Adversity

I think my comfy white collar existence may be seriously lacking in adversity.

Now, do I want to really want to subject myself to some deep hardship, no, but it does seem to make one complacent, lazy and uninspired. Which truly great people from history did not come from some sort of adversity? Everyone who's respected through history rose from their past and accomplished something great by muscling through their circumstances... Who in history who is greatly admired and revered never had any great obstacles in life to overcome? Which heroes in literature or film never had to deal with adversity?

I read a bio on Abraham Lincoln once and was floored by the deaths of his loved ones and his failed business ventures etc. and this is a man who became president. I listened to an interview once with Denzel Washington and how, when he was growing up, he had a female role model (can't remember if it was his grandmother?) who was concerned about him and forced him to stay out of trouble by doing extra "homework" and writing book reports on books she wanted him to read. He only found out much later, after many book reports, that she couldn't read.

Adversity either crushes people or makes them stronger. In our North American/ Canadian existence in the prosperous middle class, it is too easy to coast, to simply get by by doing the minimum effort. Kind of sad actually.

I am going to try and fool myself into achieving better results in general. Creating the illusion of adversity to some degree. What if I would be beaten or someone I loved would be beaten if I didn't meet my job's goals? What if I would lose my house if I didn't make another sale? What if my life were on the line if I wasn't able to make my business ventures successful? Do I think I would be motivated in these situations? Do I think I would act differently and get things DONE? Absolutely.

Try thinking about it yourself. How would it change your success and achievements if you had great adversity thrown in your way? Would you crumple, or would be a far more successful person because of it?

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