Adversity to Adventure
“Fear is the trigger for hesitation, yet it is also the energy that makes life exciting. If you embrace your fears, you become master of your own forward movement. Choosing fear changes fear from adversity to adventure.” Dean Hyers
Think of going on a roller coaster for the first time. You are hesitant because you are afraid, but at the urging of others you get on the ride. Then the ride begins the long climb up to the top of the first grade, can you hear the clacking of the wheels on the track? It seems to take forever to get to the top, and yet at the same time you are wishing it never will. You hear others betting that they can’t hold their hands up in the air the whole ride, and you notice that your fingers are tightly gripping the metal bar, which is the only thing that will keep you from ejecting out of your seat and flying through space without a parachute. You get that hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach as the car starts sliding down the long drop, as fear causes your stomach to do flips. The wind from the ride dropping straight down blows your hair in your face blinding you, and you slide from side to side in the car as it is whipped around the corners. screaming through time and space – no wait that is you screaming, as you hurtle through the loops up and down until at last it slows to a stop and you get out.
Watch the kids as they leave the ride and you see that they mastered their fear as they rush to get back in line, laughing and telling each other about the rush they had – the fear changed from adversity to adventure.
What if every time you are afraid and your stomach is lurching, you remember the exhilaration of riding the roller coaster for the first time and the rush you felt as it ended and you ran to do it again?
What if you faced every fear in your life as a great adventure, knowing that you will safely come to a stop at the end and be ready for the next thrill?
Instead of resisting or even permitting fear to be part of your life, what if you value it and enjoy it?
If you can learn to really embrace your fear like a loved one that you haven’t seen in a long time, then you can become the master of forward movement.
Adversity
When faced with adversity, do you lie down or do you fight?
I thought about this line for some time in the back of my mind. Then I read an excerpt from a book about wolves and I thought that they were really the object lesson for this question. They have a life of adversity, and they make it through because they have mastered how to focus their energy. They don’t run around aimlessly, but instead have a strategic plan and they execute it through constant communication with others of the pack. They are masters of planning for the moment of opportunity and when it happens, they are ready to act. They each understands their role and understands exactly what the pack expects of them.
The wolf does not depend on luck. Everyone does not strive to be the leader in the wolf pack. Some are consummate hunters or caregivers or jokesters, but each seems to gravitate to the role he does best. The wolf’s attitude is always based upon the question, “What is best for the pack?”. The cohesion, teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.
Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf’s expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf’s attitude is always that success will come—and it does. (excerpts from Simple Truths)
When adversity strikes, it’s not what happens that determines our destiny; it’s how we react. The thing to do is to create a wolf pack around you now, before adversity strikes. This applies both to our employment situation and our personal lives. Do you have friends, family or work associates who form together a cohesive union, each fulfilling a role, and each looking out for each other? Do you know all of the dreams and aspirations and goals of each member of the pack, so that you can help them achieve their dreams as they help you to achieve yours?
The answers to these questions will determine not only how successful you can be, but also how much you are really there to help others be the same. It helps you to formulate that winning expectation of success for both yourself and the members of your pack. It helps you to finish strong because you were prepared for adversity and made the most of each day to make it a success.
Winning at all cost is not the right answer. Even if you succeeded, at all costs indicates that you are alone. But winning in tandem with your pack, having fun along the way with the jokesters, taking care of those who need extra care from life’s adversities, whatever our role – this winning brings everyone along and that makes all of the difference.