Cop it on the chin - how to rise above adversity

Life is full of ups and downs and it’s been said many times that it’s how you handle adversity that is important, not how adversity affects you. Perhaps Japanese writer Haruki Murakami put it best when he said: 

And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm really is over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all about. 

The pages of history are full of inspirational stories about highly successful people who have faced disappointments, setbacks and dark times, but risen above them. People like:  

• Walt Disney who was bankrupt at age 22 and whose newspaper editor told him he lacked imagination and had no good ideas
• Australian-born Nick Vujicic who was born without arms and legs, but went on to become a truly motivational speaker and founder of the LA based not-for-profit Life Without Limbs
• Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, now one of the world’s richest women who was a broke, depressed single mother living on welfare before her epic books took the world by storm
• Theodor Seuss Geisel, author of the much-loved Dr Seuss books who was rejected by 27 publishers before he went on to sell more than 600 million copies 

We’ve all been through tough times but when life throws you a curveball, there’s just one decision you need to make that will determine the impact that your particular circumstance will have on you. It’s this: 

Will you choose to be bitter or will you choose to be better? Are you going to complain because the rose bush is full of thorns, or are you going to be happy because the thorn bush is full of roses? 

Choosing to be better rather than bitter is the path that will show you how to be happy. While it would be wonderful if we never had to face adversity, the fact is that at some point we’ll all go through tough times. Tough times like the loss of a loved one, losing your job, experiencing financial difficulties, carrying too much weight, suffering a serious illness or battling the black dog of depression (to name just a few).  

How you respond to those difficulties is – in the long run - far more important than the event itself. It’s that response that determines how you are going to cope and what sort of person you will become when you pass through the storm. 

The more daunting the challenges you face and the bigger the obstacles, the more potential there is for personal growth, because these are the things that can be the source of strength that enable you to rise above adversity. 

As human beings, we are often impacted by various situations in life that result in a feeling of decreased self worth, and nothing interferes with the ability to lead a balanced, positive life like low self esteem. Having a strong sense of self worth comes from within and a strong belief that no matter what life throws at you, you can overcome it. So when life throws you lemons, it’s definitely time to make lemonade (or grab some tequila and salt)! 

So how do you become more resilient so you can take life’s lemons in your stride? Resilience is an inner resource that can grow and develop with you over time. Here are 5 key things you can do to develop yours: 

1. View challenges as learning experiences. Learn from your mistakes and accept that certain things just can’t be changed.
2. Try to see the positive aspects in your situation – no matter what it is, there will always be the opportunity to view it as the glass being half full.
3. Take a light-hearted approach to life, laugh at yourself and don’t take things too seriously. Be completely silly every now and then and find something that makes you laugh out loud every day.
4. Connect with your social network and invest time and energy into developing and maintaining positive and powerful relationships with those close to you.
5. Don’t give up. Believe in yourself and what you are trying to achieve.  Develop realistic and achievable goals and look for alternatives when you hit a roadblock. 

Sometimes though, when times are tough you just need to get away from it all to try to get a new perspective on what’s going on in your life, and a health retreat is a great place to start. If that sounds like just the sort of helping hand you need but you’re a little financially challenged right now then we’re here to help!   

Just check out our flexible mini-loans up to $5K to see how quick and easy it is to get your hands on some extra funds. Once a loan is approved, we can usually deposit the cash into your bank account within a few hours - so you can start building up that resilience a lot sooner than you think!