Jennifer Lopez Opens Up About Overcoming Challenges in Her Life

Jennifer Lopez opened up about how she has overcome adversity in her life in a new interview published by British Vogue’s YouTube page.

“I’ve been in the same spot at times – ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be giving this person a chance; maybe I should end this right now,’ and then you go back. There isn’t a woman on earth who hasn’t been in that position or man,” Lopez said in the video published on December 20.

Lopez said it was important not to dwell on “the regret. You can’t. You have to kind of go, ‘That’s where I was at at that time. There was a part of my soul that needed to grow. And it grew in its perfect timing, in its perfect way when I was ready.’ That’s part of the journey I think of life and healing those parts of us that we don’t understand sometimes.”

In the video, the former “American Idol” judge had a conversation with Judy Robles, the mother whose character the actress plays in her new movie “Unstoppable.” It’s an inspirational story about a wrestler who overcomes being born with one leg,

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The two women discussed the movie’s theme of overcoming hardships. That’s when Lopez candidly compared Robles’s challenges to her own.

“What can you share with our audience about how to deal with seemingly impossible challenges?” Robles asked Lopez.

“Wow, you know, you get hit with so many things in life…we’re always wrestling with something,” Lopez responded.

“I think the way I overcome things is not by thinking of them as happening to me but happening for me and what is the lesson that needs to be learned in the moment,” she added. “When I think of things in that way and stay in kind of more of a positive mindset about it, it’s easier to kind of embrace it for the lesson it is because that’s really what our hardships are in life.  What am I supposed to learn here?”

Continued Lopez: “There are no coincidences. This is not happening just randomly; it’s happening for a reason. What can I learn and how can I come out the other side better, stronger, more knowledgeable, and kind of evolve and grow?”

Although she did not specifically reference estranged husband Ben Affleck in the interview, Lopez has had a tough year, filing for divorce from Affleck, her fourth husband, in August. The divorce is pending.

Jennifer Lopez Described Motherhood as ‘a Blessing, Challenging, Beautiful’

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Robles asked Lopez to describe motherhood in three words. Lopez, 55, is the mother of twins with her ex-husband Marc Anthony.

“A blessing, challenging, beautiful. It’s like a beautiful challenging blessing. I think it’s the hardest thing anybody could ever have is to be a parent in this life,” Lopez responded.

Lopez described the movie as “The story of Anthony Robles, a wrestler who was born with one leg and who overcame the odds along with his mother.”

“We were both moms. That part of it I think was the basis of this role,” Lopez told Judy Robles.

“Being a mom and knowing what it is to want to give the best to your children and put forward your best face for them but also to be struggling as a woman in relationships with life,” she added.

Robles told Lopez, “You have so much love for your own kids and you understood my love for mine.”

“I understood it, as a mom,” Lopez said of Robles’ life. “That doesn’t stop you from being a human being who struggles.”

Jennifer Lopez & Judy Robles Discussed the ‘Unstoppable Movie,’ With Lopez Calling it ‘So Triumphant’

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Robles said it was difficult to watch parts of the movie that dealt with “my ex,” describing the relationship as “messy.”

“It’s a complicated moment in life. That makes the story so triumphant to see that you can come out the other end,” Lopez said.

Lopez discussed a scene where she told the actor playing Anthony Robles, “‘You are unstoppable.’ That is something you really made your son feel because he inspired you. That was the key to your guys’ relationship. You having him at 16 and him being born with one leg.”

She said Robles made her son “believe in himself,” and that “he wound up doing the same for you.”

Lopez said Anthony Robles has “that kind of spirit; not worrying about what you don’t have, but what you do have.”

Robles said the movie “allowed me to see the mistakes that I made” because she was “stuck in that marriage for 20 years. I went back and forth for 20 years. Yes, you deal with the hurt but you can’t dwell and sit in there.”