When do adversities turn into lessons?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23797059@N02/4216288281

There are some who never have to face adversity, they are the lucky few.  For the majority of the world's population adversity can and does come in various shapes and sizes.  The question I find myself asking is why?  The response that I always get is that there is always a lesson to be learned.  Not always what you want to hear, but none-the-less this one thing should bring you a bit of comfort.  Now comfort is all about how you look at things, and how you look at things is going to be in direct correlation to how you see yourself.  If you see yourself as the victim, then my guess is that adversity is something that is going to set you back, ruin your day, or otherwise make a mockery out of your life.  On the other hand, if you see yourself as the divine creation that you are, well adversity is nothing more then your opportunity to spit in its face and let it know that you are not going to fall prey to those thoughts of defeat or rejection.

I've experienced my share of adversity in life.  Now what I have gone through is not as bad as what others have gone through, but how we handle each problem is going to determine the real outcome.  If you simply see adversity as something put in your path to trip you up, you undoubtedly are going to feel as though you are unworthy, or worse still, that somehow this adversity was sent to you so you could experience an epic fail.  Let me say neither is correct.  Trials and adverse situations should be seen as an opportunity to learn something .  I get how maddening they can be at times, but look deeper into them, and after you have had time to really digest the event, you just may find the silver lining that forms around this dark thunder cloud.

I know that everything I have experienced in life has brought me to the place I am at right now.  I have learned certain things that have prepared me to do the things that I am doing right now.  I would be a lair if I told you that there weren't times when I felt like quitting.  I've also had moments of doubt, absolute frustration, and at other times moments of sheer anger over what was taking place.  We are humans, who happen to have human emotion, and I don't think there is anyone who hasn't wanted to just scream out "I've had enough."  One set back does not make you a failure.  One emotional outburst does not make you a nut.  One "Shit, Damn, or f*#k" does not mean you have to be sent to the corner of the room to serve out your penance.  Adversity can either make you stronger, or it can push you down deeper into feelings of unworthiness or failure.  The question you have to ask yourself is how are you going to begin to react when you face adversity?

If you believe as I do that life's lessons are there to teach, then accept the teaching.  If you believe as I do that adversity is a character builder, then accept this and be stronger for it.  It all comes down to how you see things, and once again that is dependent on how you see yourself.  Failure does not define you, and adversity is not a definer of who you are, nor what you are capable of.  Face it, adversity sucks.  No matter how you look at it, most of us believe that adversity comes at the wrong time.  But the wrong time, is anything but wrong if you believe in the perfection of the Creator of the Universe, and in that perfection is nothing but perfection.  I understand how difficult it can be to see perfection when you are facing a bad situation, but just for a moment set aside what you are feeling, and go back to what you know: you are perfection, and anything that happens is happening in the perfection of who and what you are.

I hate facing bad situations, after all I'm human just like every one else.  That being said I have found myself being able to separate what is happening with who I am.  Let me explain.  There was a time when I felt like everything that was happening was happening to me as a punishment, or that somehow I was unworthy of the good that others around me were experiencing.  My own view of me was one of victim, one of deserving of bad tidings, and one who simply was never going to get what I really wanted.  It wasn't until I was able to grasp the significance of who I truly am, that things began to turn around.  Now that's not to say that things didn't still continue to happen, they did, and I did my best to look at them differently.  I began to see these challenges as learning opportunities.  Once I was able to do that, I began to see the significance of all that I had gone through in my life up to this point in time.  Each challenge brought me more clarity.  Each adversity showed me things that I needed to learn.  When you can change the way you see things, then you change the way you live things, and when you change the way you live, you change your entire environment around you.

Look at adversity as one of the greatest teachers you have.  Breath deep when adversity comes and understand that good will come from it, even if you don't see it right in the moment.  The truth in all of this is this:  if you never face adversity, then you may never know just how much you can do, or even of more importance, just how great you really are.  Inside of each person is a power. This power is there to get you through the tough times.  This power is there to get you up when you have been knocked down.  This power is there to show you in no uncertain terms just how magnificent you really are.  No one sets out on any given day asking for adversity to come, but the wise person will learn from it, and from this knowledge move one step closer to the destiny that is yours.