You know what makes you unstoppable? Adversity. Overcoming adversity is one of the strongest skills a person can have.
Think about a time in your life that you thought you’d never survive. Figuratively, of course, since you’re reading this. When you thought that your life was over. When you thought that you couldn’t possibly overcome what someone or something had done to you or what you’d done to yourself. Learning how to overcome this adversity can help you grow.
Most people have one of these moments in their life. Mine was at 18. I found out I was pregnant my senior year of high school. You can read a little more about that in Why the Past Doesn’t Matter where I discuss my teen pregnancy and other challenges I faced. I thought my parents were going to kill me, disown me or kick me out of the house. I thought my life was over. No one would want to date me, I’d never go to college and I’d be broke forever.
Guess what? None of those things happened. Was my journey easy? No. Some days I cried and some days I wanted to run away from it all. It was a process that took years, but I knew I’d overcome the adverse feelings. Not only did I want to prove to the outside world that I was more than just another statistic, but I wanted to prove it to myself come hell or high water.
As I got older, I could reflect on those very tough years. I understood that I wouldn’t be who I am today had that not happened to me. I think adversity makes you a stronger, more unstoppable person. Overcoming adversity forces you to push yourself. The ability to overcome adversity forces you to show yourself what you’re made of.
Learning to overcome adversity doesn’t always have to be quite as dramatic as getting pregnant in high school. Sometimes becoming unstoppable happens with many small victories. It could be just getting to the gym or maybe it’s finishing that really tough workout you thought you never would. I did a “GoRuck” Challenge a few years ago. It was a 12-hour special-ops-inspired event. I remember thinking that I might die or worse, quit, but I stuck it out. It was a good reminder of how unstoppable I really am. The small victories could be anything from finishing a work project that your boss gave you an impossible deadline on or flying across the country for a new job when you don’t know a soul there.
Our oldest daughter graduated college in May, but we gave her the summer to enjoy herself. Once September came, she started working full time at our car dealership. She wants to be a part of the family business. We gave her a month to settle in and recently told her that she’s going to start paying us rent because she’s still living at home.
We’ve all heard those stories about children from well to do homes that never work, have no responsibilities and live a lavish life. Sounds great! Wrong. Unless their parents created some adversity for them they’re more than likely losing at life. The ability to overcome adversity can be taught, but it takes time and patience.
Overcoming Adversity is the key to growth. You either grow from it or you throw your hands in the air and give up. Through adversity you can silence that inner voice or an outside one that keeps telling you that you’re incapable. You can prove to yourself and others they were wrong by facing difficult moments head on and conquering them. That will give you the satisfaction of knowing you’re unstoppable because if you did it before, you can do it again.
