Glenford Smith, Contributor

You may feel like you should just give up on your hopes. Don't. In Japanese, the word used for 'crisis' is the same one used for 'opportunity.'

"I came to a point where it was like - 'you put your hand on me again and I'm going to take your life!' I was willing to die rather than take the beating. He came after me and I went back after him and ended up stabbing him."

So shared spiritual teacher, motivational speaker and best-selling author Iyanla Vanzant when she came to Jamaica a few years back. Adversity came to her in the form of abuse, in her adult life. Raped at age nine, she had reached a point where she was unwilling to be abused anymore. She took a stand.

You may not have experienced anything as traumatic as being raped or being physically abused. I'm willing to bet, though, that you are battling some setback or obstacle in your life. Something that's keeping you away from the life you desire.

You may feel like you should just give up on your hopes. Don't. In Japanese, the word used for 'crisis' is the same one used for 'opportunity.' Within your very frustrations may lie your opportunity for success and greatness.

After leaving her husband, Iyanla used the experiences she had had to motivate herself to create a life of achievement, excellence and purpose. At age 27, with three children, she entered university and earned an honours master's degree, followed by a jurist doctorate.

She said, "If I could get rid of a crazy husband, then I sure could get a college degree - there's just no comparison. Out of my pain, God gave me a purpose - to be a voice for women and a bridge for the evolution of human consciousness." How could you transmute your own suffering into a vision of success and service?

Life is hard. Suffering is painful. Being abused is awful. But you can turn these lemons into lemonades. With faith, resilience, courage, forgiveness, and desire - you can change your pain into power. Power to live, love and create a legacy of success.

Psychologist Mike Mihaly, author of Flow, insightfully asserts that: "Of all the virtues we can learn, no trait is more useful, more essential for survival and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge."

Take up the challenge - and positively change your life. Iyanla did. So can you.

Glenford Smith is a self-esteem and peak performance coach. Email him at glenfordsmith@yahoo.com.