If a genie were to ask you, “tell me your wish, and you'll have it granted.” Most of us would spontaneously ask or atleast be tempted to wish for a life devoid of obstacles. The truth is life is riddled with difficulties, thank God and living through these very adversities ( whether we know it or not ) help us grow stronger. Adversity is painful yet a wonderful teacher that can impart lessons of a life time. A closer look at our lives will tell that along with hardships, we are also given the ability to endure them. While we face these challenges with gusto, we are uncovering those heroic dimensions in us – resilience, humility, forgiveness, tolerance, valor, fortitude etc and at the end, we would be surprised to discover a mighty person in ourselves who can move mountains.

Our lives are besieged with problems, one way or the other, and we have to be resilient or recover from misfortunes. Certainly it will take time for those wounds to heal, but we need to ensure it takes less time rather than remain in pain for an indefinite period.

As I was reading this anthology edited by Art Martin and Tony Stubbs, these lines really struck my fancy:

'What makes a person a winner? I have discovered it is not money and wealth at all. It is all attitude and belief about ourselves. Winners live in peace, happiness, harmony, joy with unconditional love and abundance."

For most of us, our problems are so dispiriting as we refuse to see past them. In this regard, I would like to mention that brooding never helps. We have to bounce back from difficulties rapidly and keep moving forward.

One major impact of adversity is that the consequences endanger other areas of life. Learn to isolate the problem from everything else and you'll find your peace.

Adversities, though painful are a necessary evil. We can't do without them if we are to grow into a spiritually mature person. All that makes the difference is our perception of adversities and our will to overcome them.