Adversity is your Friend.
It is how we choose to conduct ourselves and respond to adversity that defines us.
I had a frustrating day yesterday, but I shall not let it define me. I will learn and be grateful that it happened. I ask myself, “how can I learn from that situation?”
When life throws a curveball, like when you return to your car in a car park with a smashed headlight, when you don’t get that pay rise, or when things don’t go to plan, emotions can take over.
Our emotions can be harmful, anger, frustration, bitterness, jealousy and the like. Negative emotions tend not to help deal with the obstacle. Instead, they typically only make things worse. Compounding the problem into something much bigger than it was. To respond in this way will only serve to further enhance those synapses in the brain hard wiring into your personality.
Instead, we can learn from adversity and rewire our brains to respond in positive and constructive ways.
It’s equivalent to a physical injury, a sprain, a torn muscle or even a broken bone. Your body recovers naturally over time, and it can be enhanced with appropriate exercise and stretching. The fibres of your body naturally grow back miraculously to even make the body stronger. Take bodybuilders, for example; the way muscles develop and grow is by putting them under new stresses that force a chemical reaction for the muscle fibres to heal, making more muscle mass.
The same is true of our minds. It’s necessary to push our minds to new levels to grow. Using the analogy of the muscles, we have to stress the brain to allow new neurons to develop and grow. Simply reading, watching or consuming a new topic or information is informative but unlikely long-lasting. It isn’t enough. One has to take action, practice, and have lived experience to create the deep and permanent rewiring in the brain.
This may sound trite as nobody wants these situations in their life, but adverse situations are perfect opportunities to learn and rewire our brains. Choose to use these situations to observe feelings and get ahead of them.
Instead of allowing the heat of the moment to trigger negative emotions, observe and make an active choice to deal with the situation positively.
We can help ourselves by eating well, sleeping well, regularly stretching our minds and body. Layer on top a sprinkling of self-reflection to learn about oneself continuously and realise a more efficient way to handle life’s challenges when they occur.
