There are uses to adversity, and they don’t reveal themselves until tested. Whether it’s serious illness, financial hardship, or the simple constraint of parents who speak limited English, difficulty can tap unexpected strengths.
Sonia Sotomayor
Adversity strikes when you least expected or at least that’s exactly what you expect. You can surely expect the unexpected. We will therefor never know, see it coming or be ready when it comes, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be prepared, but even if we are ill prepared for one reason or another, it certainly doesn’t mean that the struggles we face can’t be overcome, and that they can’t lead to wonderful and unexpected possibilities.
Nobody likes muck. I get it. I don’t like muck either. I don’t much care to spin my tires, blunged several inches think into mud. It’s dirty, it’s terribly time consuming, and mostly exhausting. But we have done it all our lives. We’ve had to fight for our first breath of air, for our first taste of food, to learn how to go to the bathroom, learn how to spell, how to read, how to belong and how to love. Life itself is nothing more than a beautiful adverse struggle, but thats not really fair because the word struggle has been tainted, much like the word argument.
Struggle has a negative connotation. It is a state of being we try to be free and clear of as much as we can, and we don’t like to engage in argument either, but that’s short sided. A good argument at its core assumes that two people love each other, and they argue because they want the best to happen, which is why their debate is so heated, but in the end, both know that an argument leads to greater things.
Of course, we know people who are professional arguers. They argue because they like to hear themselves talk, but there is great beauty in a well constructed and executed argument. It is the difference between going to war, or maintaining peace, it is the difference for saving lives, and watching people die.
Adversity suffers a similar fate. Most people don’t like to be tested. They don’t like change. They don’t want to be asked questions. Begged how much they want things, and so they run away and hide. They avoid what they need to face. They hope it will go away, that someone will come to their rescue, or that magically, or playfully, things are going to get better or be different.
How silly. The adversity you are facing today can help you tap into unbelievable and unexpected strength, you probably didn’t know you had, or at least forgot that you’ve kept it in your vast arsenal of weapons. It’s silly not to push through. It’s silly to curse and to rant and rave. It won’t change time, or the nature of existence.
Think long and how are blessed we are to have the opportunity to struggle. We are blessed because our struggle makes other peoples lives better. Our commitment to overcome can create a better world for someone else. No, it might not impact world politics, but it could change the lives of those in your circle of influence. Everything is interconnected, and a small triumph anywhere is a all encompassing triumph anywhere.
Continue to fight. Continue to pray for more strength to fight, but don’t ever give up and quit. Don’t ever believe that you are not capable of wining. Don’t ever convince yourself that you are not great.
