I don’t love it, I admit. Adversity just doesn’t feel great to me in real time. Let’s be sincere, it’s hard…literally by definition; it means a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune. If there’s a sign up sheet for it- that’s going to usually be a hard no for me.
However, how many hundreds of times have I heard or personally spoke the mantra “growth happens on the other side of/or at the edge your comfort zone?” That just doesn’t sound super fun. And what I know for sure is it usually feels even less fun than it sounds.
I am attempting to do a more effective job at embracing the suck, versus running from, numbing or altogether avoiding it. When I hold space for the discomfort, and can manage to allow for more surrender and less control…I am moved into a raw, yet beautiful vulnerability. It’s only in that acceptance of the difficulty, the misfortune… that I am free to move through and eventually forward. Honoring the process, and trusting myself to show up as well as I can; with a resolute commitment to harvest the pearls of wisdom that adversity has to offer. In so doing, I expand, and I am changed. I discover a new elasticity in the resilience of being. And on the other side of it…the sun radiates with more brilliance than it did before. I am overcome with a deep appreciation for the beautiful struggles that the adversity gifted me.
Charcoal, when resilient, transforms into diamonds, shining under the weight of adversity.