Rolling with the Punches
Rolling with the Punches
Unlike identical twins, who are difficult to tell apart, these fraternal twins not only look different, but they feel different in every way. Like most twins, the two of them cannot be separated and to do so would have an adverse effect on both. Many of us spend so much energy trying to avoid problems and adversity, but the reality is that it is only through adversity that we can experience real growth! In fact, adversity is like a hallway that leads from one room to another. Some hallways are short. Others are long. But they share this simple truth, the hallway is the only way to get you from where you were to where you are going. You cannot be in two rooms at the same time. This is the essence of the CHANGE that is brought about by adversity. When problems arise, our natural inclination is to solve the problem and get things back to “normal” as soon as possible, but the truth is that once you have an experience, you are not the same as you were before. You now have a new experience and new exposure that you can use to inform your future.Unfortunately,
from adversity or avoiding problems, what if we faced them head on and saw them as opportunities to become wiser quicker? If you are like me and you look back at the life lessons that taught you the most, they did not come when things were easy but when things were difficult and challenging. We are in one of those special times of adversity right now. This global pandemic has taught us all lessons that we will take into the next chapter of our lives, our careers, our relationships and so on. The inability to gather with people we like, has given some of us a greater appreciation of the times we can spend together. The financial challenges have taught some of us better financial stewardship. The changes to our business models have uncovered creative solutions we would have never considered. Virtual meetings once thought to be impersonal, have become a real way to connect and stay connected. This adversity has forced us to examine gaps in our approaches to life and business and to create even more avenues in order to be effective. Many of us cannot wait to get the opportunity to pursue these new strategies without the hurdles presented by COVID-19 precautions.
through ADVERSITY Growth
LEAD Speaker Ervin Watson, MBA
14 That title “Adversity Brings Growth” sounds like both a cliché and an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Cliché because it sounds like something that a motivational speaker might say
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(present company included). Oxymoron because on the surface, growth feels like something positive, but adversity feels like something negative. I would even go on a limb to say that adversity IS always negative. . . AT FIRST!
As I shared earlier, adversity is like a hallway that takes you from where you were to where you are going.
Remember that you cannot be in two different rooms at the same time. Adversity/resistance/challenges force us to re-examine a situation and to overcome it we must consider Einstein’s words, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”. Put another way, a popular story in the book of Mark (2:22) says that “. . . no one puts new wine in old wineskins.” These both give us the same admonition that we must change the way we are thinking. To get something different we must do and think differently. Adversity is often the catalyst that helps us (sometimes forces us) to think differently. I am not trying to tell you that adversity and growth are comfortable or convenient (because they not) .
Let’s be honest, when faced with a challenge, resistance, or trouble, none of us has the initial reaction of “Yeah, I was waiting for that!” Instead, our usual response is one of reluctance instead of exuberance.But if we lookat our lives or the lives of the people we admire or aspire to be like, it is the problems and adversities they faced that propelled and prepared them for the person you know them to be. If you asked them how they got to where they are now, most if not all will tell you that it is the mistakes, problems, and adversity they experienced that helped them to grow and develop them into who you now know them to be. Truth is to
experience real growth; adversity is a must. Growth and Adversity are like twin sisters, fraternal twins because they look nothing alike, but come as a pair.
many of us overlook the tremendous blessing that adversity can bring. Problems/adversity arise to help us grow at a faster rate. Instead of running away
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