Adversity Doesn’t Build Character - It Reveals It!
August 4th, 2008 11:54 pmRecently I bought a box of fortune cookies - you know the ones that are hollow inside and contain a little message each. I think originally they were meant for the Chinese New Year but now you can get them all year round.
When I opened the packet I posed a question to the universe: “What is the most important thing I need to know for building my internet business?”
The answer that came out of the cookie was: “Adversity doesn’t build character - it reveals it”. I thought about that for a moment and then seriously thought about what I do (or don’t do) when adversity strikes.
What do I do when things get difficult, when I get overloaded, overwhelmed, when others say “this can’t be done”, when technical challenges seem unsurmountable?
I realised that my reaction isn’t always the same - it is influenced by a lot of different things: what else is going on in my life, how much other pressures and stresses I have, whether I slept enough, whether I had done a yoga session or not, how my body feels in general and whether I was talking to uplifting people or someone who only sees gloom and doom on the horizon.
My reaction to adversity can stretch from giving up completely to putting things on the back-burner to asking an expert for help or trying to work things out for myself. I always try to take some time out, get away for while, and if it is only to the garden, out into the sunshine for a 10 minutes or so.
The first question I ask myself is: how important is it to achieve this? Will it get me closer to my goal? Is it vital to achieving this goal or is there another way?
Also, as life went on I learnt that time is the most valuable commodity we have. It cannot be replenished or replaced, once its gone, it is gone forever. I need to use it wisely, to the best of my ability. Giving up sometimes is a wise choice.
All in all I am not sure whether my reaction to adversity is revealing my character, I think it reveals my general state of being, where I am at at this particular point in time.
As always, the yogic practice of detachment comes in very handy - the only problem is that staying detached in the midst of adversity is very difficult. But - even short periods of detachment and neutrality give some relief and with practice those times will get expanded. I greatly admire people who can stay truly detached and balanced in the midst of chaos.
Do you know anybody like that? How have they managed to achieve this skill? Let me know via your comments.
Connie,
Your Yoga Partner
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