The truth that troubles are opportunities has been verified many times. However, we repeat it to stimulate our friends in difficult times but forget it when we face a roadblock.
Not all problems challenge brains and reason. Wish it were true! The trouble is that such issues also trigger many automatic emotions including fear, rage, prejudice, intolerance, and others.
So occasionally we drown in a glass of water. We lose sight of our potential and become scared, escaping or complaining. We may have conditioned ourselves to see difficulties as insurmountable threats.
We may forget that troubles are challenges that can make us better individuals if we face them. If you doubt it, ask all the people who converted their challenges into opportunities.
Elizabeth Murray, born in the Bronx, had a difficult upbringing due to her environment. Both his parents were 1970s hippies who used drugs. When she was born, they were cocaine and heroin addicts with little hope of recovery.
Liz Murray and her sister ate toothpaste and ice cubes since they were all they had. Worse, their mother died with AIDS. Father lived in a shelter. Liz was 15 when her sister moved in with a friend and she ended as homeless.
She worked whenever she could. After returning to school at 17, she visited Harvard University and vowed to get in. She got a scholarship from the New York Times. Now a superb psychologist, Liz understands human misery better than anyone. She wrote a successful book and had her life filmed.
A guy of austerity, Arturo Calle
He's Colombia's most successful men's ready-to-wear entrepreneur. His father died when he was young, leaving a widowed mother and eight children. Arturo started working early to help support the family. He recognised the value of every penny and fit well with an ascetic lifestyle.
When he was older, he worked for minimum wage. He worked hard for years to save enough money to launch a small clothes business. He advised saving and never borrowing.
He became a successful business with many stores throughout Latin America this way. The garments Arturo Calle sells are cheaper in quality because his company owes no one anything. This lowers production costs. He was also one of Colombia's 5 finest employers since his company gave all employees a home.
Inspirational story of Wilma Rudolph
What Wilma Rudolph went through was more than a problem. Her preterm birth caused problems, and she was supposed to die. She survived, but at 4, she got double pneumonia and polio. Despite raising 22 children, her family was destitute.
She used an orthopaedic gadget to walk after her left leg became useless. At 9, she tried walking alone and succeeded. She joined her school's basketball team at 11 and acquired confidence in her physical talents. She wanted to play sports at 13. First race, last place, repeated multiple times over the next few years.
Following years of training, she won a race and began her rise to prominence. In 1956, she qualified for the Melbourne Olympics and won bronze for the US. Finally, in 1960, she won two Rome Olympic gold medals. Despite polio, this three-time Olympic medalist reached the top of athletics.