The Hardest Times Carry Our Greatest Growth

The hardest times carry our greatest growth.

I’ve learned personally that life sends us “problems” to test our commitment towards our dreams, to push us to grow into our best selves and to install within us the heroic virtues of understanding, compassion, courage, forgiveness and love...

...so we can advance through our days as human beings radiating positivity, a spirit of helpfulness and sincere goodness.

My latest book “The Wealth Money Can’t Buy” is full of fresh ideas and original tools that I’m absolutely certain will cause quantum leaps in your positivity, productivity, wellness, and happiness. You can order it now by clicking here.

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Transcript

If something doesn't work out, it's because something even better is coming. Let go, detach. Stop living with so much control that if something doesn't work out the way you wanted it work out, something is wrong. I bet if you look back at your so-called failed relationships and your so-called missteps, every single one of them had a blessing in disguise that led you to where you now are. I remember running in London, on the embankment, getting close to the Tate Modern, one of my favorite art galleries in the world. And I heard this street musician, this busker playing guitar. I had the presence to hear the beautiful music he was playing. And so I stopped, I pulled out my earphones that I was running with, and I sat down next to him. And he looked at me. He said, do you mind if I play another song? I said, I'd love to, I was just so in my heart. I was just so in the moment. And he said, what's your name? And I said, Robin. And he said, Robin, this is a song I wrote about my failed relationship. And then he played the song. And on that London afternoon, he brought tears to my eyes. And after he finished, he said, what did you think? He was Scottish, he told me. What did you think? And I said to him, said, well, I don't think that was a failed relationship." And he said, what do you mean? And I said, well, but for that relationship, you would not be able to have made that song. I once sat next to an artist on a flight to Paris, and he said to me, I pick relationship partners who break my heart because it's good for my art. Suffering is always a doorway into artistry. The people who suffer the most have the most wisdom. You think of Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr. The greatest human beings who have ever graced the planet have had their hearts broken. Rumi said it so well, the great philosopher. He said, keep breaking your heart over and over and over until it opens. And so suffering and adversity is simply greatness in the making. As time evolves, if you want to own your greatness, you will start to understand with greater intimacy that suffering is a gift. We grow stronger on the difficult runs. I become a better skier on the most difficult runs, not on the easy slopes. It's the hard seasons of life, the winters. Albert Camus said it so well, he said, In the midst of a difficult winter, I realized within me there was an invincible summer. It is the things that break our hearts, that open up our hearts, not only to love and creativity and artistry, but to our strength. You're using the suffering to burn away the dross, like you burn away the... bad elements or invaluable elements so that the gold shines. You become a diamond polisher when the world falls apart. Then you get to be the confident expert and you understand life is a series of seasons. You've got your times on the summit of success and we all get our periods in the dark valley of difficulty and we become graceful. We celebrate the good times and we grow in the difficult times,