By Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S
Many of us are taught to believe that somehow life would be “better” if we could get rid of or minimize the challenges that we experience and just learn to be more peaceful, happy, etc. but few actually take the time to wonder what it would actually be like if this fantasy were to come true. Is it even possible anyway?
Have you ever noticed that the more you try to get rid of, minimize, make it go away, or avoid it the more you actually attract it- whatever the “it” is. Have you ever wondered why?…..
The truth is that if the fantasy of no challenge were to come true, it would come with a huge price – Not growing and staying juvenile.
The Universe/God/Higher Power/ Energy (whatever you believe) will have none of that. In fact, it will insist and sometimes even demand that you evolve. Evolving is part of who you are and what you were designed to do and in order to evolve, you need challenge.
Challenge (internal and external) is a necessary part of the human experience and no matter how hard you try to make it go away, it won’t. So, when you have a life fantasy that calls for no challenge or less challenge, you are in a sense saying, “Universe, I have decided that I want to stop growing.”
If you take the time to look, you will realize that you are never without both support and challenge in your life. This is important to see and understand, because it is right at the border of support and the challenge that you grow the most and since the universe is invested in helping you grow, you will always have both. Trying to create a life where you are only supported is actually a futile effort, according to the Universe.
Take a moment, stop and just look – ask yourself where is my support and my challenge right now? If you look, you will find it every time. Just notice that when things are going well in one area of your life, things are getting messy in another. When a relationship is going well with one person, it is falling apart with another. When you are getting praise in one area of your life, you are getting criticized in another. When you are feeling really good about yourself in one area, you are putting yourself in the pit in another.
So, if you can’t stop the challenge, how about realizing its gifts and growing faster, since that is what it is trying to help you do anyway.
Next time you are finding yourself frustrated because you are experiencing a challenge, a conflict, or a struggle, instead of trying to make it go away, try asking yourself, “How is this serving me and helping me grow? How is this situation helping me achieve my greatest potential in life?”
Keep asking the question until you feel a tear forming in your eye, because you have just realized the gifts in the challenge that are helping you evolve and then say, ‘Thank you.”
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