Meeting the challenge
When you’re faced with a challenge or an obstacle, what is the first thing you do? I typically feel frustrated that things aren’t as neat and easy as I was hoping for them to be. This doesn’t get me very far.
Lately, I’ve had to remind myself of why challenge matters and how it’s ultimately the only way to grow. When you’re greeted by a challenge, are you able to meet it? What is the challenge asking of you, and why has it come into your life?
Of course, some challenges are much more daunting than others. It would be insensitive to assume that everyone is ready to adopt the attitude of steadfast optimist. It’s harder than it looks.
Being an optimist, despite what it may sound like, is not all sunshine and roses. In fact, my experience has been that it requires incredible resilience in the face of incredible adversity. How do you stay positive when it feels like the world is literally burning?
For me, it always comes back to acceptance and accountability.
Accepting the situation and my place in it allows me to stop resisting the situation. Resistance is futile, especially when it’s reality that you’re resisting. Staying accountable to myself means acknowledging that I can choose how to act and respond to a situation.
Most humans have emotional gut-reactions. In the face of challenge, it’s easy to be distracted by these emotions and get wrapped up in their stories.
You may think: “It’s not fair” ; “I don’t deserve this” ; “I don’t want to deal with this”
All of these sentiments are ok to have, but they don’t really help you in any way.
Here’s a radical idea: try asking the challenge some questions to help you get to know it better. Here are a few suggestions:
“What is being asked of me here?”
“What can I learn from this experience?”
“What do I need to do to avoid this in future?”
In short, try greeting a challenge with curiosity instead of judgement and see how that challenge can help to shape you into the best version of yourself.
We all face challenge. Every single person and being. It is a natural consequence of life, and all of it can serve us if we’re open to the experience.
