By Lisa S. Tarno

“Get busy living or get busy dying…..” ~ Shawshank Redemption movie

“Take the first problem and solve it and then move on to the next…”~The Martian movie

These two movies inspired me. They showed the tenacity of the human spirit and the essence of thriving in the midst of adversity. Who we are is exposed. That exposure can give a wake up call to dial it in and/or take us to new levels of personal growth. We don’t really know what we are made of until we are tested.

Being tested is not necessarily what we look forward to but is mandatory for growth. All throughout our lives, in order to grow, there has to be a tension that breaks through. As a child, we lost baby teeth to make way for the permanent teeth. We matriculated through school by being tested and passing the lessons taught to us to take us to the next level. In athletic activities there are multiple layers of training and excelling. The event we train for is really the test to pass.

Life has a way of presenting a never ending menu of personal growth options. Adversity is the fast track. Comfort causes atrophy. We are truly fascinating beings! We are made to thrive and flourish. There is something deep within us all that is to be discovered and nurtured. Adversity reveals what we are working with; we either adapt and overcome or we wither and slowly fade. Though comfort is desirable, too much of it actually weakens us and doesn’t serve us well. We become soft and easily bothered versus resilient and unswayed.

Evidence of lack of gravity on space traveler’s bones actually weakens them. It’s been reported that not only is bone density decreased but also muscles are weakened. There’s something to that as an overall principle. In life, we need the struggles and tension to physically grow and emotionally grow. Without them we can quickly deteriorate and fail to thrive. Craving comfort is normal but too much of it is detrimental to our well being.

There has to be a marked determination to overcome, do something different to achieve different results, problem solve and so forth. We are not made to be self-absorbed blobs full of wayward and undisciplined emotions. First, it takes a mental shift to look at this honestly. Second, it takes us to push ourselves to take action. There are all kind of motivators out there who inspire but what is needed is intrinsic motivation, i.e. that comes from within. 

“Get busy living or get busy dying” is never a truer statement and wake up call for today!