“Most all good things come through adversity. There’s a poem that says:

‘Looking back it seems to me,
All the grief that had to be
Left me when the pain was o’er
Stronger than I was before.’

I believe that. We get stronger when we test ourselves. Adversity makes us
better. We must be challenged to improve and adversity is the challenger.”
Coach John Wooden

A legendary basketball coach, John Wooden knew a thing or two about tough challenges and his words offer some nuggets of wisdom that can help us reframe our feelings about adversity. Let’s face it, for most of us, adversity isn’t a welcome guest at our table of life. We’d rather just stay safe and let it knock on someone else’s door. To be honest, I often feel that way and I’m sure you do, too. That’s not surprising when you consider that my handy Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines “adversity” using two prickly words: “difficulty” and “misfortune.”

Difficulty and misfortune: Who needs them? Who wants them? And yet, if we can open ourselves up to John Wooden’s view that “adversity makes us better,” then it becomes not a problem, but  a path to growth. Adversity can push us forward instead of holding us back. As John observes:

“We get stronger when we test ourselves” —  We gain strength and grit from having to push past obstacles and self-imposed limits. When we test ourselves, we often discover that we are stronger, smarter, more ingenious, and more creative than we ever imagined.

“Adversity makes us better” —  Adversity pushes us to up our game, to take it to the next level. Without the friction and upheaval that adversity creates, our forward motion is likely to be sluggish and lackluster. Adversity creates urgency and focus.

“We must be challenged to improve” —  How uncomfortable, yet how true this often proves to be! Without some obstacle to overcome, some hurdle we have to leap over, how likely is it that we’d improve our craft? These hurdles can take many forms: struggle with a thorny plot problem or two-dimensional characters who needs some life breathed into them; turn downs from publications or agents; a first draft that seems bloated and rambling. Whatever hurdles we face, in finding the determination and discipline to overcome them, we tap into wellsprings of skill and strength that lead to better, stronger, truer work.

Adversity is going to come our way whether we like it or not, so let’s make it work for us as we all write on!