{"id":88175,"date":"2022-12-27T23:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T03:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=88175"},"modified":"2023-01-03T10:30:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T14:30:41","slug":"challenges-are-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/challenges-are-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges Are Opportunities: Adopting a Stoic Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you stay calm when you face adversity? Can you see the bright side in difficult times?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stoic philosophers taught that the human powers of reason and choice are of paramount importance. Epictetus discussed how to use those abilities to overcome hardships, explaining that challenges are opportunities for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn how you can take advantage of tough situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Challenges Are Opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stoicism strongly emphasizes calm dignity and inner strength\u2014in essence, that you don\u2019t let anything upset or excite you so you can bring your reason to bear in every situation. Epictetus teaches how to remain calm in the face of adversity so that you can meet challenges with quiet rationality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges are opportunities to become stronger and to prove yourself, not deliberate attacks or harmful situations. <\/strong>This perspective will help you to stay in a positive state of mind instead of becoming frustrated or overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Face challenges head-on, Epictetus recommends\u2014avoiding them is cheating yourself out of the chance to grow. Even the great heroes in stories would never have become strong or famous without challenges to overcome. To give a modern example, if Bruce Wayne\u2019s parents hadn\u2019t been killed, he wouldn\u2019t have become Batman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Growing stronger through hardship can be explained, in part, by a phenomenon called post-traumatic growth<\/a>. Sometimes, when someone lives through a traumatic experience, they find a new appreciation for life, along with a sense of increased inner strength and confidence. Researchers say that the people most likely to undergo post-traumatic growth<\/a> are open-minded\u2014which makes them more likely to learn from their experiences\u2014and extroverted. Extroverts are more likely to seek out support and connection after a traumatic event, which helps them to grow.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you face any kind of challenge, Epictetus says that you must bring your reason to bear on it. Ask yourself what tools you have available to deal with the situation\u2014these \u201ctools\u201d include your thoughts, your skills and abilities, and any resources you could use to help solve the problem (whatever it happens to be).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise: Think Like a Stoic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Try applying Stoic reasoning to some events in your own life. Think about a challenging or upsetting situation you\u2019ve encountered recently, and use calm rationality to determine the best response to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n