My brother Andreas sent me this Aristotle quote out of the blue today: "Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind."
I believe the quote is relevant to the children of the Academy. We're a strong, resilient and mostly, a happy bunch of people, who have experienced the worst in life. We persevere, when others either try to bring us down, or underestimate us.
I can recall a time, during my first on-air reporting job in Salisbury, MD. My boss, who didn't like my attitude or demeanor, told me: "quit while you're ahead Manny, you'll never make it in this business."
I hated working for him. We never saw eye to eye on anything. He knew a lot about news, but he played favorites with his employees. If you were one of the people he didn't favor, you knew about it.
I can remember snapping back at his advice, fearlessly. I told him: "I appreciate your professional opinion, however, I do not accept your advice about what I'll do for the rest of my life. If there's something you need from me while I'm here, I'll do it. After I'm gone, don't worry about me. I've been through more than you'll ever know, and this job is not, and won't be, the toughest leg of my journey."
The Academy gave me the "greatness of mind," to accept tough situations like that one. I smiled through the whole situation, because I knew at least I was doing what I loved, even though the circumstances we not ideal. I learned, years later, when I was promoted to news manager of my own station, that I could never talk to people the way he talked to me. I needed to be fair, honest and sympathetic to everyone's situation.
Ultimately, what I learned, is that all "calamities" are relative to the severity of the situation. What may have crushed another person's self esteem, only made me stronger and more motivated. I thank St. Basil's and the wonderful caretakers who taught me strength and courage.
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