The Challenge We Need
#2014
“The human mind is something called antifragile, which means that it actually gets better with adversity. […] Adversity makes you creative. It activates a part of you that is often latent. It makes things interesting. Part of the human narrative is wanting something to overcome. The trick is keeping it in balance.”—from The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest
So, our mind needs adversity to grow.
Challenges to overcome.
But what happens when we have none?
We made make them up.
At least, that is what I did a few times.
I had no real challenges to focus on, so I created them.
I imagined problems when there were none.
And that led me to a downward spiral where I was using my creativity not to solve anything useful, but to create invisible problems.
The way out? I shifted my focus outward.
By finding a meaningful cause to work on.
A cause with a real impact.
I’ve learned that the best thing to get out of my negative thoughts is to help someone else.
To contribute in any way.
Sometimes the challenge we need is simply to show up for someone else.