Have you found yourself struggling to keep your head above water in the face of adversity?
The definition of adversity is a difficult or unpleasant situation – misfortune, bad luck, difficulty, hardship, distress, suffering, affliction, sorrow, heartbreak, pain, trauma, but the list goes on.
I am on my own personal comeback from adversity and felt it was a perfect time to reflect and write some heartfelt thoughts on this subject.
It appears that at some stage of life, some type of adversity will befriend each of us (I use the word befriend purposefully… Read on to discover why).
The adversity faced could be:
The loss of a loved one
A health crisis
Relationship break up or divorce
Cancer diagnosis
Bankruptcy;or any number of painful occurrences
I believe no one is exempt from adversity, it’s part of walking the being human path. But what if we turned adversity on its head? What if we looked at it as a gift? A learning opportunity for growth and self-healing.
That’s how I have learned to look at it.
Now, you may not agree with my opinion, and that’s okay as we always have choices when seemingly bad things happen to us.
We can choose to bury our head in the sand and give ourselves as many distractions as possible, in the hope that the raw reality of pain will miraculously go away if it is ignored. If you have tried this strategy, you might agree that life seems to bring more hardship and pain until you are forced to take notice, turn in and face the fear or pain that is demanding your attention.Or we can take a deep brave, courageous breath, step inwards and face that pain and fear itself. Essentially, fear is stress. All the what ifs, what could be, the should be, the life traumas, beliefs, past hurts, emotions, and thoughts that amount into a churned up bundle of fear begging to be returned to love, your self-love.
When your befriended choice of adversity strikes, it is essentially an invitation to go on a self-healing journey. By examining your heart and soul, you can work out what it has been crying out for… Attention and love. The question is… Are you brave enough to take a peek? Will you take notice of that divine tap on the shoulder that affords the incredible opportunity to heal yourself back to whole, allowing you to fully live the life that is intended for you?
My recent adversity is behind me, and I’m enjoying the rainbow. Who knows when it will strike again? But I now see adversity as a blessing to be embraced and conquered, not something to be feared. I know that true healing lies within us.
How brave are you? What has your healing journey been? What form did it take? I would love to hear from you. Or if reading this has allowed you to recognise that you have a healing journey ahead of you, please contact me for support. I would be honoured to sit beside you.
Smiles & Blessings x
Tracy Power
(Originally posted on April 29th 2018)