There comes a time when the universe throws a challenge at you that seems overwhelmingly difficult. You’re faced with the option to either accomplish your goal or forfeit and accept defeat. Forced opportunity is that moment when you are faced with a practical opportunity in your everyday life to either learn and grow the hard way or miss out on the chance to better yourself.
This weekend, some friends and I went on an 11-mile hike to some picturesque Punchbowls along California’s coast. The trail is an out-and-back that crosses desert-like sections of wilderness that lead to piles of rocks and canyons in the mountains filled with water from a nearby creek and waterfall. I tried hiking the same trail before without a map but had only reached the first punchbowl that sits on the trail right after the first campsite.
It was during this second attempt to the rest of the punchbowls and the falls that we ran into another group of hikers carrying rope to scramble and climb safely over slippery rocks in waist-deep water. We made it all the way to one of the larger punchbowls towards the end of the trail before being faced with the most difficult challenge of the day.
Two friends in the group were hesitant about climbing up the steep and slippery rock face of the waterfall that was feeding cool water into the punchbowl. The other friend was kind and allowed the other two to stay back and decide for themselves if they were willing to use the rope the other group brought to scale the waterfall. But I could tell by the way they looked up at the rest of the group that they wanted to enjoy the view in the sun at the top with the rest of them.
“We’re going,” I sternly said to the two friends. “Come on. You don’t have a choice. What was it called—forced opportunity?”
I remembered the leadership training I obtained about using a real-world opportunity to learn something the hard way. I was instructed to take certain opportunities where students were presented with a challenge in the outdoor space and forcefully encouraged them to overcome the obstacle. I knew the two friends were more than capable of making it up the rock, and I didn’t like hearing them psych themselves out of trying. So, I forced them.
We ended up all climbing the rock face together while holding on to the rope that was tied to a tree and wedged between a large boulder. We had to hop and jump on top of other boulders surrounding the punchbowl, even to reach the point where we had to climb up the waterfall and then wade in waist-deep waters before pulling ourselves up the waterfall. It was incredibly challenging, but we managed to make it to the top to see the view of the entire canyon without falling.
The smiles on their faces when they basked in the sun on top of the cascading rock were everything. When I asked after the hike if they would have tried to climb the rock on their own if I hadn’t forced them, they said no. I smiled. Sometimes, you are faced with an unavoidable testing ground, and it’s in those situations that you have to take advantage of the difficult opportunity and just go for it.