ASMSA Challenges

Learning to deal with and overcoming adversity is what made me who I am. Every challenge and every difficulty I’ve successfully confronted in my life served as a way to strengthen my will, confidence and ability to conquer future obstacles. A famous quote I liked came from Herodotus, the Greek philosopher, who said, "Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence.” When I responded positively and constructively to my biggest challenges, the qualities of strength, courage, character and perseverance emerged from deep within, because I am human, it was very easy to get caught up in the self-pity, unfairness of life, or the “why me?” trap. When I did think like that, I learned that I failed to recognize the opportunities for wisdom and growth that accompanied adversity. However, as soon as I allowed myself to think more clearly, I was able to let go of self-defeating and unproductive thoughts and get down to the business of dealing with what was happening before me and what can happen for me in my future. My failures and setbacks have nothing to do with me being a menace to society instead I had to realize it’s something every human being goes through. It’s a part of life and has everything to do with being human. Circumstances to me now mean nothing. Limitations don’t hold me back.

Imagine having the perfect life- you get into all honors classes, you get straight A’s, you are the first chair in the orchestra, you get into the A Cappella choir, you are on the varsity volleyball team, President of the Student Council, and you have a perfect home life. You have never had to face a single obstacle throughout your journey in life. When your whole life is like this, you do not know what failure feels like and will never experience the need to rise up after a downfall. There are many types of journeys one can take in life and dealing with obstacles has a prodigious impact on the outcome. The obstacles and hindrances are the things that shape us as we experience the ups and downs in life.

In life there will be a lot of obstacles. Some obstacles just come out of nowhere, and some you may bring upon yourself. But without struggle you will not learn how to take care of yourself. Life is not always fare, you have to take the good with the bad. Be strong and keep moving. You will get there eventually if you stay focused.

Everyone experiences obstacles throughout their lives. It is important to overcome these obstacles and not let them get in the way of our future. An obstacle can be anything: A lack of food or money, an addiction or even just someone telling you you’re not good enough. Often when people experience obstacles in their lives they need other people to help them overcome their obstacles. Family, friends and mentors are some of the best people to ask for help with overcoming obstacles.

Everyone has different aspects of life that come with multiple obstacles. As many think they aren’t able to overcome and moving fourth, believing they will fall apart and behind everyone else. Most of mankind has experience some type of obstacles and we all have a wide arrangement on how to cope and overcome. The truth is, we only see challenges and obstacles when we take our eyes off the goal. Every goal has a challenges but once we overcome the world becomes bigger.

Our ability to overcome obstacles that arise in our lives is paramount to our survival within our existence while here on earth. The article “Where There is a Will, There is a Way” by Anne Harrington that we read this week gives a lot of good information to the reader but also the reader will notice that many of these elements are automatically incorporated when a person is in the process of overcoming an obstacle.

Every person encounters various roadblocks throughout life. Some of these impediments could be brought by societal mindsets, others from mental and physical aspects of life, but they are all similar in one way-you can only move on to achieve your goals by overcoming these blockages.

From time to time, in your pursuit of doing what you strive to do, there will be roadblocks or obstacles getting in the way of your success. Most people simply give up at that point, stop trying with the excuse of, “it’s not worth it,” or “it’s too hard.” If I had done that and quit at the first few obstacles, I would have never been able to come to the point that I am at today. If I hadn’t had the willpower and grit to do the things that I had done, then I might have still been an amateur swimmer, have barely any friends, and not have advanced as a mathematician. Overall, overcoming your fears, trusting yourself, and having the determination to pass anything in your way will result in a great amount of eminence, success, and contentment.

"If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere" Frank A. Clark. Everyone has experienced challenges and difficulties in his life which made him stronger, and able to endure life's obstacles. I, like everyone, have faced impediments that made me feel powerless, hopeless, and miserable. Even though sometimes I thought my obstacles are too small to mention, but now I believe they have role which brought me to where I am today.

Obstacles are hard to overcome but the only thing really stopping people is fear. There are two people, Andrew and Katie, who had huge obstacles coming their way. One of them may have a bigger obstacle, but they both overcome it. Andrew had to deal with public speaking, and Katie had to deal with basketball. Either way, they both had to overcome it and succeeded.

During the course of our lives, we will all be faced with obstacles. Some may be small, such as losing your car keys. Others may be large, like losing your job. However, if you approach all obstacles with an ambitious attitude, and resilience, as opposed to just whining, moping, and becoming depressed about it, they can be much more easily overcame (Harrington, 2012).

Michael Jordan once said “If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it”. No one lives an easy life, whether you’re wealthy or underprivileged. My life was filled with large obstacles that I had to get over in order to move on and succeed. The obstacles that I faced may not have been as difficult as someone else’s, but they were very troublesome for me.

Obstacles are challenges we face in life which help us grow as people. Nearly three years ago, my daughter was killed in a tragic accident. Losing my only child left me mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally drained. This has been the longest journey ever.

People are faced with obstacles on a daily basis, but it is how a person deals with the obstacle that really reveals their true character. I personally believe that obstacles are present in order to demonstrate how much one really desires to achieve a particular goal. While growing up, I was a stereotypical awkward “pre-teen” that grew too fast for his age: I was not fast enough for basketball, not coordinated enough for baseball, and definitely not nimble enough for soccer. It was here in middle school when I was faced with obstacles, but it is how I dealt with these obstacles that taught me many lessons and turned me into the person I am today.

Facing difficulties in life is inevitable and being able to accept and improve myself upon every difficulty and struggle in my personal life, the workplace, and school throws at me will only better me as a person.