Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the well-known President of the United States who was confined to a wheelchair. Usually people who have to depend on a wheelchair to move around find it difficult to be socially active, but despite his disability he was able to carry out his presidential duties. He was a great man in that he did not live a life of excuses, but rather did whatever he felt had to be done. He was willing to make every effort to overcome his disability.

There is another example in the United States of a woman who succeeded in reaching one of the highest positions in the country. She lost her husband when she was still young, was rejected by her children, fell into poverty and became seriously ill. Notwithstanding her miserable circumstances, she was able to rise to one of the highest positions in government.

People such as these have come to understand important lessons in life through adversity. Those who even from the depths of adversity are able to reach heights that ordinary people would never aspire to all have something in common. I would like to explain what I discovered through studying them. Firstly, they never attribute their hardships to others. They never put the blame onto other people or bemoan their fate, because they understand clearly that this would do no good whatsoever. The first key is not to blame fate or other people for any personal hardship.

Secondly, they accept what fate has given them. They do not complain, “if only that had never happened.”

Excerpted from ‘Invincible Thinking’ by Ryuho Okawa Page 15