The Gift of Chaos
"Hardships always prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny” C.S. Lewis
The Universe revolves around one principal phenomenon. Life giving way to Life. An efficient and self-sufficient system geared towards evolution and development. Ever evolving, growing, expanding, renewing, and finally dying to give way to other forms of newer life. There are intricate laws in place that are so perfect that if tapped into with the right perspective, can help leverage you to heights never scaled before. However, as we head forward, there is one simple rule to accept rather than shrink away from. The Gift of Chaos.
Difficulty. Challenges. Obstacles. Say one of these words and we cringe to think about what might come our way under these broad terms. It is an inherent human instinct to run away from things that bring us pain, and to run towards those that we associate with pleasure. The pleasure seeker is apparent in all of us and there is nothing wrong in that nature. We all want to attain a comfortable life, with happiness and a sense of well being but without having to deal with change and challenges. We simply want to find the shortest route to success. The quick fixes to help us achieve our goals.
Is there such a thing? To me this is like seeing just one side of a story. They say the mirror has two faces and all things are not as they seem to be. In order to become what you are meant to be, you must fix your perspective towards difficulty. It is not that you are being put through suffering to make you feel bad, worthless and lose faith. Instead it is quite the opposite.
Difficulty to me, is an opportunity to tap into deeper powers within to come up to the challenge. A gift of exploring possibilities. It is a chance for you to showcase your best. It is an invitation to tap in the greatness hidden within. Life is an opportunity to develop and you have been placed in this very situation to play an essential role in the development of you and the ones around you.
It is part of a very delicate and intricate system to keep pushing you to levels of achievement, till your very end. It is a mechanism that quite never ends. Till you learn. Till you rise above in wisdom, strength and faith. Once you do, you will come to newer levels of challenges yet again, to develop you to greater heights. Running away and shunning this, is like rejecting the law of gravity. It just is.
In a recent research conducted on success characteristics amongst top entrepreneurs, an interesting finding was seen. Highly successful entrepreneurs all shared one characteristic- High Adversity Quotient (or the Chaos Quotient). In other words, AQ. AQ is, like IQ, a testing mechanism to see your ability to overcome insurmountable obstacles. The better your ability to deal with challenges, the higher the chances of your success. It is a probable indicator of one’s success in life and used to predict attitude, mental stress, perseverance, longevity, learning and response to changes in environment.
Now facts speak for themselves, but essentially your reaction to adversity is based on four essential components.
Control - The extent you can perceive your influence on what happens next in your life
Ownership - The likelihood that you will actually do something about improving the situation, regardless of formal responsibility
Reach - The extent to which someone perceives an adversity will reach into and affect other aspects of their life or beyond
Endurance - The length of time you think that the situation will last
These in turn affects your levels of hope, optimism, and willingness to persevere and how well you deal with the situations. Instead of focusing on these factors, the human tendency is to look outside for the “blame game”. We are always looking around and feeling how some others have it better than us and how luckier they are than us. The way I see it, these are not reasons for someone else’s success, but in essence these are excuses for our own failures.
Reminds me of a story I recently read which struck a chord regarding the same.
Goes like this. A woman every night would to bow before God and would pray the same prayer. Again and again she would ask, “Do one me one favor, just one favor - I have been asking my whole life. As far as I can see, I am the most miserable woman on earth. Why have you chosen me to be the most miserable? I am ready to exchange my misery with anyone else, anybody will do - just let me exchange my misery with someone. I don’t ask for bliss. Can’t you give me this single opportunity to exchange my misery with someone else? This is not asking much!”
And one night in a dream she saw God had agreed. A great voice came from the heavens saying, “Gather all of your miseries into bundles and bring them to the city hall.”
So the whole town gathers their miseries into big bundles and bring them along. This woman is tremendously happy: “So the moment has come! It seems something is going to happen!”
She rushes with her bundle. On the way she finds others are also rushing. By the time she reaches the hall she becomes afraid, very afraid, because she sees people are carrying bigger bundles than her. People that she had always seen smiling - Royals, rich folk, enthusiasts who had it all, - in beautiful clothes and always saying nice things to each other, and they are carrying bigger bundles! She starts becoming a little hesitant whether to go or not to go, but she has been praying her whole life, so she says, “Let us see what happens.” They enter into the hall. The voice says, “Put your bundles around the hall.” They put their bundles, and the voice says again, “Now you can choose any bundle that you like.”
