Dealing with Adversity

Jonathan Keese, gives us a number of insights that we can used when we find ourselves in adverse circumstances, regardless of their source or its degree of difficulty:

Lesson One: Realize that adversity is a valuable part of life. Adversity provides us with the opportunity to develop our character in natural, recurring, and powerful way that only the challenges of adversity offer. Only adversity refines and reveals the gold and silver of our character. Nobody likes going through adversity at the time we are going through it. Without going through it, our character "muscles" would never reach their full potential strength and power.

Lesson Two: Accept responsibility for your contribution to the situation. A lot of times adversity comes our way as a direct or indirect result of our own actions. We make a bad choice or a bad decision, or we simply fail to do something we should have done. When I made bad investment decisions, I had to accept responsibility from my greed and my naive choices. Yes, several men had misrepresented the opportunities to me, but the fact is, I am the one who made the decisions. And I experienced the very consequences that Sol had cautioned me about. Anytime you make a contribution to your own adversity, you need to accept responsibility for it. Don't simply blame someone or something else.

Nonetheless, throughout our lives here on earth we will experience a great deal of adversity that is not a result of our actions. In those cases, it is critically important that we do not assign fault to ourselves or those who had nothing to do with it. Always remember that adversity sometimes has a purpose that we cannot know or understand. As tempting as it may be, to try to figure out such a mystery is not only an exercise in futility, it is foolish.

Enjoy your week and check back tomorrow for Lessons three and four from JONATHAN KEESE!