The Blessing in Adversity
？邁克爾·E.安吉爾 / Michael E. Angier
When I was about five years old， I lived with my family in Enterprise， Alabama for a few months while my father attended an advanced aviation course at nearby Fort Rucker.
What makes Enterprise， Alabama especially memorable is a strange monument they have in the middle of town. You can’t miss it. In fact， you have to drive around it because it sits right in the middle of the road. The monument is a statue to the boll weevil.
It’s probably the only monument in the world erected in honor of an insect. It certainly wasn’t done because of its aesthetic value. The boll weevil is a particularly ugly-looking creature. Surprisingly， it was erected because of the devastation the boll weevil caused to the cotton crops of the surrounding area！
Why did they honor this pest？ Well， had it not been for the boll weevil， the local economy would have continued its unhealthy dependence on its one crop， one-product economy. Until then， everything depended entirely on cotton. When the boll weevil came， the farmers and all the other businesses that were reliant on the cotton farmers were forced to recognize the need to diversify.
In the long run， they saw that the boll weevil had， in fact， done them a favor by destroying their crops. No longer were their eggs all in one cotton basket. They started raising pigs， peanuts and other cash crops， and the entire area was better off for it.
I think it is to those southern farmers’ great credit that they were able to see this adversity for what it really was a great blessing. Remember， it’s not what happens to us， but our response to what happens to us that makes the difference in the quality of our lives. I believe that everything that happens can be a lesson. Next time things don’t seem to be going the way you want， ask yourself what the positive aspect is. What’s the benefit in the adversity？ You’ll have greater enjoyment and learn more in the process.