If adversity is a great teacher, enemies are our personal tutors.

You have enemies? Good.

That means you've stood up for something,

sometime in your life.

— Winston Churchill.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

— Abraham Lincoln.

When you're cold, what do you do? Don't you try to heat up your body? You do that because they are opposites, and that is logical, that is simple common sense. Love and anger, analogically, are opposites as well. When somebody makes you angry, do you show love towards your enemy? I think most of us do the very opposite, we freeze because of anger and hatred. That is logical as well, but it takes a lot of character and maturity to behave accordingly. Give it some thought.

Anger, destroys love and compassion, and anger is undermined by patience, which is the best practiced with an ENEMY. Without adversaries, you could not fully engage in the practice of patience (which I believe is a mix between tolerance and forbearance). We need enemies to strengthen our practice, and from this point of view, we can actually be grateful for them. Since enemies are the greatest teachers of altruism and love, instead of generating hatred for them, we must view them with gratitude. Look at it this way: it is not necessary for someone to be good to you in order for you to respect and cherish them.

Here is a way to appreciate the value of enemies:

• We have to keep in mind that, in order to build real character, the practice of patience is essential.
• We have to realize that the best way to practice patience requires enemies.
• We have to understand that in this way enemies are very valuable for the opportunities they provide.
• We have to make the decision that instead of getting angry with those who block your wishes, we will inwardly respond with gratitude.

If you embrace this simple and humble philosophy that I now present to you, you can change your attitude towards adversity (believe me I have faced adversity MANY times). I KNOW, it is very difficult, but very rewarding. I like to use the metaphor of depicting humans as warriors (you might have noticed that already in my past blog posts) and, in a way, love towards our enemies is like a warrior's sword;  but wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.

Enemies give us this kind of change, therefore they are primary instigators of our spiritual advancement. Don't you think? That is also very logical, but again, it takes a lot of character and maturity to behave accordingly.

He who reads, understands.