Trials…we all experience them. If you’ve been alive long enough, chances are you’ve faced trials and tribulations at some point in your life.
What is it about life that inevitably involves both highs and lows?
While we all may experience trials, our responses to them vary. When it comes to those low moments, we have two choices. We can either attempt to avoid the discomfort, or we can push ourselves to work through it.
Although the first option can seem appealing, it’s temporary. What most people tend to find out is that they can only avoid a situation for so long. The latter option, though not popular, causes us to find a strength within ourselves that we may not have known existed.
In the early 90s, there was a famous study known as the Biosphere 2 study. The biosphere was originally created to explore the possibility for successful life on other planets. Things seemed to be going well in the beginning. However, researchers soon found that the trees they planted grew quickly, but then fell over before they reached reproductive age. Why? There was no wind in the biosphere to create resistance. Without resistance, the trees didn’t grow deep enough roots. Trees are often at their strongest in adverse conditions because it forces them to plant deep roots in order to survive.
This study offers a great metaphor of the importance of both the ups and the downs in our lives.
It’s easy to see why we need positive things to happen to us, but it’s interesting to note the positive impact of negative experiences.
We often try to avoid difficulties and challenges, when in reality when we learn to face those challenges head on, we become stronger people. Like trees, it is the resistance we meet in life that makes us stronger and more resilient.
The next time you’re faced with a trial, try to think about what it can do for you rather than what it is doing to you. While the situation may not be easy, it helps to remind ourselves that we can find purpose in the pain if we allow ourselves to see past the discomfort.
Written by: Salima Hart
