We are creatures of observation and begin learning from the moment our eyes open to take in our surroundings. Our childhoods are spent watching the actions of those around us and choosing whether or not we will follow in their footsteps. We can learn a lot from taking a step back and evaluating the ways in which others navigate change. How do those who inspire us persevere in times when they find themselves standing at the base of the mountain? A hypothetical mountain of course, meant to symbolize the trials we all face in life in one form or another.
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So much of what we experience as individuals is relative. How we perceive pain and sorrow, joy and excitement, and all the other emotions, are not often perceived the same from one person to the next. What someone experiences as painful and traumatic may be normal to another who experiences such an occurrence regularly. This is not an opportunity for comparison, to say that one has it better or worse than another, but rather an opportunity to recognize how, fundamentally, human beings are capable of much more than we recognize.
By observing how another rises above hardship we can hoist our spirits to believe that we too are capable of such a feat.
We watch how those who come from nothing challenge their circumstances to achieve the unimaginable, just like we watch how those who seem to have it all can come crumbling down unexpectedly.
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Inevitably, when we find ourselves staring at a mountain of our very own, because rest assured we will all face hardship in our own time, how will we adapt to find a new normal? We can choose a course of action based solely on words of advice, or we can channel the admirable actions of others who discovered their new normal after overcoming a mountain of their own.
Open your eyes to those around you, and before you ask for words of advice, seek such advice through the actions of others.
