When I was younger, I often lamented all the challenges that I faced in life.

– I was overweight as a kid.
– I dealt with major asthma that limited my ability to play sports.
– I was constantly made fun of due to my weight.
– Girls didn’t seem to have any interest in me.
– I was a poor reader and didn’t seem as smart as others in school.
– My parents never had much money, so I never had the name brand clothes or shoes and was made fun of because of that as well.

I played the role of a victim, feeling I had been dealt a poor lot in life…

Don’t get me wrong, I had plenty to be thankful for and others for sure had it worse than me, but I couldn’t see that at the time.

The older I get, the more I realize that I would not be who I am today were it not for those struggles.

Without the adversity, I wouldn’t have developed the same level of discipline and drive that I have today.

Because I wasn’t content with who I was, it forced me to work that much harder to change. Consequently, today, I am grateful for the struggles and though it wasn’t fun to go through, I don’t think I would go back and change it even if I could.

I wish I didn’t have to go through all that to learn everything I did, but I just don’t think I would have learned it otherwise, and I’m a better person for it.

When facing adversity, what I’ve found is that the right question to ask yourself is not “Why me?”

Rather, ask yourself, “what can I learn from this to become better?”

So if you’re facing a tough challenge today, I know it’s hard, but don’t let it get you down and think about the qualities of your character that are being forged in the process.