So today I want to talk about the power that can come from negative experiences.

And you're like, what? Yeah, negative experiences. See, unfortunately, bad things do happen to good people.

You know, for example, you know, bereavement, death, illness, you know, heart attack, natural disaster, you know, physical assault.

Those are just a few examples of terrible things that have happened to good people and most likely to people you know or maybe to you yourself.

Now you could call this a list of the worst things that could happen to you. However, it's also a list of occurrences identified by researchers as producing post-traumatic growth. I want to make sure you heard that. Post-traumatic growth. So what is post-traumatic growth? Post-traumatic growth. I want to make sure you heard that. Post-traumatic growth.

So what is post-traumatic growth? Post-traumatic growth is a positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with, you know, highly challenged or challenging, rather, life crises.

It's been described in detail in a book by Tadichi and Calhoun called Treasures of Trauma.

Now, common examples of post-traumatic growth are, you know, developing a deeper appreciation

for life, you know, finding new possibilities or opportunities for meaning and happiness,

discovering your strength to cope with even greater adversity, you know, recognizing new paths for your life.

And, you know, candidly experiencing closer relationships with other people, you know,

a development of a new talent or, you know, taking on a new role in life or society.

And see, everybody has negative experiences.

Male, female, young, old, rich, poor, well educated or not, religious or not, it just doesn't matter.

Now, people who've experienced more difficult life events are actually more likely to report growth.

See, the upside of adversity is particularly obvious in people who approach their difficulties with a sense of meaning and purpose.

You know, finding meaning helps you cope with that adversity,

which in turn, you know, boosts the likelihood of you experiencing growth. Now, post-traumatic

growth can be used to describe both positive personal changes experienced by survivors after

a difficult or traumatic event and negative changes in the form of, you know, increased

difficulty in recovering from that event. But of course this isn't true for everybody.

So what distinguishes those who benefit from negative events versus those who don't?

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