Laura Beth Ashley
Jul 23, 2017 · 7 min read

Opportunity Through Adversity

Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Opportunity is a word usually perceived as a positive encounter or windfall where something can be gained. Is that how most opportunities come? Does opportunity always meet its finder dressed for success, with a pretty bow on top? Or, as Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity Is missed because It Is dressed in overalls and Looks Like Work.” There seems to be a fine line between the word adversity and opportunity. Science and experience both prove that most true successes in life, are born from adversity. Doesn’t life itself come into the world, only after a time of adversity called labor?

Numerous studies have shown that quality of life and personal contentment are not dependent on circumstances that happen to the individual, whether negative or positive. Instead, quality of life and personal contentment are decided by one’s perception of those events, and how they choose to react to them.

A wonderful example of this is a glimpse into the life of Aimee Mullins. Aimee was born with a rare condition called fibular hemimelia (missing fibula bones), and had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was one year old. At age five, Aimee spent months in rehabilitation. She relates a story of how she hated the physical therapy that she was required to do every day. She would have to use her legs to do leg exercises with rubber bands in the hopes of building up her leg muscles. The therapy was hard, tedious, and sometimes painful. One day her favorite doctor, Dr. Pizzutillo, sat in on one of Aimee’s therapy sessions. Aimee’s attitude was very negative and borderline uncooperative. Upon seeing her disposition, Dr. Pizzutillo, said, “Wow! Aimee, you are such a strong and powerful little girl, I think you are going to break one of those bands. When you do break it, I’m going to give you one hundred bucks.” These words changed Aimee’s outlook immediately. She now had a vision of being the richest kid on the second-floor ward. The exercises that she previously considered dreadful and unfair became an opportunity for her to meet her favorite doctor’s challenge and become rich! (Mullins)
This was just the beginning of turning what everyone called Aimee’s “disability” into opportunities and accomplishments that most people with two whole legs will never aspire to, or achieve. Aimee’s accomplishments are vast. She has been a model on the covers of several magazines and was named one of America’s most beautiful people in People magazine. (One of Aimee’s magazine covers has been posted at the end of this paper.) Included as one of the “Greatest Women of the 20th Century” in the Women’s Museum in Dallas, Texas, Mullins was appointed Chef de Mission for the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. In 2012 she was appointed by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the State Department’s Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports. (“Aimee Mullins named Chef de Mission for 2012 Paralympic Games”. .teamusa.org. April 28, 2011.)

During a TED talk in 2010, Aimee spoke of the word “opportunity” being mistaken as adversity and setback. This paradigm came to her after reading the 1982 New World Thesaurus’ definition of “disabled.” She read the list of words out loud with a friend, “Disabled: adjective: crippled, helpless, useless, wrecked, stalled, maimed, wounded, mangled, lame, mutilated, run-down, worn-out, weakened, impotent, castrated, paralyzed, handicapped, senile, decrepit, laid-up, done-up, done-for, done-in cracked-up, counted-out; see also hurt, useless and weak.” Aimee remembers, “I was reading this list out loud to a friend, and at first was laughing, it was so ludicrous, but I’d just gotten past “mangled,” and my voice broke, and I had to stop and collect myself from the emotional shock and impact that the assault from these words unleashed.” “(Mullins)

What if, as a child, instead of being empowered by words such as strong, powerful, capable, and beautiful, Aimee had read and internalized this thesaurus definition as a list of expected outcomes for her life? All her amazing opportunities may have been perceived as impossible. After all, children tend to believe what grownups tell them and make their choices accordingly. Just ask Santa and the Easter Bunny.

