Bad Times Can Make You Better or Bitter

Being that we both work in collegiate sports, we see adversity on many different levels. We see it in the work our department strives to achieve. We see it in our student athletes as they grow on and off the court/field. We see it our student workers that are challenged by what they want to become after college. And lastly, we see it in our day to day battles: internal and external. 

One of my mentors consistently shares a newsletter about the words of John Wooden with me every week. I believe that Mr. Wooden was fairly spiritual and led by example. “A setback is a set up for a comeback” describes Coach Wooden's philosophy for dealing with adversity.

In his book The Pyramid of Success with Jay Carty Coach described his perspective on adversity.

We cannot allow difficulties to discourage us. Roadblocks may cause us to alter our course a bit, but we cannot let them deter us from our destination. I have often said that we grow stronger through adversity. We become stronger physically through a weight-lifting program. Our muscles work against heavy objects. That's adversity. We get stronger mentally through the progressive difficulty of education. We don't start with calculus; we start with arithmetic. After we learn the basics, we move on to algebra, then to geometry and so on. We work our way up to calculus. In the same way, we grow stronger spiritually through the tests of life. Losing my beloved wife, Nellie, was the hardest event in my life. For a couple of years, it slowed me down; but it didn't stop me. In the end even her loss has made me stronger. In every way-physically, morally, emotionally and spiritually-we increase our strength when life is hard; therefore, we must not dread adversity, nor can we allow it to stop us from becoming the best we can be through the steadfast pursuit of our goals. In fact, as we become stronger we can and should expand our goals. Extending our capabilities to their limits requires us to realistically reevaluate our potential.

  

Dealing with adversity in a positive way requires the two top mortar pieces of coach’s Pyramid of Success: Faith and Patience and remembering as Coach put it:

Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.