Living In Gratitude: Every Problem Has A Purpose

Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. ~ Henry J. Kaiser

When faced with any sort of challenge, we have the choice to approach that obstacle as an opportunity to make us better people or to adopt the attitude that ‘the world’ or ‘someone’ is conspiring against us.

When we look at all of the curve balls life throws us, be the big, small or in between, we realize that each and every problem has a purpose:

One to make you stronger, one to make you more patient, one to teach tolerance and forgiveness, another to help us communicate more clearly, and yet another to instill creativity.

Man’s Search For Meaning

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl, in his classic, must-read book, “Man’s Search for Meaning“, chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate. Apart from Frankl, the only survivor of the Holocaust in his immediate family was his sister. His parents, brother and wife all perished. Throughout his years of imprisonment and the unfathomable things he experienced and witnessed, rather than becoming bitter and resentful, Viktor Frankl discovered the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most sordid ones, and thus a reason to continue living.

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose our own way, to choose to see the lesson in the midst of adversity.

Every Adversity Is A Blessing

Each and every challenge offers an opportunity. Many times, these opportunities are difficult to see, especially when we are in the ‘eye of the storm’. It’s understandable that we don’t know what that obstacle’s blessing is, but know that there is indeed a blessing, however cloaked it might be.

Although not easy, thank your challenges and obstacles for the gifts they offer, including teaching persistence, patience, forgiveness and perseverance. By extending our gratitude for these invisible blessings, we open ourselves to be more receptive to them.

Keep a positive outlook, believe in the blessing, and soon you will find your way through the barriers and into the sunny field of possibilities.