Do you appreciate the challenges you face in your everyday life, or do you more often complain about them or feel resentful about them? Maybe you have even questioned why things always need to be so difficult or complicated, when all you want is a clear, easy path to your dreams and desires.
One of the best ways to empower yourself is to begin shifting the way you feel about challenges when they show up. Rather than resisting them, complaining about them, or resenting them, do your best to simply accept them and see them as an opportunity. It is okay that there is an obstacle in your path. Perhaps young padawan, the obstacle is the way and is an ally. Yes, yes, yes.
Consider what you might learn from each challenge, and what you might learn about yourself as you work through them. Even better, acknowledge that perhaps you would not be able to achieve the heights of greatness were it not for traveling the rough roads in your life. Remember, difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
The truth is, every challenge you have ever faced has served a useful purpose for you. Without your challenges, you would not have had the opportunity to stretch yourself or become more than you were when you began. Opposition causes you to dig deep within yourself and call upon your inner strength. It causes you to become more adaptable, so you learn how to change course quickly and agilely. It causes you to become more resilient so that you can bounce back and try again, and do better next time. It causes you to become more resourceful so that you can overcome future challenges even more efficiently.
Rather than resenting the obstacles in your path, remind yourself that you have what it takes to climb over them, swerve around them, or blast right through the core of them. Say to yourself, “I am strong. I am resilient. I am resourceful, and I will find a way to reach my goals.”
Holding a mindset of belief and determination like this does two things. First, it reminds you of your own strength and tenacity, which immediately boosts your confidence. No longer do you feel intimidated by an obstacle in your path, but you are able to keep it in perspective and know that it does not signal the end of your journey. It is merely a temporary pause.
Secondly, by affirming that you can and will find a way around the obstacle, you are calling forth the solutions, ideas, insights, and people who can help you to keep moving forward. There are dozens of possible solutions to every challenge, and you can practice being open to receive them.
Keep a notebook nearby and jot down any ideas you receive in that moment. Then do your best to stay open and receptive throughout the rest of the day, because spontaneous ideas will often show up while you are focused on other tasks or chores.
If you will practice this detached, relaxed, curious state of mind daily, your obstacles and challenges will suddenly start looking much more like opportunities and allies rather than problems.
