Thursday 21 January 2010

A bit of opposition never hurt anybody

I have just read the following quotation sent to me by http://www.cybernation.com/
A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites
rise against, not with, the wind. - John Neal

It got me thinking, as so many quotes do. Few of us talk about how easy things are; if things are moving along easily and smoothly we rarely mention it. But when things are challenging, when its not all going our way, when there is some opposition, we talk a lot. And that talk is usually in the form of complaints.

Talking is not a bad thing but if we can find benefits in the opposition we can “kill a few birds with one stone”. Complaining encourages us to think negatively which encourages a negative, self sustaining, reality. However if we search for the benefits in the struggle we start seeing the doughnut instead of the hole. If we do this often enough it becomes habit and we bring about a change of our own mind set. When our mind set changes to one of seeing the positives, we speak positively and our thoughts become positive thoughts. We then encourage a positive reality.


How many of you say “I work best under pressure” or “I always leave it to the last minute and then I get it done”? Not necessarily the best habit to have, but a reminder that opposition often helps us. An athlete rarely does their best time when they compete on their own or in a weak field. To achieve a personal best they need tough competition to help them find that extra ability and determination in themselves. We are athletes of daily life. A bit of opposition gives us the opportunity to find something special in ourselves.


Originally written in Dec 2007