Dealing with Adversity / Surviving Adversity: Life Challenges

Doorways of Support and Inspiration:
Facing Obstacles

Dealing with Adversity / Surviving Adversity Paul G. Stoltz, Ph.D.

Learned helplessness is about the loss of perceived control over adverse events. Perhaps one of the most dramatic examples can be derived from the experiences of Vicktor Frankl, Nazi concentration camp survivor and one of the prominent psychologists of this century. In his book, Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl described the moment at which many prisoners learned to be helpless. At one camp, the guard turned to the prisoners as they entered and told them they would never leave. According to Frankl, those who bought into this belief died soon after. Among the inmates who were not killed, those who rejected the guard's ominous prediction and retained a faith that "This too shall pass" survived....

There are countless stories of those who, even in despair situations, somehow fended off helplessness and overcame seemingly insurmountable odds.

Born with a rare degenerative disease, Erik Weihenmayer became completely blind at age thirteen. He was told he would never be able to do the things other people did...Yet, Weihenmayer refused to accept a life with such limitations. After fighting his blindness for years, Erik learned to embrace his adversity, making it part of him.

First, he joined his high school wrestling team, became co-captain, and state champion runner-up in his class. Next, Weihenmayer took on the challenge of rock climbing... "Blindness won't keep me from having fun," Weihenmayer insisted. He took his adversity...and turned it into his strength, using his heightened senses to take on challenges few will conquer.

In 1995 he scaled 20,320 foot Mt. McKinley, North America's highest peak. In 1996, he became the first blind person to ever scale the 3000-foot granite monolith-El Capitan in Yosemite. Says Weihenmayer, a teacher..."Blindness is just a nuisance." As for climbing, he says, "You just have to find a different way of doing it."

From Adversity Quotient: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities by Paul G. Stoltz, Ph.D., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1997, p. 55. Stoltz is President of PEAK Learning Incorporated, chief architect of the Adversity Quotient™ technology and a speaker, author, presenter, coach, consultant and trainer.

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