How our challenges are our biggest gifts.
Photo by vincenzo di giorgi on Unsplash
We all want all our problems to end, we all dream of the day where we have no problems or challenges to deal with. Sometimes we get to a point where we have just had enough and we cannot take it anymore. Most of us assume that comfort is the best thing that could possibly exist. So, the question we should be really asking is, is comfort an ultimate value?
People tend to look forward to their retirement. They imagine the ultimate comfort they have dreamed of all their lives. However, what ends up happening is they have more visits to the doctor, there is an increase in the prescriptions that they are given, sometimes there is even an increase in depression rates and unfortunately an early death.
Stewart Emery, the author of Actualisation, discusses his experiment where he discovered startling findings. The experiment consisted of two separate tanks of amoebas. The intention of the experiment was to study the conditions which were more beneficial to grow living things. In one tank the conditions were at the optimal level of perfection and in the other tank the levels of temperature, humidity, water levels, and a few other conditions were abruptly altered.
The researchers were in total amazement when they had discovered that the amoebas which were in the more challenging conditions actually grew faster and stronger than those in comfort. Therefore, it was clear for the researchers to draw the conclusion that having things that are too perfect and easy can actually cause living things to degrade, decay and die. On the other hand, the challenging conditions provided the opportunity for faster growth and strength.
Steve Chandler, who is an author, motivational speaker and a coach, asserts that these findings may also explain to us why the suicide rates in America seem to have always gone down during the times of war. And, in addition to this, this might explain why in Denmak, where there is a comfortable lifestyle which is offered to everyone by the government, the suicide rates are the highest in the world. This is quite shocking and mind-boggling, but if you think about it for a moment it does makes sense. What doesn’t get used loses its power and strength. It begins to decline, degrade and deteriorate.
Tony Robbins, who is an American author, philanthropist and a life coach, also mentions the exact same thing. He describes how the majority of people who have the all the resources in their lives, people who have everything given to them and don’t have to work for it simply don’t build any muscle. They don’t have any hunger to succeed which would provide them with the ultimate drive to get what it is you want in life. They don’t have the hunger they need because they were given everything they ever needed. According to Robbins, the ultimate key to success is hunger. And hunger comes from challenging yourself, pushing through and building muscle.
On the other hand, you have another group of people who have gone through the hardest and most challenging situations a person could ever face. It seems to as though life has kicked these people in the face, perhaps repeatedly. They have faced multiple challenges over and over again. However, despite these challenges these people are often the ones who inspire us the most as they achieve levels of success that most of us would not even be able to dream of.
Challenges help us grow, they are in our lives to help us push our boundaries and develop.
They are there to help us build muscle so that we can be strong in the face of any challenge that comes our way. I actually believe that the only thing that ever makes us tired or bogs us down is not the challenges we face but our resistance to them. What are your thoughts?