They mean no harm. If you can make people laugh, it’s like bringing sunshine into their lives, and as someone said, ‘those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.’