I had some very hard periods of my life. Can i consider such unpleasant events as the way of my development?

Question

not all time of my life was going smoothly. usually, it was struggling with inner and outisde problems. can I consider such chalenges of life as the way of my intelectual and spiritual growth?
are problems oportunity for growth? am I wiser than before? am I becoming highly developed person by simply dealing with my problems and reflecting and acting to solve them? is it possible that such negative events even speed up my development?

Answer 1

.....Challenges and struggles can teach us many things, and make us stronger as individuals. Or not. It's not an automatic benefit.

People don't always learn from what happens to them. Learning from an experience requires conscious reflection. Asking yourself...What happened?...Why did it happen?...What were the consequences?...What can I do differently in the future to make such a situation turn out better?...What are my next steps?

Striving against adversity can make you stronger, if you exercise character strengths...such as patience, persistence, responsibility, accountability, effort, initiative, honesty, integrity, compassion, loyalty, creativity, reason, courage and composure. Exercising these behavior patterns reinforces them...making you stronger.

And doing so can result in a situation that is even better than before the adversity happened. You can actually make this happen.

So the question is...did you reflect on what happened? Did life teach you important lessons? Did you exercise character strength when the going got tough?

Answer 2

I think it's true that the hard times you go through, do make you a stronger person. Some people take a long time to learn and change thier behaivior. If you are realizing that the tough things you go through is an opportunity to change and become a better/more aware person then you are already a step ahead. I know for myself, I have sometimes gained understanding and appreciation through hard times, but on the other hand, I have had to go through some lessons more than once. Mostly with relationships and going back to the same patterns of people... be it friends, lovers or otherwise. ANd I guess that some lessons are just harder to learn. Especially for stubborn ones like myself, ha ha.
I think it's great that you are having that realization though. You can't truly appreciate the good without having to suffer the bad. And there is always a lesson to learn or somehting to gain from any situation.. the hard part is finding it.

Answer 3

Jennifer, I have always thought that you could never really know how a person was really feeling unless you had walked down that road yourself. It is so true, you really can't. I am a firm believer in the old saying, What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger! Through trials we become stronger, more able to see both sides of the coin, if you will. I believe we struggle all our lives, for there is so much uncertainty. I personally do believe that through our struggles and trials we grow as individuals and are more prepared to understand what others are experiencing. Yes, I think we have to have some life experiences under our belt before we really understand that we are not in total control of situations, we just never know what will happen for every situation is different. But, we can offer our own opinion thru our own trials. If you've never been in a valley, you never know the despair. If you've never stood on top of that mountain, you can't value the view.

Answer 4

Absolutely
Your spirt or soul is here purely for self development
Everyone knows those challenges when they enter and we need these to raise our spirtual level
the only way you can develop is thorugh suffering
and less strong spirits seem to have an easier time of it but the they will have a harder life to live through in the future
we are all here to help one another
to work together and to harmoise

lesser spirits havent got that yet and continue to cause themselves and others damage

love is the answer the greates love and nurturing is keeping your spirit hopeful and not developing a defeatist attitude when times are tough

Be strong and thrive :O)

Answer 5

I too have lived a hard life with many bad things that have happened in a short period of time. I do feel like I have learned a lot about myself and others because of these events. For every trial you go through and come through you learn an invaluable life lesson and become a stronger, better, more compassionate person. That's what life is all about.

Answer 6

Yes, but I think it depends on how you look back and reflect. If you stop a destructive pattern from repeating itself, or recognize that a rough patch similar to one of the hard times you've had in the past and avoid or deflect it, then you are showing great wisdom. One should always learn from both good and bad experiences.

Now if you are stuck in a cycle, repeating past mistakes, then chances are that you are a defeatist, and accept the things that are dealt to you. This doesn't look like the case, considering the question you asked.

Nice question as well!

Answer 7

first off we all have struggles in life ,no escaping it, if you learn anything at all from your struggles consider that growth, if you can apply your new found knowledge even better.....your use of the word development confuses me....you are exactly at the point in your life where your experiences have led you.....I would not wish for adversity to speed up your development....get through the bad times and be grateful for the times when peace of mind are at hand

Answer 8

Absolutely. Everyone has problems but it's how we deal with them that define our character, our success, our widom. To face a problem head on or chip away at it is brave. Those acts of bravery forge your steel and make you strong.

Consider what you've conquered in the past. How huge and unmanageable it looked at the time and now how small and insignificant it is to today. You're moving up the mountain, bit by bit. Keep going, you're making yourself proud.

Answer 9

They are whatever you make them to be...bottom line.

There have been moments when the only thing that kept one foot moving in front of the other for me, was an old adage, that 'to a warrior, everything is an opportunity. Makes you crazy at the time, but once you get out the other side of the situation, it makes a lot of sense.

Good luck

Answer 10

You can use them as a way to not go that way again and also to make you stronger for having gone through. Now, I have gone through some hard things in my life; matter of fact, I'm in one right now; but one thing I try to do is to get the lesson out of it. What is to be gained by having gone through this? that is what I ask myself.