A thought by John C. Maxwell, from her book, Leading in Tough Times (p. 3). Center Street, Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
It sure does.
John says, "It causes us to stop and look at our situation. And at ourselves if we have the courage. Adversity creates an opportunity for self-discovery. As the great Egyptian leader Anwar el-Sadat said, 'Great suffering builds up a human being and puts him within the reach of self-knowledge.' This I believe is true—if we embrace it."
"One of my favorite books is As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. My father required me to read it when I was in my early teens. One of the ideas that left the strongest impression on me as a youth was this: 'Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.' "
John goes on, "Adversity comes to us as a teaching tool. You’ve probably heard the saying 'When the pupil is ready, the teacher will come.' That is not necessarily true. With adversity, the teacher will come whether the pupil is ready or not. Those who are ready learn from the teacher. Those who are not don’t learn. Oprah Winfrey advises, 'Turn your wounds into wisdom.' Leaders can do that only when they have the right mind-set."
He later says, "When many people face adversity, they let it get them down. Instead, they need to look for the benefit or opportunity. One of my favorite examples of this occurred with Procter & Gamble back in the 1870s. One day at the factory, an employee went to lunch and forgot to turn off the machinery that was mixing the soap. When he returned, the soap had increased in volume because air had been whipped into it. What a mistake! What should he do? He didn’t want to throw it out, so he poured it into the frames, and it was cut, packaged, and shipped, even though he had ruined it.
"A few weeks later, the company began receiving letters from customers asking for more orders of the soap that floated. Why? The soap was used in factories. At the end of their shift, factory workers washed at vats of standing water that became murky. Bars of soap that floated were easier to find when dropped. A manufacturing mistake led to an opportunity, the creation of Ivory soap, which is still sold today, more than one hundred years later."
He then says, "As you face tough times, are you seeing the opportunities? Are you looking for ways to take advantage of them?"
There are many people who are using these tough times to make a positive difference. And we can too, can't we? Yes, yes! #continuethought
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