I truly believe we are all here for a reason and that our adversity can be turned into our purpose. We come here to learn (sometimes the hard way), but it’s through adversity, we can develop our purpose in life. It’s kinda like taking the shitty aspects of things that might happen to us and turning them into a positive situation that can go on to help others.
So, lets break it down to see how we can turn an adverse situation, into a positive event that will help ourselves and others along the way:
Research the adverse situation and take action
When I got sick, there was no way I was going to sit around all day watching Netflix. I needed to get better and I wanted my life back so I was prepared to do what it took to achieve that.
That research then turned into my passion and purpose in life because the information that I found was really useful. Sharing it just seemed like the most plausible option. And because I like info to be presented in a visual way, I combined the two.
Whatever you’re going through, the information you find from your research to help yourself, may help someone in a similar situation.
This new knowledge gained can also help us to change our ways. I didn’t automatically change a lot of aspects relating to my health so I guess my recovery took a bit longer. But at the end of the day, we are always evolving so there is no full stop on ‘change and growth’. It’s always evolving and changing.
Mindset shift - turn adversity into an adventure
Sometimes we’re faced with some pretty adverse shite but if we can change our perspective from perceiving it as failure, to viewing it as a learning experience, it won’t be that crappy.
I’m not saying that we have to celebrate adversity but by simply changing how we view it can have a dramatic effect on our ability to overcome the situation.
There are learning opportunities in everything we do. We can take the adverse situation and ask ourselves, ‘what is this situation trying to teach me?’. Do I need to change some aspect of my environment? Do I need to improve my health in a particular area? Do I need to change jobs? Do I need to leave a toxic relationship? These are all questions we can ask ourselves. By understanding what we are learning, we can move through the adverse situation with more ease. Things become less of a burden and more of an adventure. We aren’t failing, we’re learning. And sometimes, until we address what we are being presented with, we will continue to get presented with it until we address it.
Some additional ways to help:
Take positive action when presented with adversity
When adversity strikes, which could be anything, we need to take positive action. This means not taking on a victim mentality which can happen.
Is there something in our current environment we could improve? Maybe, it’s just the ability to be able to get out of a negative mindset. This can be hard if we feel the world is against us.
One way I cope with adversity is to engage with positive content. Content that is uplifting and informative at the same time. I love these little spiritual videos on YouTube and can highly recommend this video and the channel SPIRITUAL DIVE
The creator of Spiritual Dive doesn’t allow their videos to be played on other platforms but you can click the link – watch on YouTube – and it will take you to a very good video about the game of life. Videos like these have got me through tough times. They are also a good place to start because they combine science and spirituality, particularly quantum physics but they’re easier to understand than physics itself. I highly recommend them.
We can either sit back and be a spectator in our lives or we can be a player. I know what I’m doing, do you?
You might have to push play on the video to load it!
Our perspective matters a lot when faced with adversity
Reframing a situation and trying to find a silver lining helps greatly when faced with a challenge. Put it this way, if we think we are going to fail at something, or a situation is bad, then that’s exactly what it’s going to be. If we perceive it as a challenge that we can overcome, then are more likely to overcome it.
I struggle to comprehend sometimes when someone says to me ‘oh well I knew it wasn’t going to work anyway’. Why would we want to even put that out into the universe that that’s even an option? Our words and thoughts have immense power, more than we realise.
Being grateful for what we have can also have a massive positive effect on our situation too. Gratitude helps us get through tough times by shifting our focus from what’s going wrong to what’s still good in our lives. It reminds us that even in bad situations, there’s always something to appreciate—whether it’s supportive friends, celebrate small wins, or lessons we’re learning along the way. When we focus on what we have instead of what we’ve lost, we feel more hopeful and less overwhelmed. It doesn’t mean ignoring the struggle, but it helps us stay strong, positive, and ready to keep moving forward.
Seeing the learning opportunity in adverse situations
Like I said in the intro, I believe we’re all here to learn. Sometimes that’s the hard way but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can take whatever adversity we are facing and turn it into our purpose. We’re here for a reason (I used to hate that saying). Now I’m the complete opposite. I think we are here to experience what we can and then share our experiences, gifts and talents with the world. This is to make it a better place and to certainly leave it in a better state than how we found it.
So if there’s something you’re going through, can it be turned into something that will fuel the motivation to improve or get better at something? Adversity shakes us up. It makes us look deep inside ourselves if we don’t cover it up with addictions or distractions. Take the opportunity as a time to learn about yourself. This can be confronting but it’s through this self-awareness we can grow, develop new skills, and then use this to help ourselves and others. We may even be able to find our purpose through this process.
Focusing on what we can control can help
I learned that I don’t have to do everything. And I certainly don’t have to do everything at once. By only making small adjustments to get better and better, has worked well for me. It’s helped me fell less overwhelmed in adverse situations. I used to be very impatient but now I know things take time and that it’s better to go slowly especially when adversity strikes.
Understanding the importance of focusing on what we can control, building our skills in those areas, and then sharing what works, not only helps us, it helps others. Just making one small improvement to something within our control can create a ripple effect somewhere else. Plus all the small things, add up to much larger changes over time. We just have to be patient and let things unfold – flow plus discipline! Find one thing you can control and put your energy into that. Move to something else when you feel that it’s ingrained or feels naturally part of your daily routine.
Sharing how we overcame adversity helps everyone
We don’t have to share every little detail but quite often, there are other people going through similar struggles that we can help along the way. This helps people to not feel alone and to also see that others have overcome the situation which can offer hope.
I believe we’re all connected and that’s why it feels good when we help others out. Through my journey of healing my body, I created digital graphics (and still do) of the strategies that worked for me.
By sharing what helped, it not only helped others, but it supported my own learning and well-being. It consolidated what I learned and was a visual reminder to stay on track and hold myself accountable to the positive changes I’d made. Most people these days are looking for authenticity. I’m not a lover of fake conversations, fake lifestyles, fake anything. I want real life stuff that’s going to help me and help others. That’s my purpose and it’s through my adversity that it’s come about.
Related post
Why I do What I do – Gutidentity
The power of belief can help us overcome adversity and turn it into our purpose in life
I purposely left this one till last for a reason. We have been led to believe that we aren’t that powerful beings but this is untrue. The power of belief is an extremely important factor when turning adversity into our purpose and helping others. It’s from our own struggles that we seem to get real, true and authentic ways of helping each other through it. And it’s through our belief that things become possible.
I used visualisation strategies when I was really sick as I believed I had the power to heal my gut. But I had to be open to believing it could happen along with using other therapies and supplements etc. But my belief in it was a massive part of the process. The visualisation strategies I used to heal my gut will require another whole post as it’s quite detailed.
If we believe we can overcome something, we will. Find a way around something, or find a way through it. It doesn’t matter how we do it, but it does matter that we believe we CAN do it! Whether we’re into praying, manifesting, putting it out into the Universe, or some sort of faith, it really doesn’t matter. Just do what feels comfortable for you.
Bottom line
Turning adversity into our purpose means using our struggles as fuel for growth and meaning. Instead of letting challenges hold us back, we can learn from them, grow stronger, and use our experiences to help others. Hardships often reveal our true strengths and passions, guiding us toward new opportunities we might not have considered before.
By embracing adversity as a stepping stone rather than a setback, we can transform pain into purpose, turning difficult moments into motivation to create positive change in our own lives and the lives of others.
So what are YOU going to do?
