Here's Why Struggle Can Be A Gift

By John O'Leary. This was originally posted on JohnOLearyInspires.com. When John O'Leary was 9 years old, he suffered burns over 100% of his body and was expected to die. He is now an inspirational speaker and bestselling author, teaching more than 50,000 people around the world each year how to live inspired. John's first book, ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life was published March 15, 2016. John is a contributing writer for Huff Post and Parade.com. John is a proud husband and father of four and resides in St. Louis, MO. Order John’s book today anywhere books are sold.

Heart-ache from isolation and not belonging. Intense grief in the wake of loved ones dying due to accidents, illness and suicide. Great tension from financial insecurity. Destruction of our family home to fire. Twice. Total loss of physical health. Absolute lack of confidence, extreme self-doubt, uncertainty about the future. Daily physical pain.

This is a partial list of struggles I’ve endured at different phases in my life. Partial!

None of us ever seek struggle, yet the truth is it will appear along our journey. It will be incredibly painful and is certain to derail you from where you thought you were going.

And yet.

Adversity can serve as a great teacher.It can serve as a great teacher, offer insight, and propel you forward in a direction you never fathomed possible. So, next time you are going through challenge (and for many of us, that is today), remember to look out for these 5 surprising gifts gifts gained through adversity:

1. Slowing down from “the race” of life and remembering who we are and what actually matters. In our hyper-competitive and uber-busy world, misfortunes force us to pause long enough to consider the reason we are alive, the impact we can make, and what real success actually means.
2. Prompting us to know we cannot work, or play, or live, or lead, or impact, or love by ourselves. In the midst of crisis we often realize we are stronger than we thought, yet we also feel with certainty that we are intended for community.
3. Igniting within us the critical characteristics of perspective, patience, passion, empathy, gratitude, acceptance and faith. These traits that matter most on the journey can be diminutive when life goes perfectly as planned, but are fanned into flame during seasons of adversity.
4. Owning the parts of life we can control and letting go of the stuff we can’t. Our personal trials remind us of how little control we have on many issues that brother us and also of the limitless capacity we have to own our thoughts, prayers, beliefs, words and next steps as we continue the journey forward.
5. Living with heightened compassion and gratitude rather than narrowed disappointment and cynicism. Let’s face it, when we’re let down in life, it becomes easy to be jaded. But in the aftermath of a trial, our egos are lessoned, our connections to others intensified, our gratitude expanded, and the movement of our lives poignantly seeking something greater than ourselves.

My friends, adversity is like a strong wind. It will most certainly tear away from us everything that can be torn. Yet, it will also leave the things that matter most… reminding us who we really are.
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