Challenges Are Simply Change Disguised As Opportunities

"To live is to experience, learn, and grow. To live freely is to face challenges and change with unwavering faith and an open heart." - Lora Perry

As human beings, we like the right amount of challenge. Not too little, and not too much. This is because we are wired to grow and expand beyond our current thinking and ways of being. We like to be nudged so we can move out of the mundane and into the new, fresh, and vibrant experiences in life.

The hang up we find ourselves in is when we look at challenges as "another thing to deal with", as defeat, as failure, as unwanted pressure, as overwhelm, or as heavy expectation. This happens when we inspect a challenge deeply with thought, thinking, and worst-case-scenarios rather than simply living and expanding through it with faith. 

The human brain is wired to notice change and to be weary of it, at least at first glance. We're wired to notice what is different around us as to protect ourselves, our homes, our loved ones and our lives from anything out of the ordinary and any imminent dangers.  So it's no wonder we can easily be put off by it if our mind isn't in the right place. The wrong place is when we see change and challenge as a threat, when in reality it's the opposite. 

We've all been alive here on earth long enough to have learned that change is one of the only inevitable and consistent things in life.

Think of all the times change led you to a greater, new adventure. When we're kids it's exciting, it's new! And we don't even think twice about it. We experience, we engulf ourselves in a bath of wonder, excitement, and a yearning for that fresh, new view, road trip, or the first day of school. We did things regardless of our nerves. Not really because we all had any other choice (when it comes to school), but we showed up and we knew we'd get through the challenges that came with change. We knew we'd make new friends each year, eventually. That we'd find our favorite classes, learn the new bus route, and meet new teachers. 

You see, we didn't have any reservations or fears because we were excited for life. And when we were scared, we never let fear take the wheel. We allowed - without reservation - for life to happen for us. 

What other challenges have you stepped up to in life that you were excited to come face to face with when you were younger?

Was it that first day of baseball or soccer practice?

Was it learning to drive?

How about your first job?

What about when you finally got your drivers license in hand, in the driver seat and got to go wherever you wanted, full-fledged freedom. We didn't analyze the steering wheel, panic if we missed the turn, or move into fear when the gas tank hit a quarter notch.

We just went with it. We went with life. We rode the waves. We got up each day excited to see what the day would bring. We never tried to control what the day brought to us. We simply lived with change as an ally and as a friend. 

Back in these days as youngsters, we overcame so many challenges it was like second-nature. We didn't over-think the situations or circumstances, we simply learned through them and made the best of it.

Because we KNEW something new would come by way of the change and challenge: OPPORTUNITY. 

The opportunity to play a sport you love, to hang out with your friends at your first sleepover, meeting new friends a month into school, putting on roller skates for the very first time, or making your very own money to spend on whatever you wanted. 

And in turn, these challenges turned into even more opportunities such as life-changing development skills you learn in sports, life-long friends who are still with you and in your heart to this day. And all those lovely skills we got from the odd jobs we picked up as youngsters. Some of those skills we still use today as we navigate through life.

Even the really big changes and challenges... losing a loved one, having your parents divorce, or the big move your family made. 

The bigger the change and challenges, the bigger the opportunities. 

You see, today as adults, we often look at challenges as a struggle, as a setback, but in reality with every single challenge and change, doors open to a multitude of opportunities, and exciting new life adventures!

Do we so wish to avoid challenge and change because we need a break from growing? Or is it because we are afraid to see what's around the next corner because we've been hurt? 

It's time we own and step up face to face with our challenges again, because this is how you step into your fullest potential, by moving forward and living your life. By letting life happen and unravel FOR you as it always has. This is how you get back on the highway and behind the driver's seat. If fear wants to come with you, it can sit in the back seat as you live your life anyway. 

This week, watch in awe as you see all the doors and opportunities challenge and change, brings to your doorstep.