I’m a firm believer that there are no bad experiences in life, only good experiences, provided we learn from them.  I often like to tell the story about the time I was in an Ukrainian hospital, suffering from a swollen and painful throat infection.  I was there for 4 days and had to have a minor (but painful) surgery.  I did not get to do the things I planned to do on the trip because of this, but I paint the experience as a very positive one.  It is because of this suffering I endured that I was exposed to the kindness and generosity of the Ukrainian people at the hospital and others who took care of me.  I saw how they treated a fellow human being so well in a time of need that I count this as one of my best traveling stories.  

In that light, I have always believed that challenges are often presented to us as a test to see how we fare.  I personally don’t believe in just meeting the challenge, but going further and using the opportunity to be better, do better, or achieve a better result.  For example, one time my flight was cancelled and so I was presented with the challenge.  How do I get home?  Rather than dwell on the unjustifiable reasons why this would happen to me, my mind sets out to working on how not only can I meet the challenge (handle the cancelled flight) but maybe even find a way to improve on it.  Can I get another flight, plus get some flight credit?  Can I get onto another flight, but maybe get upgraded to business class?  There are many examples of challenges I’ve been presented where my first thoughts are not with feeling sorry for myself and complaining loudly to anyone who’ll listen, but rather my mind turns to work on how not only can I solve the original problem but also come out ahead somehow.  It’s like a game that’s been presented to me, and I like to win at games.  Who doesn’t?  

I have seen many situations where some challenge is thrown at people, and they just seem to wallow in the despair of the moment, and focus on complaining about the problem and why did it happen to them?  Me, my mind gets to work on figuring out solutions and rarely does it make me sad or upset.  That’s the withholding of emotions Stoicism teaches you.  But I think it’s also a personality trait.  How do you handle challenges?