3 Books to Help you Overcome Adversity
People go into traumatic experiences with all kinds of different world views. I’ve noticed that most people come out of them with more of a buddhist or more of a stoic perspective.
Maybe this is because these philosophies can help us separate ourselves from and see through the intense emotions we feel in the middle of adversity. Maybe it is because of the peace these perspectives can bring us. I have found that the buddhist perspective provides an awareness of the biggest picture while the stoic perspective provides a practical, unflinching look at what is in front of us. Both are useful when life falls apart.
These books are useful tools to achieve patience, perseverance, and resilience when facing life-altering adversity.
1. The Obstacle is the Way. Ryan Holiday’s classic outlines how to use adversity against itself. I have listened to this book on Audible at least a dozen times. I come away from listening to it more hopeful and empowered than I was before.
It is practical and real. It places all the tools you need to overcome adversity in your hands. The Obstacle is the Way is a classic because it takes an honest look at adversity. It doesn’t pull any punches. It’s doesn’t betray reality.
“In our own lives,” writes Holiday, “how many problems seem to come from applying judgments to things we don’t control, as though there was a way things were supposed to be?” He writes poignantly and plainly and you will come away feeling more capable of handling the adversity in front of you.
2. Resilience. Eric Greitens takes a stoic perspective in this under-appreciated book. He reframes your relationship with adversity in a way that helps you see the entire picture and bounce “off of” adversity rather than “back from” it.
He dives deeply into responsibility, identity, pain, and much more. It will completely shift your perspective of what is possible for you to overcome.
His chapter on pain is a personal favorite. “To work through pain is not to make it disappear,” Greitens writes, “but to make it mean something different for us.”
3. When Things Fall Apart. Pema Chodron is a buddhist nun who has written some of the most powerful books on facing adversity. This one is my personal favorite.
“We don’t know anything,” Chodron writes. “We call something bad; we call something good. But really we just don’t know.”
Altering your perspective to give more powerful meaning to what you’re going through is one of the most productive things you can do with adversity. Chodron widens your perspective of adversity and shows you more meaningful paths forward.
There are many more books that can help us overcome pain and difficult times. These are just a few. To check out more of my favorite books, go to: https://www.trevoramicone.net/favorite-books.
