Adversity, fuel for achievement

In November of 2007, I wrote a short essay about finding strength in adversity. The subject was very general, and yesterday, as I was skiing in rather difficult conditions (new snow, variable visibility and nasty bumps) I was reminded that we can only get better in certain areas through meeting and battling challenges found in these places. So while the original piece was about handling unpleasant situations, my thoughts went in the direction of a deliberate search for adversity in order to gain more strength, more knowledge and more experience. With this in mind, we should never fear anything in life as it always bears the seeds of personal betterment. Only preventable early death is the only negative outcome we should stay away from for as long as we want to live… How is your personal view of adversity?