Life Attractions

Become Empowered: Use Your Strengths to Face Adversity

Napoleon Hill once said “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”  Adversity is part of life. Adversity gives us opportunities to connect with others and use our strengths to rise to the occasion and overcome it. 

 

When we are clear about our values and character strengths, we can hold things together, for the best interest of all, to come out stronger on the other side. Character strengths empower us to be disciplined enough to see the challenge through.  Adversity can bring out the best of us, but only if we can focus on a higher purpose and maintain our sanity.

 

From Stress to Success: Discover the Hidden Keys to Greatness

Today, with the strains on our economy, our ecological systems, our businesses, and families, we are facing challenges that cannot be solved in old ways.  This is marked by an need for a focus on real learning.  We need people who are awake, aware, engaged, and ready to take a hard look at what works and what does not.  We also need people who can rise to the occasion, use their strengths, stay calm, and not blow up or fall apart, as we begin to forge a new path. Is it possible to stay sane and use stress to create success?

The impact of stress has been studied in the Laws of Therodynamics from physics.  One great contributor is the Nobel Prize winner, Ilya Prigogine. One of the laws of Theromydynamics from physics says that if systems are left alone, the structure will erode into more disorder and chaos.  That is, if left alone, things in our universe will slip into more and more disorder and fall apart.  For example, if a tree falls to the ground, it will rot and decay over time.  In the same way, if you decide to become a couch potato, and watch TV all day, it is likely that your life will fall apart.

From Stress to Success

It has been said, "Greatness is born out of adversity."  Unfortunately, this is not always
true.  When under pressure, emotions climb.  Adversity can bring out your courage, brilliance,
and persistence.  OR, it can make you an ugly beast, get angry, or run for cover.
 
What does it take for stress to bring out your best? In this the series of blog posts we explore how stress actually can help you grow and evolve. You can gain ideas from excerpts of our From Stress to Success Teleseminar. In this telesminar you will:

Education: A Real Education is More Than Schooling

Education -- what does it mean to you? -- assignments, textbooks, grades? Today, many  are questioning this approach.   John Gatto, in his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction,  believes that our real education is more than schooling.  Our real education, he believes, is not in the classroom but out in the world.  This education comes from building character and community. It carries more long term benefits than learning from tired books and lesson plans.  

I remember, as an undergraduate in college, I read the textbooks, and studied for tests to get good grades. It did not mean nearly as much to me as did working as a Girl Scout Counselor for children during the summer.  It was a blast, and gave my schooling much more meaning 

Why are these real life experiences so important? It shifts our perspective to one of education used as an external standard for competitive purposes, making money, and separation, to one of working together, benefiting others and ourselves. It helps us to identify our deeper values and caring for each other, for the good of all.  Now, isn't that more attractive than being bored, sitting in school?