My New Question for Adversity
I don't like adversity. I'm not some raw-egg-drinking, running-up-the-stairs-in-the-
dark-with-weights-around-my-legs, smiling-in-the-rain-'cause-it-makes-me-tough kind of guy. Of the two, peace or adversity, I prefer peace. But life keeps refusing to play by the rules. Despite my best actions and decisions, adversity still keeps popping up. And if you're like me, when you face it, you say the same thing: "Why me?" Why did this happen to me? Why now? Why here? Why this? Why me?
I want to give you a new question to ask when you face adversity. A better question. A bigger question, and it comes to us from hundreds of years ago. The Roman poet Horace issued this challenge: "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant." He's right, and he's given us a new question. Next time adversity strikes, and it will, I don't want you to say, "Why me?" I want you to say, "What new talents will this adversity awaken?" That's it. Then start to look. Start to listen. Start to notice. Don't let the storm of the day cover up some skill you didn't even know you had. A failed client project is the reason I learned to get up early to write. And that one adversity-exposed talent has served me well for more than seven years. Grit your teeth. Dig in. And ask this question the next time things get rough: "What new talents will this adversity awaken?"
-Jon Acuff