Adversity is not fun.
It can press and stress us.
It may depress and distress us.
It can even distract and untrack us.
Yet, adversity can also be a gift that lifts us.
It can be the force that strengthens our wills and builds our skills.
It is only natural that we do what we can to avoid difficult times and extraordinary challenges. We try to anticipate and moderate the problems we face, or we may attempt to sidestep conflict altogether. However, adversity is not always something that can—or even should—be avoided.
We may face adversity when a core principle or significant value is at stake. Adversity can emerge in our efforts to defend an object of importance or in our attempts to create something meaningful and lasting. Adversity also often comes in the form of conditions we do not create or are unable to control.
As difficult as adverse conditions and challenges may be, they can also provide amazingly valuable opportunities to learn and grow. Difficulties can present circumstances that enable us to experience our best selves. In fact, adversity might be the impetus to move us from hesitancy to confidence and from moderately skilled to expert.
Interestingly, the natural world offers some excellent metaphors for how experiencing adversity can offer hidden benefits and important opportunities for us to become our best selves. With this in mind, consider the following:
- The water in a mountain stream is fresh and pure because it tumbles over rocks, cascades over falls, and bounces over rapids. The same water caught in a stagnant pool is dark and stale.
Lesson: Facing challenges can keep us fresh and prevent us from becoming stale in our thinking and stagnant in our approaches.
- The brightest diamonds are formed by the greatest, most sustained pressure. Absent the presence of pressure, diamonds remain clumps of carbon.
Lesson: Pressure can be the gift that allows us to shine.
- The brightest lights shine on the darkest nights. On a sunny day, we can easily miss the presence of a strong light, yet the same light can be seen for miles when other sources of light have dimmed or been extinguished.
Lesson: Our work during the most challenging times can offer the greatest hope and make the biggest difference.
- In the face of a storm, domestic cows try to outrun and avoid the rain and wind, whereas buffalo turn into the storm, understanding that facing what is inevitable often makes it pass more quickly.
Lesson: Facing adversity directly can often shorten its duration and diminish its impact.
- Stormy seas make skilled sailors. While sailors might prefer to sail on calm waters, their best skills are developed when the waves are high and the wind is strong. In the absence of adversity, key skills remain undeveloped and untested.
Lesson: Times of adversity are valuable because they create conditions for us to learn and grow.
It is true that adversity is usually not pleasant. Still, it can be important to our growth and the difference we make. Adversity may not be our choice, but it can be our opportunity.
