What Adversity Quotes Can Teach You

 Adversity quotes always seem to have some very good advice to give when you really dissect the message contained in them.

A light bulb went off in my head when I read this quote by Oprah:

Turn Your Wounds Into Wisdom
-- Oprah Winfrey   A short while after that another nugget of gold was found. This one was spoken by Duke Ellington and it was a rather simple quotation:

A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
-- Duke Ellington   Oprah’s observation about adversity is one that many of us know all too well. We both know that wounds maybe physical or emotional. Emotional wounds are equally painful and in many instances are harder to get over than their physical counterpart.

What Makes Adversity Important?  
You may have wondered at some point in your life why bad things happen. A situation can only be "bad" depending on how you look at it.

As you can see in the adversity quotes above both Duke Ellington and Oprah Winfrey do not see adversity as a truly terrible thing.

Challenges are very important because they teach you lessons that can't be learned any other way.
Your feeling towards a situation is the indicator which you use to recognize if it is favorable or not.
If you like the situation you will see it as something good but guided by your conditioning growing up, you your feelings may indicate that the situation is unfavorable.

It is your conditioning that makes a situation bad or good and as the adversity quotes state, if we see it as a bad thing we will never unfold the wisdom that can be found in the situation.

Some people attach such great emotional value to a situation that they may even become depressed and this can cause further complications for them. Serious side effects can come from this kind of state of mind e.g. poor health conditions and even death.

If you can simply use adversity to your advantage as indicated by the adversity quotes you will see that it can definitely add value to your life and it is an experience that should be cherished because the lessons learned are too important to pass up.

What Can You Learn From Adversity
Do you know how diamonds are made? Did you know that sea plants which grow in the roughest waters are more vibrant and colorful than plants that grow in the shallow waters?

This happens because of the immense pressure that those plants are subjected to. You become stronger and more beautiful because of the pressures that you are subjected to each day.

stand the value of your experiences, you will be in full agreement with the adversity quotes by Oprah and Duke Ellington.

You will also have a better attitude about every situation you encounter and you will be able to handle them with more maturity.

Do you have food to eat, eyes to see and ears to hear? Do you have at least one person in your life that loves you? Can you stand on your own two feet and do things for yourself without some having to rush to your aid?

If you can answer yes to any of those questions then you shouldn't have a problem being thankful for the situation you are in. Clearly it could be a lot worse as you will gather from the other adversity quotes below.

The Development Of Wisdom  
Kids are told to listen to their elders. They gradually begin to understand why this is so important to their development.

Nothing can replace experience and as you have gathered from the adversity quotes. When you grow up you must see the opportunities in every adverse situation.

That is how wisdom is developed that is if you are wise enough to pay attention.

You complain about your circumstances and the road blocks that you face but what you fail to realize is that those things were put there for a reason.

They are a direct result of the poor decisions that you have made.

You may not agree with that statement because you may think that you didn't ask for anything to happen to you.

If you weren't present at the place and time this situation took place then you wouldn't have to go through it.

You are there because that is the path that you took and the situation is the end result of the path chosen.
Strength Through Adversity  
Now if you were paying enough attention to Oprah and the Duke you will understand from their adversity quotes that all you have to do is see the bright side of things to be able to create a renewed strength.

Get rid of the denial that was described before and really pick apart any situation you are in or have been through and learn from it.

Be thankful that you have that experience and never trade it for anything.

It was a tough circumstance and you wish to forget it; you want to remain the same and never have to think about it again. If you do that you will never learn and grow.

Your character can not be enhanced without you applying the great gift of experience. Get up and fight and show that you will remain undefeated. With this type of mentality you can never fail.

Success Created From Adversity  
How can you even put success and adversity in the same sentence? It is obvious that true success can never bring adversity but adversity can bring true success.

From the strength and wisdom gained from your experiences you can definitely become successful beyond your wildest dreams.

Creating success is not the problem; being ready to receive it is? You have to be ready to make it through that rough patch.

Your persistence must indicate that you are willing to risk everything to make it happen.
Creating this type of persistence and mentality is something that you will have to learn from experience and that experience can either be your own or from others.

You may find that reading and learning from adversity quotes is a good place to start.