We have all experienced those who love to drag around their stories of how the world has wronged them. Like, my father or mother ruined my life. We even hear about work situations where the company someone works for is making their lives miserable. I’ll ask these same individuals what’s going on and why they are so unhappy, and they will oftentimes come back with their stories of childhood dysfunction and how they had it rough compared to the rest of us. My standard comeback is that we all had an element of dysfunction growing up but that is what makes us who we are, and that our most difficult moments lead to our greatest accomplishments. Adversity makes us stronger.
We all get knocked down over and again, but that’s not what matters, right? What matters is how you manage situations as they arise because they inevitably will, but this is where the juice is. Overcoming adversity is where we grow into something special and do worthwhile things with our lives. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich said: “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” Hill’s statement is profound because it unlocks the door to liberation by identifying the aspects of our childhood that reappear as blind spot inhibitors as adults.
And the deeper we dive into any sort of negativity from our past, the greater the inverse ascension toward good.
Sure, it’s painful to take a hard look at yourself and admit you have been hanging onto an illusion. Yes, an illusion. Because what we experience when we are younger was interpreted using the mind and emotions of a child. To where, when we look behind that proverbial door to our past, expecting a monster, it is nothing more than an interpretive illusion. The key is to heal your inner child in order to make yourself a better husband, wife, parent, sibling, co-worker, etc. You show me someone who has unresolved issues, and I’ll show you someone who has limitations. Also, it’s common for people to think that their personal stuff does not bleed over into their work, that they have everything under control, but they would be wrong. I’ve seen it play out over and again. Remember, the level of success we have in our career is commensurate with the depth of healing we do in the background.
