In 1978 a young man ran into trouble. He was working at a local hardware store and he got fired from his job. Getting fired is the pits, but instead of staying in that pit, he decided that he would use the situation as an opportunity to start his own business. He found a business partner and together they dreamed of opening a hardware store. They opened their first store in 1979, and today they have over 2000 stores worldwide. The name of that young man was Bernard Marcus and the name of the store that opened was the Home Depot.
Adversity can be downright discouraging and yet some of the most important lessons that we need to learn in life can only be learned in this way. We grow when there is resistance and even in adversity if we have the right attitude.
The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of convenience, but where they stand in moments of challenge, moments of great crisis and controversy. (Martin Luther King)
When we are hit by adversity, we may feel as if we belong to the brotherhood (or sisterhood) of the bedraggled, beat-up and burnt-out. You may feel like a charred log in a fireplace, totally drained of energy, and unable to light a fire in yourself. Your personal inner resources appear to be exhausted. Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but actually you’ve been planted. And if you’ve been planted, then the next stage in life will be a period of personal growth for you. That’s because God and life uses the tough times of life to stretch us, and to draw new life out of us … so we can reach our full potential.
Sweet are the uses of adversity. (William Shakespeare)
We must understand that life-challenges don’t make us who we are: they reveal who we are. We can take what is revealed through our troubles or challenges and use that as an opportunity to point us in a new direction to bring about necessary change in our lives. And if we trust in God, the challenge will strengthen our faith.
Your problem is your promotion. The way you look at any obstacle in your life makes all the difference. No obstacle will ever leave you the way it found you. You will be better, or you will be worse (or bitter). Every obstacle has a limited life-span. Obstacles subdue mediocre people, but help great leaders emerge.
Humorist Erma Bombeck once said, ‘If life is a bowl of cherries then what am I doing in the pits.’ Life is not always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it’s the pits. You’re going to encounter a few pit-stops on the journey to your dream, and what you do when you are in the pit can determine whether you’ll be there for a short time or the long-haul.
Humans seldom have created anything of lasting value unless they were tried or hurting (John Osborn)
Author: Yomi is a wordsmith, passionate about books, reading, education, healing and health. She has appeared several times on television and radio; speaking about her passion. She has Master’s degree in Medical Immunology from the College of Medicine, University of London and worked at a postgraduate college of medicine in London for over a decade before pursuing her passion for writing. She is the author of four books.
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