Finding Hope and Meaning in Adversity

A vision without limits, a horizon without borders, & a future with countless possibilities. Whether we are living the American dream, in the mountains of Ethiopia, or in the deserts of the middle east, we can always make the decision of what our future is going to be, or how our day is going to be, at least those parts that we have control over. Franklin Roosevelt once said that “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”

Viktor Frankl believed that people find meaning in three ways – work, love, & suffering. There is no escaping human suffering, loving of others, & work. In life, when we experience situations, we must find ways to alleviate our unhealthy emotional reactions, & how we do that is by taking what we can learn from those situations, pushing ourselves to grow, pushing ourselves forward.

When I teach on growth & change, I often teach the concepts of learned behaviors & learned ideologies. I often challenge them & help others to understand that there are many times where we place unbearable burdens on ourselves. Nobody else does. These burdens often disappear when we remove our self-imposed limitations, & we can start living a life with visions, horizons, & possibilities. For instance, Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS at age 21, was given 2 years to live, & died at age 76. He did not let his diagnosis stop him. As another example, John Nash, diagnosed with acute Schizophrenia, had a successful career in academia & he even earned the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994.

“Adversity is like a strong wind. I don’t mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, & not merely as we might like to be” (Arthur Golden). Adversity does not have to dictate the outcome & quality of our lives.

What are you going to do with adversity today?

Peace & love to all

~ KO