Nothing new can enter your life without something old leaving. Life is a constant change and adjustment to things we have no control over.
How you deal with life challenges shapes the way your future will inevitably turn out. The key to handling all life challenges with ease is to understand that every challenge allows you to grow into your authentic self.
What are life challenges?
Challenges in life come in many forms. Some seemingly small and insignificant, while others completely uproot your entire life and dramatically change the direction of your future.
Every challenge serves a purpose.
In school, we learned that making mistakes was detrimental and we were punished for it. In reality, mistakes teach us valuable lessons.
Whenever you’re faced with a challenge or are feeling stuck and hopeless, understand that you’re transitioning from the current version of yourself to a wiser, more improved version of yourself.
Life challenges started when you were young. You had to learn how to sit up, crawl, walk, talk, and eventually learn what makes you different from the next person sitting beside you. Challenges open your eyes to your true potential.
Challenges are the motivational coaches ―free of charge― that push you past your limit. You can always improve at anything you set your mind to.
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” ― Charles Swindoll
How do you handle challenges in life?
If your first instinct is to give up when a difficult situation presents itself to you, then you’re doing yourself a huge injustice.
Sorry to break it to you, but life will never exist without challenges. It’s a package deal. You are constantly being evaluated by the universe to see if you are indeed worthy of your aspirations. The challenges you face are ultimately preparing you to receive your desires. If you choose to run away from all the difficulties in life, you’re running away from achieving the success you so desperately want to achieve.
The emotions and fear you experience are much worse than the actual problem you might be facing. Humans are emotional beings. Because of this, everything becomes exaggerated.
Now don’t get me wrong, some challenges you might face will make you feel like crawling and staying in a dark corner. But during those dark moments, you must remind yourself that everything will all work out and you’re just feeling the brunt of all your emotions overwhelming your brain at once.
Cry as much as you want, rage out at a rage center, meditate, journal, and let the emotions out so they cannot control you. Once you can view any situation objectively and reasonably, you will begin to see valuable tips that were previously hidden during your emotional state.
Facing challenges in life
Since challenges are a part of your daily life, learn to practice patience.
When your bus shows up late and your day looks like everything is going to be a mess, try to view the situation in a positive manner. Maybe the bus running late helped you to avoid a major accident that could have been deadly. Or, maybe the person you’re scheduled to meet needed more time to fully prepare before your meeting and you being late was exactly what they needed.
The thing is, you’ll never know the full extent of why things happen the way they do. It’s only when you reflect on the past, you’ll be able to connect the dots and see the entire picture of how things are connected.
The biggest challenges you will face in life are threats to your personal security. These include threats to your health, wealth, shelter, and family. If anyone or anything challenges those things, your instinct to fight and maybe despise them will be the most prominent. But, the things that disrupt your life are the things you should appreciate and love because they are the guides that will set you on your true path.
Think about it. If that one person didn’t steal your wallet, you wouldn’t know that it’s wise to keep a stash of money somewhere hard to find. And, if that person didn’t deceive and betray you, you wouldn’t learn to identify the warning signs for future endeavors. Everything serves a purpose in life.
Do all things with love
During moments when you’re staring down the barrel of a perceivable impossible challenge, take comfort in knowing that when the stress, the crying, the anxiety, and the sadness fade, you’ll be a better, wiser, and stronger person.
Challenges represent a transition. When something ends, it’s natural to feel sad. But, remember the sunshine always returns after a destructive storm.
3 Steps to overcome any challenge in life
The next time you’re faced with a challenge that seems to have no end in sight, do these three simple steps to help you maneuver any difficulty with ease:
- Embrace your emotions, let them out and let them go.
Challenges in life aren’t meant to hurt and destroy you, they’re meant to make you better.
- Do not avoid the situation, no matter how difficult it might seem.
The more you face your challenge, the less power it will have over you. The less detrimental your challenge becomes, the clearer the path to overcoming it will be.
- Remind yourself that this difficulty is temporary.
Life will always rebalance itself. Everything will work out exactly how it’s supposed to. The lessons you’ll learn will open the path to your next step and adventure in life.
“Don’t give up! It’s not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back.” ― Steve Maraboli
