Difficulty is Necessary

 

 I am a big fan of Winston Churchill. I believe he is the greatest leader of people since Abraham Lincoln. This quote came across my desk the other day and surprisingly I had never read it before. The quote read, “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” It got me thinking about the past year in my life, and the difficulties I have faced over the year. At times I felt like my life was over and that nothing good would ever happen to me. What bothered me most about this type of thinking is that it isn’t what I believe or how I live.

   Fortunately this thinking wasn’t common, but when I read the Churchill quote it opened my eyes and thoughts in a new way. Difficulties are necessary in life. You cannot grow without them, or achieve any degree of success. Read a biography of a person you deem successful and see how easy their road was to get there. Anyone who has succeeded has gone through many difficulties. Churchill for example had a speech impediment his entire life despite his amazing ability to communicate to his people. He also left government as a failure due to the Galipoli Campaign, but then became Prime Minister and led his country through World War II. Inexplicably he was beaten in the 1945 election, but rebounded to win election again in 1951.

   Difficulties are a very important part of life. You MUST go through them to get where you want to be. They give you the opportunity to grow, get stronger, and become more. Instead of facing difficulties with apprehension and fear try welcoming them because despite how challenging they are you will be given an opportunity to become more in the process. The person who gets swallowed up by difficulty and challenge is the person who remains the same. Whatever difficulties and challenges you are going through today look at them as an opportunity to become better than you were before they happened.