Recently in my child psychology class, my teacher was saying that children who experience challenges and difficulties while growing up may end up being better adjusted adults. It was an inspiring thing to hear. I always felt that I grew up really fast because I had so many challenges thrown at me when I was a child, and I thought that it was just me thinking that, but it was nice to hear that it may very well be a proven fact.

Anytime you face a challenge, you learn and grow from it. Doing that as a child can leave you learning many more valuable lessons. You might not realize it at the time, you may not even realize it until someone points it out to you in the future, but every challenge you will teach you something. Some of those lessons are things that some people will never get the chance to learn.

Going through difficult things as a child teaches you valuable coping skills. If you do not go through a difficult time as a child, but your parents allow you to be exposed to real life, and understand that life is rough, you will not be as sheltered as those whose parents put their kids in bubbles with rose colored glass and tell them that the world is a wonderful, magical place and nothing bad ever happens.

Yes, life can be rough, and yes, it can be wonderful at times, but the reality is, that both things happen. Having a one sided world view, whichever it may be, is not good. It is good to realize that both of these things are possible and it is another huge part of becoming a well adjusted adult. You will have valuable coping skills, you will have life experiences, you will have faced challenges and know how to come back from them better than you were before.

Do not hate the challenges that life throws at you. Embrace them with wide open arms. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow and to learn. From those experiences, you can help other people, teach them and give them insight to different situations that they would not have otherwise known. Your experience make you, you.