Facing life challenges and difficulties. Introduction.

Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, but to help you realize your hidden potential and power. Let difficulties know that you too are difficult, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity, Albert Einstein.

Typically, there will be many moments where you will taste the bitterness of setbacks and difficulties before getting the sweetness of success. At those times, you should consider the following:

You should never, ever focus obsessively on the problem: Why does it all happen to me? Who is to blame? Life Sucks! What has changed? What negative consequences will I face for this?

Forget about your past experiences, about what it could have been, but never was. Do not cling to how things have always been done, but how I am going to do them now. Do not try the same thing over and over again without changing your perspective, attitudes, and behaviors.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”, A. Einstein.

Do not fool yourself and carry on as if nothing had happened, your problems will not magically disappear.

Do not blame yourself when things go sour forever, just blame yourself once, and move on. Do not complain again and again about your problems and how sick you feel -it solves nothing and everyone else has their own problems to deal with!

This dynamic creates a self-destructive cycle of anger, resentment, sadness, and depression. You will become resentful, bitter, and unhappy, which in turn will make everyone around you feel the same. Your self-esteem and resilience will decline and very likely conflicts in your relationships will arise. It is, indeed, a formula for misery which leads you nowhere.

On the contrary, spend most of your time focusing on the solution. That is: what do I have to do to overcome or work around it? And, as far as possible, what do I have to do to get over it and enjoy the process? Getting things done does not necessarily mean pain and suffering. Ask yourself if you can clear the problem up whilst having a good time.

For example, if you fail academically, you will probably need to avoid distractions, study more and harder. Do not panic! Remember that you can always find ideas that will make your experience more enjoyable and less boring. For example, finding a more comfortable chair, listening to music while studying, meeting up with a group of friends to study and organizing break times to go out for coffee or a drink, relax and have a chat, etc.

In summary, what should we do to face difficulties, obstacles, and failures in life?

1. These difficult moments are important and invaluable -They help us to learn, grow, and give us experience!

   They are not really obstacles or problems, but opportunities to excel. The challenges that you come across are the frontier between your trusted zone, the one that you know, control, and feel secure in, and a new area beyond your current limits. When you overcome these difficulties, you expand your trusted zone, and widen it, in other words, you mature and grow as a person, husband or wife, employee or employer, etc.!

2. Be strong, do not give up, do not lose faith.

3. The brick walls are there for a reason: to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

4. They allow us to focus on the basics, the essential things in life.

5. You can overcome them by working hard, very hard, with a lot of sacrifice, perseverance, and postpone gratification. Moreover, stay hungry for constant growth and learning.

6. They stripped us of our pride, arrogance, and self-sufficiency. They are an invitation to seek help, to learn to work together, and to recognize our mistakes and flaws.

7. If you get stuck along the way, focus on a goal which is realistic, achievable, specific, and measurable; when you achieve it, celebrate it and look for the next one with renewed energy and encouragement.

To sum up, the brick walls are there to learn from, to work harder and improve.

At last, I must be sincere. I have cried many times watching this video.

It is Randy Pausch delivering his Last Lecture named: “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”.

He knew he was going to die soon enough and offered his last lecture to his kids and the whole world. His wise words are full of insight and truth. That’s what I want to do and this is the main reason behind JustToThePoint.COM. Just to do my best and help others!