Disneynature released another great documentary about a family of tigers recently. We’ve enjoyed all their previous ones (special shout-out to the polar bear and Dolphin reef) and this was another masterclass in storytelling.
This story was about a tigress raising four kids in the forests of Central India. In the middle of the story, she loses two of her kids as she’s forced to be away from them for a few days. After frenzied searching, she sees vultures around tiger carcasses and assumes both to be dead.
While one of them did sadly die, the other, a tigress named Charm, survived the ordeal against the odds. The scene where she reunites with her family after the ordeal is heartwarming. Her joy and relief is palpable.
Until that ordeal, Charm was consistently the most careful and shy of the four siblings. However, she comes back transformed. The ordeal helped her develop character and get in touch with her resilience. When it was time for the kids to finally leave their mother, it is Charm who leads the way.
That’s the paradox bad experiences present. We’d never want to wish them on us or anyone we care about. But, on the flip side, they help us build resilience and character.
So, if we aren’t going through an ordeal, there’s a lot to be grateful for.
And if we are, there’s a lot to learn.
Win-win. Just not in the way we expect.
