Growth

Here's a truly wonderful story as told by Anthony de Mello in One Minute Wisdom:

Tribulation

"Calamities can bring growth and Enlightenment," said the Master.

And he explained it thus:

"Each day a bird would shelter in the withered branches of a tree that stood in the middle of a vast deserted plain. One day a whirlwind uprooted the tree, forcing the poor bird to fly a hundred miles in search of shelter - till it finally came to a forest of fruit-laden trees."

And he concluded: "If the withered tree had survived, nothing would have induced the bird to give up its security and fly."

This is why we need to train ourselves to let go of attachments. If we have practice in letting go, then, when the calamity comes, we will be able to adjust and change and move on. If we are not able to let go, we will be trapped. It doesn't matter whether the attachment is to something "good" or not. It's the ego-clinging itself that traps us.