How You Can Overcome Adversity

by Dave Cole

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Published on this site: January 2004 - See more articles from this month

Napoleon Hill wrote, "In every adversity, there is the seed of an equal or greater benefit".

Doesn't it just seem that the more you try to get things accomplished, the more problems and obstacles that somehow, just crop up and are required to be dealt with along the way?

Becoming a success doesn't just happen.

Everything seems to be going along pretty well, when all of a sudden....up comes this major roadblock.... seemingly, out of nowhere to try and trip you up.

Unfortunately these hindrances just don't come to us complete with big signs that would explain why they are there, and further more, just what steps we need to overcome these unwanted obstacles.

Evan Hunter, a now world famous Novelist, had a dream.

Mr. Hunter was a radar man aboard a Destroyer in the US Navy. He had a lot of free time after his watch was over and decided that he was going to start on his road to fulfilling his dreams.

He began to write mystery stories and sent them to magazines hoping they would get published. Every one he sent, was returned as being rejected. In fact, it got so bad, that his shipmates ran pools betting on when his next manuscript would be returned.

Mr, Hunter, who is now 74, said, "I never got discouraged though".

All the rejection notices: only fueled even further his desire to become a famous writer.

After the Navy, he earned a degree in English. Then, found a job that would help him get experience in achieving his goal.

He kept on writing, kept on getting rejection notices, but finally...sold 1 manuscript.

The sale netted him $12.60, before taxes!

All those years of writing, getting an education, and countless rejection notices had earned him less that 12 dollars for his efforts.

Just think about all he had gone through, all the work he had done, and how that skinny little check must have made him feel.

Would you have gotten discouraged by this time?

But, Evan Hunter is a man who believes that optimism is the only way to go! He looked at that adversity, recognized it for what it was, then found that seed
of an equal or greater benefit!

He began to take a very hard look at his technique. Instead of writing the standard fiction, Mr. Hunter decided to draw on his own personal life experiences
and began to write what he knew about.

"The Blackboard Jungle", published in 1954, became an immediate success. Then it wasn't very long before he was getting 2 to 3 books a year published and had achieved world class fame.

Here's a man who overcame a lot of adversity trying to achieve his life's dream. He welcomes challenges. He believes that it forces him to stretch his efforts
and further forces him to streamline his work efforts.

Always Remember This:

It's NEVER what happens TO YOU that really matters. What is so much more important is,

HOW YOU REACT.... to those events and obstacles in your path.

Have you got a stumbling block on your road to success today?

If so, that's good! Look for that seed of an equal or greater benefit.

It's always there, you just have to find it.

The path to your success may not be easy. In fact, it will most likely be littered with debris, detours, and a myriad of challenges.

How you react to those challenges is everything!

Learn to recognize adversity for what it really is. A challenge in disguise, sent to spur you on to greater and greater heights and future accomplishments.



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