..only makes you stronger.

 Anyone familiar with weightlifting or body building knows that in order for a muscle to grow it has to be broken down first. First the injury or the assault, then the recuperation process kicks in causing the muscle to over compensate to ready itself for the next bout of resistance. The human body is a miracle in that respect. The same analogy can be used for anything that requires any kind of sweat equity or elevated cortisol levels.

I lift weights, have for years and for me, the gold standard is muscle soreness the next day. The body quickly adjusts to the stress load so you have to out think or trick the muscle into thinking it has been burdened with more than it can handle. The recuperation process is when the magic happens. There are ways to do it but that’s not what this piece is about. Religious people are fond of saying that “God never gives you more than you can handle”. I agree.

The most growthful periods of our lives is when we hit that “bottom”. It happened with me using alcohol, drugs, (there’s really no difference) the loss of a loved one or a seemingly impossible goal that brings you to your knees. Even success brings unforeseen limitations. You will always have push back, rejection, loss and at times bouts of depression no matter who you are or what you got goin’ on.

So if I can stay conscious during even the most stressful of times, I will be thinking “What am I learning from this?” People who keep asking “Why me?” suffer tenfold. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers-The Story of Success” he uses the example of a student told to figure out how to use a very complicated software program. She was a complete novice and at first was totally lost. She kept trying to give up but they told her to keep trying and after a long period and many attempts it started to make sense.

We’ve all had those moments of resistance and feelings of futility and given up too quickly. It’s then we realize that whatever doesn’t not only kill us, emboldens us to take on new challenges.