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Al Duncan PictureMaster the Lesson
by: Al "The Inspiration" Duncan

Master the Lesson

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."  -Frederick Douglass

Do you find that you struggle with the same things over and over again? If so, you haven't mastered the lesson in the struggle.

You probably already know that in life, lessons repeat themselves until you...

Master the lesson.
 
Shakespeare wrote, "Pain pays the price of each precious thing." And there's an old spiritual that says, "If you cain't bear no crosses, you cain't wear no crown."

Of course you and I know that  struggles produce varying amounts of discomfort and that the end result is growth, but that doesn't make it any easier, does it?

Struggle can be an extreme test of your emotional intelligence and your diligence. Struggle can make a person feel helpless and dis-empowered, so the key is to make sure that it's a beneficial struggle.

You might be wondering, "What in the world is a beneficial struggle?'" It's a struggle in which you...

Master the lesson.

In exercise and training there is a principle called the Overload Principle. In a nutshell, it states that- within reason, the body will adapt to the stresses placed upon it. (i.e weight lifting)  Because the mind-body is one system, this principle also applies to the mind if you...

Master the lesson.

When I was growing up, the elders didn't call it the Overload Principle. They simply said, "If it doesn't kill ya,  it'll make ya stronger!" That phrase should end with- if you...

Master the lesson.

Change, challenge, and adversity produce lessons. Learning each lesson is like mental weight lifting or aerobics for the mind. Mastering the lesson gives you self-confidence and the fortitude necessary for future struggles.

Going through the same old struggles time and time again is frustrating. It diminishes a person's sense of self-efficacy, autonomy, and competence. In other words it makes a person think, "There ain't nothin' I can do about this."
 
Find the lesson in the struggle and focus on it. The lesson won't necessarily make the struggle any easier, but it will keep the struggle from being pointless and repetitive.

When you master the lesson, you discover the purpose. With purpose comes a sense of direction and an increased sense of self-empowerment.

So, think about the lesson. Learn the lesson.

Master the lesson. 
 
 
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand." 
-Frederick Douglass