We all have those moments in life where the path we thought we were following becomes the path less traveled. When the path veers off in some unthinkably horrible direction.
We think “there is no way I will ever recover from this.”
Blink twice if this has ever happened to you.
Perhaps it was the unexpected death of a close friend or family member. Or, the end of a romantic relationship, or maybe you were the victim of infidelity.
These are the moments that take your breath away. But it’s important to know that everyone struggles through difficult life experiences. Everyone. Life isn’t about avoiding struggle.
It’s about how we see those challenges and our ability to come back stronger, wiser.
Resilience researcher Lucy Hone has spent a career doing academic research to learn more about how some people wither in adversity, while others seem to brave adversity and overcome struggles with relative ease.
Ironically, Hone suffered her own life-changing adversity in 2014.
Hone’s 14-year-old daughter and her daughter’s best friend were killed in a tragic car accident. In the blink of an eye, Hone moved from resilience expert to grieving mother. Suddenly she was forced to listen to her own advice as she navigated the enormous shock and grief that followed.
As an expert in the field of adversity, she also knew the statistics. The months following the loss of a child can be emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausting, and can be when most marital issues start to occur.
Divorce among bereaved parents is very common. Parental bereavement is widely known as the hardest of losses to bear. So, after all that research, what did Hone learn from the experience? She learned that resilient people share three common traits.
- Stuff Happens: Resilient people know that suffering is a part of life. And suffering does not discriminate. It affects everyone. Resilient people don’t welcome adversity, but they seem to know that suffering is a normal part of the human experience. Knowing that suffering is normal keeps them from asking the question: why me? Hone says that the more appropriate question is, “why not me?” Life can change in the blink of an eye, and we must decide whether we will sink or swim. In Hone’s case, she decided to swim. So, after a normal period of grief they chose to fight for their family.
See, none of us are entitled to live a picture-perfect life-free from pain and adversity. In the words of John Claypool, “we do not first get all the answers and then live in the light of our understanding. We must rather plunge into life meeting what we have to meet and experiencing what we have to experience and in the light of living try to understand. If insight comes at all, it will not be before, but only through and after experience.”
- Your Attention Please: Resilient people have the innate ability to carefully choose where to focus their attention. They know that, while they can change some things, there are many more things that they cannot change. As my friend John P. Weiss wrote recently: “The antidote for despair is to stare it down and get on with it.” See, we are hard-wired with a bias for negativity. That means we often hyper-focus on the negative events life.
But resilient people know how to focus their attention on things they are grateful for. Because, you know, stuff happens. According to Hone, they know how to accept the “good in life, even during the bad. It’s an intentional and deliberate effort to tune into what’s good in their world.
- Do No Harm: Resilient people think about what they think about. In other words, they constantly question their thoughts and experiences to discern whether those thoughts and experiences are good for them. In Hone’s case she had to find appropriate times for grief.
Resilient people know how to ask themselves the question: is this thought pattern going to move me forward in my recovery or take me backwards into the pit of despair. That kind of critical thinking puts you back in control over your well-being.
So, what can you do to overcome adversity? First, understand that suffering is a part of life. Second, choose where to focus your attention. Refuse to focus on the negative.
Instead, as the bible says, focus on whatever is true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, or gracious; the beautiful, not the ugly.
Lastly, learn to think about what you think about. Resilient people have the emotional maturity to understand that thoughts are not reality. Thoughts are, well, thoughts. They can be accepted or dismissed entirely with a little bit of emotional discipline.
What about you? What has been the most difficult challenge of your life? Shoot me an email at [email protected]. It can’t hurt and there’s a 100% chance you’ll hear back from me.
Tom Greene is a writer living in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and loyal wiener dog, Maggie. His writing can be found at www.tomgreene.com. He can be reached at [email protected]
