Mark Blackbecause of the challenges they had to overcome that they became the
people they are. These challenges have enabled them to attain their
achievements. Would Martin Luther King Jr. have been the hero and
role-model he is if he hadn’t had to overcome the racism and social
environment he lived in? I don’t think so.
Here in Canada, one of my heroes—especially as a runner—is Terry
Fox. Terry was diagnosed with cancer at a young age and instead of
giving up, he decided to run across Canada to raise awareness and
money to fight cancer. Because of his illness, he had to have one of his
legs amputated, but he still ran halfway across the country on one go od
leg. Would this story be as inspiring if he had been able to do it with
two good legs?
I think that when people are trying to figure out what they’re called
to do, and they’re trying to figure out where their greatest s trength is,
th ey should look at their challenges and see what they’ve had to
overcome. I t may well be that what you have learned and how you have
grown because of what you have overcome is exactly where your
greatest strengths and gifts can be found.WRIGHT^
So how c an people turn adversity in their lives into an advantage?
BLACK
There are a couple of key things they need to do. First, they need to
change their thinking. Instead of focusing on the adversity—instead of
focusing on the obstacle and the challenge—start to focus on the
solution.
You don’t sit there and stare at the wall in fr ont of you, you figure
out a way to get over it or around it; by doing that, you start to think in a
solution-minded way and become more innovative and more creative.
Some of the greatest innovations and inventions of the world came
because people were trying to solve a problem rather than being
defeated by it.
The next thing that p eople c an do is create a compelling vision of
the future. We often become stuck. Obstacles slow our progress and get
us into this mindset and emotional environment where we feel stuck