On Adversity

When it comes to overcoming adversity there are any number of quotes and cliches.

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." Napoleon Hill

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." John Quincy Adams

"The block of granite, which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a stepping stone in the path of the strong." Thomas Carlyle

"Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." Charles Dickens

As trite as they may seem statements such as these are the absolute truth. In my humble opinion it is a tired spirit that dismisses them and casts them aside. I say that having been that tired spirit on many occasions myself. I firmly believe that happiness is a choice, a very hard choice at that. It is so easy to fall into despair when things aren't going the way you anticipated.

Some would call this weakness, I disagree it is simply human nature. For some unknown reason our culture, under the guise of protecting us, has taught us from a very young age to fear failure. Failing in our society is considered shameful and something to be avoided at all cost. It has become so prevalent that we now reward participation so as not to attach the stigma of failure on our children.

This is entirely the WRONG mindset. Failure is simply a form of adversity to learn from and overcome. Success is a terrible teacher, so the quicker you fail the better off you will be. Provided of course that you learn from these failures. I've been starting businesses since high school with varying degrees of success. Every failure though has brought with it valuable lessons for the next venture.

If it weren't for these trials and adversities I would have repeated the same mistakes. More importantly I have never given up. Some would say this is due to being a masochist, others that I feed on rejection, and a few that its due to my undying optimism. While I do have my moments for the most part I concur with the later. Though lately I've felt like a kicked dog.

Regardless of this I get up every morning determined to move the ball forward. My little start-up firm Stigmare has some great projects in the pipeline. The kind of projects that can really take us to that next level. If it wasn't for the adversities faced prior to this point, and the knowledge gained from them would these opportunities have presented themselves? Who's to say?

All I can say is that I am personally very grateful for them. I am grateful for my Creative Director whose dedication and hard work secured these opportunities. I'm grateful that instead of going home or to the bar after a hard day last December I went to a networking event where I met my current Creative Director. I'm grateful for meeting my friend Rachel at the Columbia Tower Club about three months prior who invited me to that networking event.

I could have very easily made different decisions that would have dramatically changed where I am today. Its been a struggle, but most things of value are. There have been a lot of times where I questioned if I was on the correct path. Through it all I continue to persist, so I say to you persist. Don't give in to your fears, I pray you.