Inspirational short stories with lessons - How to advance through adversity
Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was
miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.
She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one
problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water
and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the
second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and
boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After
twenty minutes he turned off the burners.
He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the
eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed
it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
“Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she quickly replied.
“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they
were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell,
she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich flavour brought a smile to
her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced
the same adversity (the boiling water). However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it
became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior
until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the
boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.
“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an
egg, or a coffee bean?”
Lessons from the story:
1. In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing
that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of
it.
2. Life is all about learning, adapting and transforming all the struggles
that we experience into something positive.
HOW TO ADVANCE THROUGH ADVERSITY
Challenges are bound to occur in our journey through life. You must be aware
that no difficulty is permanent. For you to advance in times of adversity, you
need to develop the willpower not to give up. That is the assured way to
overcome, if you don't give up, you will define win.
9 STEPS TO OVERCOME ADVERSITY
When adversity occurs in an individual's life, most people tend to look for
the escape route. Withdrawing from adversity is not the best step to take.
Whenever disaster struck against any individual, all he/she will want to do is
to find an escape and avoid the disaster. Such a response to adversity shows
that the individual is weak or has not developed personally.
There are two responses to adversity
1. The first one is to exclaim, "Life is so terrible" or "why me Lord?" and
most times weak individuals will say "but you don't understand what I am going
through." The issue of adversity is a personal one, and that is why many feel
their situation is worse than anyone else's.
2. The second one is to think positively "if I can't pay the price, then I
don't deserve the prize". And then such individuals position the mind to find
the perfect solution to such a situation.
We may feel like a situation is too terrible and there is no solution to it
but that is not true. There are ways we can approach unavoidable situations in
our life. You must refuse to be discouraged. Below are the steps to overcoming
adversity:
1. SPEAK POSITIVELY TO YOUR SITUATION
Each time the fear of failing grabs you, speak positive words aloud to that
situation. Here are some positive affirmations to repeat regularly:
" all is well"
"I will conquer"
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"
"This is not the end of my life"
" I am unstoppable"
"I shall not grow weary" "I am unstoppable"
2. SELF MOTIVATION
At times, we become overwhelmed by the issues we face every day. And when
stress is becoming much, it leads to depression. And to avoid breaking down in
this situation, you have to brace up and encourage yourself. Take a look at
the goals you set that gives you hope. Colourfully view the future and
encourage yourself with what you can accomplish. It is not a bad thing to
fall, you only need to get up and start moving again when you fall.
3. THINK OUT OF THE BOX
If you address the situation with an emotional state, it will keep getting
worse. That is why you need to detach yourself from the situation first and
then you can think of the way out. You will agree with me that it is easier to
show how somebody else can change the situation they are in. You can spot the
ways they can get out of a situation in which they found themselves since you
are not emotionally attached to the situation, and it is easier to look at the
problem from a different and better perspective.
This doesn't mean that you should throw away the box. You don't need to throw
away the box, you only need to think out of it. To overcome adversity in your
life, detach yourself from the situation and look at it from a different
perspective. Treat it as another man's case and you will find a solution to
the problem.
4. FIND OUT THE CAUSE
Most times, the hardship or problems we find ourselves in are the outcomes of
our past actions. If you can investigate the source of the crisis, it will
help you to get the right solution to the problem. Because to change
your situation, you need to change your thought and actions, Henry Ford said
'If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've
always got.' Wrong decisions are part of the cause of adversity in our life.
You must try to figure out the cause of the problem and Look into how to
change that situation. Find a way to face and surpass the challenges that are
holding you back from success. Never blame other people, the system, or the
government for your misfortune.
5. DEVELOP RESILIENCE
Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. It refers to
the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events.
Being resilient does not mean you won't experience stress, emotional upheaval,
and suffering. Being able to recover readily from misfortune, tragedy,
setback, or any other form of adversity. You need to be willing to try again
after every fall. Instead of thinking of quitting, map out the plan of how to
get back on track.
"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by
it.”
― Maya Angelou
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed
is always to try just one more time.”
― Thomas Edison
6. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE
Words from other people can affect the way we see situations. If all you got
around you are people who always see doom in every circumstance, it will
affect your progress, it will either prevent you from moving forward or reduce
your ability, making the situation look harder.
But to save yourself, never move with people who always see
impossibilities in every situation.
"Resilience isn’t a single skill. It’s a variety of skills and coping
mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you
should focus on emphasizing the positive.”
― Jean Chatzky
7. INVEST IN YOURSELF
This sounds like a proverb, right? You may be asking that what do I mean by
invest in yourself? Investing in yourself is all about spending as little or
as much money to develop yourself.
It is the ability to gather enough information about ways you can move from
point A to point B and finally reach your goal. You will surely overcome
adversity if you can develop yourself for the result you desired. Here are
ways you can invest in yourself:
- Discover yourself.
- Read good books.
- Read blog posts that deals with what you intend to improve on.
- Develop new skills.
-
Never stop learning (That is the number one key to success, however, learn
only things that are important to your journey)
8. LINK UP WITH SUCCESS
Adversity is a barrier to success, and the only way you can scale through is
to find the 'ladder' or 'bridge' that will help you get to your dream.
BELIEVING IN YOUR ABILITY is one of the bridges, having FOCUS is one of them,
setting and accomplishing GOALS, making the right CHOICES, can be the bridge
you needed.
When limits are broken, adversity vanishes. This means that when you can link
up with success with the right ladder, you won't fall.
9. FIND A MENTOR
There are key steps to finding the right mentor. You need a mentor especially
for rapid growth in your career/ business. A mentor will guide, motivate and
even share experiences with you. The importance can never be overemphasized.
