Happy Friday! Fri, Mar 01, 2019

 This past Sunday I re-watch the movie World War Z. Not really a zombie movie type of guy, but this one and Zombieland are the exceptions for me. Anyways, there is one quote that I find very intriguing and always catches my attention every time I watch it. In this scene, a biologist is explaining how viruses and mother nature works to the main character and it goes something like this:

“Sometimes the thing you thought was the most brutal aspect of the virus, turns out to be the chink in its armor. And she (mother nature) loves disguising her weaknesses as strengths. She is a witch” (He actually uses another term to describe mother nature, but I’m trying to keep it PG over here).    

There is a lot of truth in that quote, and it always leaves me thinking every time I hear it. Yes, that is how viruses often work, but I feel that quote can also be applied into our lives in general. Often the solution to our situation is right there in front of us, we just don’t see it because it is disguised as our core problem or it looks like it’s the problem’s strength. At the same time, it can also be flipped around when it comes towards us. What we thought was our weakness in the beginning, may happen to be our strength or competitive advantage over others. The difficult part is not only figuring that out, but also facing it which is where a lot of people get stuck. Those that do end up figuring it out and face it, are the ones that are more likely  to succeed at overcoming their obstacles. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper for not being creative enough. Michael Jordan didn’t see a lot of playtime during his high school years because he was considered short. Albert Einstein didn’t learn to speak until around the age of four. Many of his Elementary School teachers considered him lazy and not very smart because he would ask abstract questions that made no sense to others. And last but not least Kriss Carr, who was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer. She embraced her situation and attacked her cancer head on with a new nutritional lifestyle, and turned her experience into a series of successful books and documentaries. Carr became a cancer survivor and is now revered as one of the most prominent experts on healthy living. 

I learned a big lesson the first time I heard that quote from World War Z. If you are stuck in a situation, take a close look at the core problem and its “strength”, because it may turned out to be its weakness and the solution to many of our problems. Even if your intuition tells you otherwise, don’t try to find a way around it and face it head on, and you might be surprised at what you end up discovering about yourself.