Charles Hunt shares his personal struggles that helped him become the successful man he is today.
Charles shares how he developed resilience by overcoming the negative events of his childhood. But how do people cope when there is a lack of resilience?
Often people who fear negative consequences CREATE negative consequences because of the way they try to protect themselves. They may try to "fake it 'til you make it" or fight against others who they perceive as the cause of their unhappiness. They do not look for the truth, they only want to avoid pain and consequences that have either been placed on them by others or consequences they brought on themselves because of arrogance and ignorance. Often people think arrogance is power and humility is for the weak. They feel there is no truth that has value other than the truth they believe and pursue.
What is arrogance? In today's words this would look like self-righteousness, pride and taking credit for things that you did not accomplish. It's also when a person fakes confidence that they do not possess in order to appear better than they are. In the Bible it describes this as "haughtiness", when you think you are better than others and look down on them.
What is ignorance? It's when you think you know the truth, but you don't. In the Bible it refers to someone who is "foolish" because they are unwise and do things that can cause harm to themself or others. It's when someone takes action and later says, "I didn't know."
When we assume our position is correct and then judge others by our lack of wisdom it can be a hard pill to swallow when we learn we are wrong. Especially if we took action against another who was innocent. When you say, "It's my truth" what you are really saying is "My truth, even if it's a lie, is what I choose to believe." This is arrogance rooted in your own ignorance and it has no truth in it.
There are ways to overcome arrogance and ignorance by gaining humility and wisdom. When we are humble and can offer an apology for our wrongdoings, we can be forgiven (by others, by ourselves, by God). When we seek wisdom and alternative perspectives and not just the perspective that fulfills our wants and needs, we can learn the truth, not just our truth. True wisdom is understanding that truth is not based on one individual perspective but is rooted in reality. Even large populations and leaders can act with arrogance and ignorance, just look at the wars that are raging around the world. People will die (or cause other's to die) because they would rather be arrogant and would rather live a lie than face the truth.
People who have low resilience often have these two issues to overcome. Good news is they can overcome that which they have control over. Choose humility and wisdom and there you will find real truth. Where truth is you will also find resilience to overcome the adversities of your past.
"I thank God for giving my trauma a purpose."
Charles Hunt