How to Thrive in Times of Adversity
I’m back and writing my bi-weekly articles. This one on thriving during times of adversity seems appropriate, given that we are living in a time of uncertainty and change. Those conditions create the perfect environment that makes people vulnerable to the experience of adversity.
In order to look at how to thrive during times of adversity, let’s first look at a definition of adversity to help us understand what it means.
What is Adversity?
Adversity refers to a state of hardship, difficulty, or misfortune that someone experiences. It could be a loss, a threat of loss, or something else that seemed totally unexpected and that, for the moment, seems overwhelming to us. Later, we might discover that there were early signs that an adverse event was on its way to us, but for the present moment, as one person put it:
Ron:
I was shocked when we lost a contract I was sure we’d secure. We had crafted an exciting proposal, and my team was ready to proceed. However, I received a call explaining that the client was taking a different, supposedly more successful financial path. This news was deeply unsettling, and I struggled with feelings of numbness and concern for my staff’s reaction.
Over the following week, as I shared the news, my team seemed to handle it better than I did. Meanwhile, I grew increasingly irritable, both at work and at home, feeling a hit to my self-esteem and constantly wondering, “How could this have happened?”
It’s important to note that your reactions to an adverse event may not arise for seven to ten days after the event itself. During that time, you could notice feeling increasingly down, dispirited, or even irritated at what’s happening around you without even knowing why you’re feeling that way. This response is absolutely normal. Everyone experiences some kind of reaction following a difficult event.
One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is whether we can learn important life lessons and even thrive while dealing with adversity.