It has been proven that it takes sixty-three days of repetitive spoken affirmation to build a new neuropathway in the human brain. This is a process called Neuroplasticity which is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for negative thinking and perception, injury and disease, and to adjust their activities in response to new opportunities and to changes in their environment. To quote Dr. Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist, and forerunner in the research of renewing the mind, “A thought may seem harmless but if it becomes toxic, even just a thought can become physically, emotionally or spiritually dangerous. Thoughts are measurable and occupy mental ‘real estate.’ Thoughts are active; they grow and change. Thoughts influence every decision, word, action, and physical reaction we make. Every time you have a thought, it is actively changing your brain and your body — for better or for worse. The average person has over 30,000 thoughts a day. Through an uncontrolled thought life, we create the conditions for illness; we make ourselves sick! Research shows that fear, all on its own, triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses and activates more than 30 different hormones. There are INTELLECTUAL and MEDICAL reasons to face adversity and find the positive potential! Consciously control your thought life and start to detox your brain! God has given us a design of hope; we can switch on our brains, renew our minds, change and heal. 87% to 95% of the illnesses that plague us today are a direct result of our thought life. What we think about affects us physically and emotionally. It’s an epidemic of toxic emotions.” (Dr. Leaf)

The 63-day technique, described by Dr. Leaf, includes a conscience change of thinking patterns, nutrition plus supplements, and prayer. The focus here, is on the conscious change of thinking patterns. Picture driving out a nail with a nail. It is quite possible for a pessimist to undo their limited thinking. The first step to changing the mind is acceptance. Accept that most of life’s greatest lessons and opportunities are born from adversity. Embrace this truth. Tell the mind, “No adversity equals no opportunity to grow.” The second step is for the person to write down a list of positive affirmations to replace the negative thoughts and words that have shaped their view of adversity and opportunity up to now. Be intentionally self-aware of internal dialogue. If one finds himself thinking negatively, they should stop and write a positive point of view to replace it. Keep a running list. The person should then repeat these positive affirmations daily. If done consistently, old thought patterns are driven out and new ones are formed. Science proves that behavior will follow and line up with the new thinking. This should become a way of life, even after the sixty-three days is up!
The science of Neuroplasticity has proven that the mind can be renewed and negative attitudes about adversity, can be changed into looking for the opportunity to grow when times are tough. The ability to adapt and change is one of humanity’s greatest gifts. It’s one of the characteristics that separates humans from the animals. Just ask the dinosaurs.
Society has not armed themselves or their children with the necessary reality of hard times. Instead of “protecting” the young from opportunities to face adversity and even failing on occasion, society should instead, prepare them for life’s unexpected challenges. God refines our character in the furnace of life and not at the amusement park.
With the right techniques, an active prayer life, and recognizing opportunity, when it knocks, no matter how it comes dressed, all life can be top quality and meaningful. No matter the circumstances! It’s up to the individual to choose to remain in the pit of adversity or to see circumstances and difficulties as possibilities for attaining previously unconsidered opportunities. God has a plan to grow you and shape you. It won’t be easy but it will be worth it. Do you accept the assignment?

“Aimee Mullins — Disabled or Superabled?”

(Persson Maja, Aimee Mullins, Icon Magazine Cover, retrieved from, Aimee Mullins — Disabled or Superabled?, Klein Nancy, in Paralympic, , Icon Magazine Cover22 Apr, 2016 )
Bibliography
“Adversity or Opportunity?”
(Mullins Aimee, “The opportunity of adversity” :34 seconds. TED Ideas Worth Spreading. Posted Feb 2010 video)
(Mullins Aimee, “The opportunity of adversity” 4:26 minutes TED Ideas Worth Spreading. Posted Feb 2010 video)
(Mullins Aimee, speaking bio, Aimee Mullins Track and Field. Women’s Sports Foundation website)
(“Aimee Mullins named Chef de Mission for 2012 Paralympic Games”. .teamusa.org. April 28, 2011.)
(Dr. Leaf Caroline, Think and Eat Yourself Smart: A Neuroscientific Approach to a Sharper Mind and Healthier Life, Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2016)
(Persson Maja, Aimee Mullins, Icon Magazine Cover, retrieved from, Aimee Mullins — Disabled or Superabled?, Klein Nancy, in Paralympic, 22 Apr, 2016, Magazine Cover)

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