Overcoming Adversity

Adversity is a normal part of life; it cannot be avoided. In adversity there is opportunity.  No one who has done something worthwhile managed to avoid adversity.  Challenges make life interesting. Overcoming challenges is what makes our life meaningful. Strength doesn’t come from what you can do.  Strength comes from doing those things that you once thought you could never do.  Your struggles develop your strength.  When you go through adversity and decide not to give up that is strength.  Smooth sailing will never develop the skills necessary for a captain to run a ship properly.  He and his crew must know what to do when they encounter rough waters.  The same is true in life.  Adversity is the best teacher to instill in you the ability to fight situations that will surely come your way.

Overcoming adversity will allow you to learn valuable lessons and transform you into a stronger and wiser person.  Struggles will develop your self confidence and help you to move forward in life. When you face challenges, resolve to keep moving. There is something inside of you that is greater than your struggles. Character cannot be developed without adversity. You must have experience in trials to achieve real success.  Anyone can win if things always go their way.  It’s the man who overcomes his struggles that becomes a champion.  You have no idea what you can do until you are forced to do it!  When your back is up against a wall, you can either beat your head against it or you can use your head to create a plan to keep moving forward despite the wall.  A dead end street is just a place to turn around.  Choose whether you will turn around and begin again or simply stop and give up.  Don’t let a situation stop you. Go around it or work through it but don’t stop.  Fire is used to test gold. Struggles test the character of a man.

One of the strongest attitudes to have in the face of adversity is the ability to keep your focus on the goals you want to achieve.  If you lose focus, then your struggles will seem larger than life and solutions impossible.  Great leaders understand that it is difficult to press through hardships alone.  They ask for help when needed.  One of your most powerful assets is understanding that no one achieves success alone.  Success is an accumulation of skills and the support of people who want nothing more than for you to achieve your goals. The people who have known their share of struggles, defeat and loss but found a way out have an obligation to share their experiences with others.  They know what does and does not work. Seek them out.  Glean from their wisdom and then you pass it on as well. Remember, the things that go wrong for you have a way of becoming a part of the gift within you that you can share to help others.  No one grows from living an easy life.  We grow only when we face a challenge head on and work through it until we have success.  If life throws you to the wolves, come back leading the pack!