“Every challenge is a gift. Every adversity is an opportunity.“
– Deepak Chopra
This was a quote I grabbed from a guided meditation video one morning on the Fitbit app. As Chopra spoke the mantra in the meditation, I found myself immediately connecting with the words and repeating them to myself. They also seemed to stick with me throughout the day, emerging different points.
Later that day, some close friends and I went on an island camping trip to Percy Priest Lake in south Nashville.
There’s nothing extraordinary about these small, scattered islands other than the chance to pitch a tent, start a fire, and enjoy good company over the sight and sound of the still lake.
During this particular camp, however, we got caught in a massive thunderstorm that flooded our campsite for hours into the night. It was cold, wet, and invariably uncomfortable the whole night, but it was a gift.
It was the gift of resilience.
Because of this outwardly discomforting and unlucky experience, I have an even greater appreciation now of the comfort, warmth, and dryness that a good shelter provides. And I have an opportunity to connect with that discomfort and understand it on a deeper level.
I believe this is a feeling that needs experiencing over and over.
In life, we always have at least two choices. 99% of the time, those choices are so small that we often overlook them, but they are massively important.
For instance, I had two choices on that tiny, drenched island. To sit there and mope about how much it sucked (which I did for a while) or stand up, punch the water out of the flaps in the tent cover over me and crack a joke about the situation (which I ultimately chose to do).
It’s not about what, when, or how things happen to us, good or bad, right or wrong, it’s about how we choose to respond to them.
Reactions are knee-jerk and haphazard. Responses are a carefully thought-through rarity.
I encourage you to notice what happens when you see challenges and adversity as gifts and opportunities.
Write down the experience. How did it make you feel? What was your response or reaction?
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