Seeing adversity as a potential adventure.
Let’s face it, life can be pretty hard.
Everyone experiences adversity in their lives. Wealth and privilege are no guarantees against it.
A common theme of zoom-out is that when faced with things we cannot control we should keep in mind that we can still control our perspectives and attitude.
“Hardship is inevitable, so put your goggles on and face into the wind”
– Tommy Caldwell, professional climber
For me, “goggles” here in the context of zooming-out has a double meaning. As well as meaning prepare yourself and face into adversity, it can be interpreted as intentionally selecting the lenses through which you will view adversity in our mind’s eye.
Tommy Caldwell also provides a beautiful set of “goggles” to wear if we choose:
“Reframe adversity as adventure”
– Tommy Caldwell, professional climber
The full quote is:
“I think the greatest gift that my dad gave me, is that he reframed adversity as adventure and taught me to be bold. He showed me that if we allow ourselves to be exposed to challenge, then that challenge can energise us and show us who we are. And even if we don’t open ourselves up, conflict is gonna find us. It’s the rare pathetically privileged person that doesn’t get their fair share of hardship. So we should make an effort to be prepared.”
– Tommy Caldwell, professional climber speaking about his father
Here’s Tommy’s Ted Talk – the elevant part here is 8 mins 11 seconds into the video:
I highly recommend watching the “Dawn Wall” movie, regardless of your view on rock climbing. It’s a fascinating and inspirational story of a person achieving what was believed to be impossible despite the odds being stacked against him. A true “adversity adventure”.
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