Introduction
Have you ever felt like giving up in the midst of hardships? Do you ever feel that life is unfair to you?
Often in our lives, we come across obstacles, hardships, hurdles, and failures. These problems seem so big at that time, that we often give up in the middle.
We feel that we were not made to do it or that it is just impossible. But a real achiever in life is someone who is not afraid of these hardships and goes on in the midst of troubles until the very end.
Such people are survivors. It is these who achieve their goals. The journey to reach your goals teaches you plenty of things in life.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once quoted, ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor’.
This quote is remembered and quoted repeatedly in our daily lives today. The great American politician and the 32nd president of the US. He was the famous person who led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.
He was also a powerful speaker and orator. He motivated millions with his thoughtful and wise quotes and phrases. One such phrase that we are going to discuss in this article is, ‘Smooth seas don’t make good sailors’.
How to Deal with Hurdles in Life
It is quite easy to get discouraged and give up hope when you cannot achieve what you desire. Many of you also find it difficult to forgive yourself for the past mistakes you have made. But when you think of life at large, these are small things that drag you down.
These small mistakes and blunders should only be taken as experiences and lessons taught by life and circumstances. Day by day in your life, nothing changes majorly. But when you look back and see in your life, you will notice that a lot has changed.
This includes your experiences, knowledge, and wisdom. Trials and tribulations in life help you grow as a person. You become wiser and learn to deal with similar situations in the future.
Life is never all dull for most and is also never a bed of roses for most people. Life is a balance of ups and downs.
A person grows through hurdles, experiences, troubled times, and also grows in maturity. You should embrace the days of your life when the seas are smooth and are careful and alert when the seas are rough in your life.
Those who manage to survive through rough circumstances become well-experienced sailors of life.
Obstacles and hurdles are different for everyone. The intensity also differs. Furthermore, every person sees their own problem as a bigger one. Great leaders like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi also faced a lot of obstacles while fighting for freedom.
But they moved on and achieved their goals. Problems not only make you a more experienced person but also increase your self-awareness. You naturally become more guarded when faced with a similar situation in the future.
This self-awareness can also be called wisdom or knowledge through experience. You get more aware of the circumstances, you learn self-management, you are more aware of others and also more aware of your own feelings. All this wisdom comes through experience only.
When you are faced with hardships in life, you need to be optimistic. You need to think positive and never lose hope. Here are some tips on building an optimistic opinion over your problems:
- Change your track or course
When you are not getting any results or are not able to proceed towards your goal in spite of trying hard, you need to take a break, stop, and think again. Is the path that you are following right? Is there any other way of going ahead? Try changing your track or course. Think of a different method. Perhaps, the other method will help you go ahead smoothly. These hardships also make you more experienced. After some time, when you do move ahead, you will know for sure which method works better.
- Take guidance from people in a similar field
Sometimes when you are clueless and cannot figure out a way to move ahead, you need to stop and approach an expert. There are experts in every field today who are willing to share their experiences and ideologies with you. You just need to go out there and grab their wisdom, bits of advice, and experience to use the same in your own journey. Sometimes, all you need is a bit of guidance and push to carry on forward.
- Think positive
The most underestimated and most taken-for-granted attribute in the midst of problems is to have a positive mindset. A negative mind will push you towards impossibility and lethargy, while a positive approach will make you try harder and try something different. A positive mindset is like brain vitamins that boost your spirit and gives you energy.
- Work harder
You might roll your eyes at this one, but when you are not getting any closer to your goal, you need to stop and think. Think if you are trying enough. Analyze the efforts you are putting in. Are you cheating yourself? Are you giving your 100% to the task?
- Find the reason for your failure
In spite of repeated trials, if you still face failures, then you need to take a different approach. First of all, you need to introspect and analyze what might be wrong in your efforts. Definitely, there must be some approach, some technique, some practice, or some method that you are following is not working. Once you figure that out, consider 50% of the goal achieved.
- Never give up
As the great man, Roosevelt said, ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor’, remember that these are just trying and testing times. Someone out there is just trying to test you and see how much you can endure. Be so brave in the face of troubles that they get tired of you and go away! A never giving up attitude will definitely get you there someday.
Some Examples Of Great Men
Our history is full of great men who have faced numerous obstacles and hardships before achieving their goals in life. Many of them have fought for their country and a lot many have invented things after repeated failures. Today, we enjoy a luxurious life only because of their repeated efforts.
Thomas Edison invented the bulb after more than a hundred failed attempts. Each failure inspired him to try another method and take a different course of action. Similarly, Jack Ma, the famous founder of Alibaba and the Chinese business tycoon, Jack Ma, had quite humble beginnings.
In fact, his story is quite unbelievable considering the number of failures he has had, and yet very motivating as to how he managed to overcome his biggest failures and turn them into success.
The founder of Alibaba.com is currently worth $27.9 billion. Jack Ma’s story is full of hurdles and obstacles and along the way, he failed numerous times, more than most of us could endure in a lifetime.
Martial Arts king Bruce Lee had faced a lot of challenges and problems in life while growing up. He had been a victim of bullying since a kid. Once, when he was 13 years old, he was beaten up by a local gang.
It was then that he decided that it was time to fight back. He then took training in an institution and the rest is history. His inspirational life teaches us that sometimes, problems and hurdles are necessary to give you a jolt.
This jolt stops you right in your tracks, forces you to think and plan your future in a different way.
There are plenty such real-life instances of great men, who they were faced with heart-wrenching difficulties, only to realize that the difficulties did show them a better way.
This is because they never gave up hope in the face of troubles. They took their problems in a positive way. They realized later, that if it weren’t for those hardships and troubles, they would have never found their goals in life.
A single woman who went through a divorce and struggled to put food on the table for her son would have felt that life was hell. In such difficult times, it must have been impossible to think positively.
But a few years later, the same woman will realize that she got herself a job, got a monthly income, and managed to make ends meet.
Today, she is definitely not afraid of living alone or fending for her child on her own. Rough circumstances do bring out the best in you and make you stronger.
Conclusion
Are you now convinced that ‘Smooth seas never made skilled sailors’? If you had everything easy in life, you would never have the courage, knowledge, experience, or wisdom to ever face harsh circumstances, if they suddenly arise.
So, never be afraid of challenges. Just take them as life’s lessons and learn whatever you can from them.
Did you find what you were looking for? Did my article explain the phrase and also brought a dash of optimism in your lives?
Do let me know your views on this article by leaving a comment in our comment section. I would love to hear from you.
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