Turning Your Weakness into a Strength
Our biggest liability in life can often become our biggest asset with the correct mindset
Every single person has something that weighs them down, something that presents a challenge, or something they'd rather not be saddled with. Perhaps it's an addiction, a mental health issue, or other aspects about ourselves that consistently present hurdles to deal with.
Maybe it was a particularly difficult event or experience from our life that continues to rear its ugly head, creating seemingly endless stumbling block at the most inconvenient times. Trauma of all kinds can resonate in our daily lives long after the moment has passed, especially when that trauma is not properly worked through and put into perspective.
It's easy to dwell on the things we struggle with. We're often taught to view our weaknesses and misgivings as something to be ashamed of or conceal, yet we're doing ourselves a big disservice in this way.
Our greatest weakness can become our greatest strength
As someone who spent time working in the mental health field, I noticed how many therapists, counselors, and helping professionals very frequently enter the profession because they've experienced mental health issues themselves and want to impart the wisdom and insight they have learned to those still struggling.
There were certainly instances where a therapist or psychiatrist could have used a bit more therapy and proper self-care themselves, as unresolved issues inevitably arise in the course of one's clinical practice. But the best therapists/healers are the ones who have faced the dark part of themselves, shed light upon it, and now draw from it as a position of strength.
Our wounds have the power to heal ourselves and others in ways we would otherwise be incapable of doing. If you've experienced some terrible trauma or overcome an intense addiction, you are far more insightful in these areas and can use this information to enlighten those who need it.
The best teachers are often those who were the worst at what they eventually mastered
It can be tempting to ruminate on all of the things we don't have, the things we're incompetent at, the parts of ourselves we wish were different or 'better'. But what if this part of ourselves is something that can be viewed as a potential strength?
Much of life rests in our ability to view our circumstances as an opportunity for growth, even during the most undesirable of situations. Our mind may want to judge or label a particular experience as being negative when practically any scenario can be used to empower and uplift.
I frequently reference Victor Frankl, the founder of logotherapy, because I find his story to embody this aspect of life. Frankl was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps during world war two. He witnessed the most horrific scenes a human being can comprehend. Most of his family were killed in the camps, and death was a constant reality with which he was forced to face.
This experience helped to provide Frankl with his understanding of the world, using it to develop the field of logotherapy, which states that man's primary drive in life is to find meaning from it. We are the ones that get to write the post-script on the things that happen to us.
View your suffering in a new light
The next time you are reminded of the thing that drags you down, attempt to change the meaning of why it is happening. Look for the ways in which this uncomfortable experience can create positive growth within your life or the lives of others.
The loss of a loved one, as horrific and difficult as it may be, can be viewed as a way to better understand life, death, and the grieving process. A relapse into an undesirable behavior doesn't have to be devastating if we remind ourselves that the relapse only occurred because we attempted the process of change to begin with and that we can gain further insight into why the behavior reoccurred.
The thing you struggle with day in and day out doesn't need to be the thing that ultimately destroys your life. On the contrary, it can be the thing that fully uplifts you out of your personal hell into something far beyond what would have been possible had you not suffered in the first place.
A weakness isn't just a weakness, it's a future strength birthing its way into existence.
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Viewing negative events, such as the loss of a loved one in a positive way requires great courage, but it opens the doors to having greater maturity and polishing personality and refining thoughts. You understand the life better, and the reality of this life. You can become more purposeful.
Yeah, your entire article addresses perfectly something I have experienced and learnt over many years. In the same way as weaknesses as strengths, we are also able to turn others' bad intentions towards us into something positive for us. So for example, instead of saying:" No, they destroyed my entire plan!", with the right mindset we realize:"they didn't even notice that they led me to the perfect idea!"
The way this looks then is very unique, so I cannot go into details, but generally speaking, people's bad intentions have the huge potential to guide us in a roundabout way onto a pathway we overlooked before.