And the miracle of miracles happens: everyone rushes to their own bundle!
The woman also rushes towards her own bundle, afraid that if somebody else chooses it then she will be at a loss. Everyone has chosen their own bundle, with great relief and they are all happy, carrying their bundles back to their homes. Even this woman is very happy, for the simple reason that “Who knows what is in the other bundle? At least we are aware of our own bundle and what it contains. And we have become accustomed, we have become adjusted to our misery.”
My case in point. Illusions are what you suffer from and it’s not reality. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but it can be greener just where you are in this point in time. I always say the ‘Grass is Greener where you Water it’. Few things that I have learnt along the way - Change your mind and you change everything in your life.
- Problems are transition points - not dead ends
Problems are stepping stones to achieving greatness. Each trial helps you to experience life in a wholesome way and only shows you your own imaginary barrier towards change. When you overcome this transition, you will be gifted with more influence, wisdom and responsibility.
- Maximum growth occurs on the border of Chaos and Order - Not within order
Close your eyes and just focus on how far you have climbed so far, and you will notice a trend. That most growth occurs in your most challenging of times. We all want ease, but it is a temporary phase. If you really want to grow and develop as you are meant to, it happens at the cross roads of order and chaos. Accept it. They are opportunities to reap from. This remains true not only for individuals, but companies and even countries. Greatest revolutions and transformations were born after adversity, which had long lasting results.
- Adversity introduces you to yourself - Not to others
Want to know how great you can be and taste your own true mettle? Just embrace your problems. Take responsibility and find ways to solve them. The true test of a person is not when he has everything, but when he has nothing. Start from scratch and remember you are never given a problem you cannot solve. Something that helps me, is to break down a problem into mini steps and levels. After a while, it doesn’t look that impossible to achieve as each step is undertaken. Believe this. There is always a way. Find it.
- There are no problems- Only opportunities to grow and learn
Every cloud has a silver lining and let me add, the darker the cloud, the brighter the silver lining. Start thanking the Divine for the opportunities thrown your way. It is a way to arouse your wisdom to see the hidden benefit in each adversity. On a personal level, I welcome challenges because deep down, I know the one person who will benefit the most will be myself. It has taken a lot of focus and personal power to do this and it has everything to do with finding benefits in the situation versus the “amplified” negativities. This broader view, makes the problems seem easier to solve and one does feel humbled after the experience, when you see the growth received and the Grand Scheme of Order to help you advance. Magnificent!
The Universe is a balance of experiences all designed to help evolve you at many levels. This is a state in constant motion. It is impossible to build without destroying and impossible to destroy without building. Problems and adversity are simple messages and invitations to accept, to fuel your way to greatness within and to find more happiness within , than before.
Our perspective towards challenges is flawed because of the illusion of finding ease without the assistance of rising to the challenges. Your mind exaggerates the challenge and downplays the gains achieved if countered. In effect, the situation runs you rather than you running it. Countering adversity head on, lets you get your power back. Remember, a smooth sea never made a great sailor.
In the trying times of today, one must not forget that the Universe is abundant and there is enough for everyone to achieve their dreams and more left to spare. Adversity is presented to you because there is no lack of opportunities for the one who makes a firm decision to advance in life with a determined and advancing mind. Greatness is within all of us and the deeper powers are only tapped with adversity and chaos knocking at your front door.
You have every capability and capacity to turn chaos into order. You have the power to turn your life into an extraordinary one. You have the ability to grow to new heights never achieved before.
All you need to do is open yourself to the gift of chaos. Your very nemesis is your partner to become successful. Be grateful and advance ahead.
Chaos is simply another name for great rewards heading your way. If only you are up for the challenge?
Senior Relationship Manager at Emirates Islamic Bank
8 年Greatly inspiring article.
Teacher in Biology at GIHS
8 年Indeed a great article with a lot of motivation- you are encouraging us to face the problem head on and get the best out of it.thanks
Senior Accountant at Dubai Medical Equipment
8 年Thanks for Sharing. Inspiring.
Founder & Chairman @ Deen Properties | Experienced real estate expert ??
8 年wow.....greate
Strategic HR Leader | Architecting High-Performing Teams (18+ Years) Strategic | Data-Driven | Results-Oriented
8 年Great Insight.