I can't stop thinking about this...
Michael Caine on his defining philosophy on life:
Use the Difficulty
As a young actor, he was rehearsing a play scene when a chair got stuck in the door and blocked his path.
He told the other actor he couldn't get by the chair to enter the room in the scene.
The actor's response:
"Use the difficulty...if it's a comedy, fall over it, if it's a drama, pick it up and smash it."
This story offers a powerful reframe:
Every single difficulty you face is an opportunity in disguise.
The difficulty is a guarantee. The struggle. The obstacle. The frustration. The failure. The hurt. The setback.
They will come. You don’t get to choose whether they appear, or when, but you do get to choose how you handle them.
How can you use the difficulty you're currently facing?
- Can you embrace this struggle?
- Can you grow through it?
- Can you find flow through friction?
If you were reading a biography of your life, what would make this difficulty into an inflection point?
The moment when everything turned for the better. The unmistakable point where everything changed.
How would you have responded to this moment?
The difficulty is a guarantee. You can't control it.
But you can control how you react to it. You can control your response to it. You can control your attitude towards it.
You can use the difficulty.