One of the things I like to do when times are troubled and I’m feeling down, is to compare my trouble to someone else who suffered much more.
During this crisis, whenever I’m feeling a bit bleak, I choose Anne Frank as my comparison, for some pretty obvious reasons.
A few minutes considering her plight, the plight of her other family members and those others who hid with them, never fails to bring balance back to the situation I’m in.
I once visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. I’d have like to have done so at a quiet time, to really experience its atmosphere, but it’s always extremely busy, and I know I didn’t feel the full impact of what it must have been like to be in hiding and at the full mercy of a few kind and understanding (and brave) people.
But it did give me some sense of the dire circumstances she, and they, were all in, the fear of discovery, the lack of food, the loss of freedom and the difficulty of being confined in such a small area. And to go through it at such a tender age when life should have been blossoming for Anne, her sister Margot and Peter van Pels.
Perhaps we share one thing in that we don’t really know how and when, all of this is going to end, but my situation in isolation far more bearable for remembering the Franks, the van Pels and eventually Fritz Pfeffer who joined them later.
So today, my quotation is some of Anne's own words as written in her diary.
“It’s difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they all seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” -Anne Frank-
Imagine the grace Anne had to still believe in the goodness of people. But of course good does eventually prevail, and I’m beginning to believe in people’s goodness again now too. We are seeing much more of it ever since the onset of this crisis. My deepest wish for us all is that we continue to be kinder when this period of trouble is over.
Take care everyone and please stay safe and well.
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I so admire Anne Frank and those who hid with her, they never lost either hope or faith. I hope we are all kinder and understanding when all this is over. Have a good day and take care of yourself 😊 Bernadette xx
What a great post about such a brave girl. I loved to read about Anne Frank because what she went through was so incredibly brave and remarkable and I remember first learning what eventually happened and just crying so much. It doesn’t seem fair that after so much effort she succumbed to an arrest and subsequent concentration camp. Her diaries were an inspiration to so many people. Thank God her words were captured and printed for so many to read.
People who think we have it bad should just read her book and try to compare. We don’t even come close!!
❤️❤️❤️
Yes Lisa11171, As the current crisis demonstrates, 'fair' is only a concept, and sometimes it is good to make comparisons with the sometimes completely despicable things that people do to other people. At least this time around we are only battling a virus, and although some people may have acted selfishly through fear, at least we don't have to contemplate man's inhumanity to man. But still, I do hope against hope for a more compassionate approach to things after this.
Thanks for your comments and I'm glad you liked the quotation. Take care.
I visited the Anne Frank house when I visited my family in Amsterdam. I felt very uneasy being there and it had a profound effect on me.
However, Anne is a fine example to gain some understanding of the situation we find ourselves in. It gives a sense of how she came to terms with the life she had amongst the horror and difficulties of the time.
There are major differences but we are still far, far better off than families like hers were. Their resiliance, faith and hope never wavered and are still an inpiration to us.
But you are so right, we are in a similar position, we are in isolation, there are difficulties getting food and certainly we have lost some of our freedom. But its not forever. There will be a time when we will emerge from all of this. We will start doing the things we used to do. Will the experience have made a difference to us? Will we think or behave differently?
It really will be a time to reflect on our lives and what path we take in the future. Hopefully we will have gained a greater understanding of the meaning of life and the part each of us play in it.
I love your post. Anne Frank, what an inspiration. A cruel World seen through the eyes of a child, who was able to retain warmth and hope looking out onto to that World. A true Icon of strength and character. xx
Of course , Anne Frank is anybody that is Jewish, or anybody that is anybody/ should be everybody. But a little reality check having to do with the real world reality , she wounded up dead in the gas chamber?
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Quotation for Saturday 25th April 2020