The Positives of Adversity

Adversity is one of my Top 365. Adversity makes us tough. Adversity builds character and strength and teaches us to trust.

Adversity can hold one back from pursuing new interests but it can also be our best friend. Learning from failure can make one stronger and more focused on God and our life mission.  When facing failure in relationships, work, or in personal goals, one has three choices.

1. Let the failure consume you and never try again.
2. Learn from your mistakes, acknowledge the set back and move on to a better situation.
3. Run.

While running or holding back are the less painful ways to deal, they also are the less productive. We tell kids all of the time,

"Get right back out there and try again"
" Don't be defined by your mistakes. Practice, regroup, and try again"
" You are not what you do. You are who you are"
" Everything happens for a reason"

As an adult, failure and mistakes are a bit harder to take. What will the person in the next relationship or job think of me? How will I overcome? What if I never achieve again? Can I persevere? And the answer is positive to all of these. God does not make a mountain for us to climb that we cannot climb. We learn from our failures and we process them and then we move on. What was meant to be will be and although the memories may be embarrassing or painful, they are a part of life. A paragraph of clichés there but they are real.

So how to handle?
1. Check your emotional intelligence and relationship skills.
2. Check your level of fitness.
3. Check your goals and redefine if necessary.
4. Believe that good comes to all who persevere.
5. Find the message in the failure and let it be your guide.
6. Find your creative outlet.

Failure in the area of our life we focus on the most ignites a need for balance.  We need to look for a balance of work/life relationships and look to help others without berating ourselves. Life is so short. There is always an answer and it lies in a good attitude, a good heart, and the ability to see reality. We can have no more.

Looking back we can see the big picture. While in the midst, it is not so easy. Trust.

Boyfriends and girlfriends come and go. Family members and spouses are precious and we often lose them too soon. You are only one step away at any time from the unemployment line. Nothing lasts forever. There is no guarantee of good health. A failure in one area does not signify a failure in life but usually a failure in a life decision.  No time for guilt,  and the failure does not define you.   No negativity intended here, but reality. We cannot sit around and fear adversity but must know that it will come and usually hit us in our strongest area. Good relationships, faith, and a good heart will help you meet it when the time comes.

Pick up and move on, don't get stuck, find the lesson, and keep a kind spirit. Turn adversity into a message. Turn bitterness into advocacy. Forgive. Keep your esteem high and your thoughts close. Better days are coming but today is only here now. Take advantage.

Don't let a dormant and angry personality become your stronghold. Grieve it and move on. Know that God  works in ways that are best  and we don't always know the message. Believe.