Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They are what make the instrument stretch, what makes you go beyond the norm.
Imagine a life where everything goes your way. Where you get everything you want without having to work hard for it. Where you have pretty much the path clear all the way to the end. As idilic as this sounds, most likely you will get bored of having no struggles, you won’t enjoy your accomplishments as much and you will stop growing. And when we stop growing we begin to die.
Challenges are here to serve us, to help us, to make us stronger, to make us better and to make us realize how much more capable we are from what we believe we are.
I know, it’s not always easy and when we are in the middle of the storm we wish we were under the sunshine, but if we learn to embrace the challenge instead of fearing it and if we have certainty that things will be okay, it will be easier to go through it. What makes a challenge more difficult is our resistance to it. It’s not the challenge per-se, but our wishing that it would be different instead of accepting things the way they are.
I have learned in my life that happiness is accepting things the way they are without wishing they were different. When I finally embraced this concept my life became much better. It doesn’t mean I don’t want certain things to happen, or I love everything that comes my way, it just means I understand that this is what it is and I can’t do anything to change it RIGHT NOW, so I accept it and do something about it instead of resisting it by wishing things were different.
Take my asthma, for example. I am a functioning asthmatic most of the time. But there are times when even standing up from bed feels like climbing Mount Everest because I can’t breathe. As a professional marathon runner not being able to breathe is not ideal. But it is what it is. If I fight it I won’t be able to breathe anyway. If I fight it I not only won’t be able to breathe but will be frustrated about it and will most likely begin to become a victim asking “Why me?” instead of “What for?” or “What can I learn from this?”
Think of challenges as stepping stones towards reaching your true potential, towards becoming the person you are destined to be. A lot of times we settle for less than what we are here for, we set our goals too low, we become comfortable where we are. If we are not actively looking to grow, to get out of our comfort zone, life will make us do it.
Lastly, Have you ever been on a storm that had no end? Even the storms that come and destroy and last for a long time come to an end, and after that the sun always comes back. Remember that where you are is just temporary. Nothing in this life is permanent except change, so whatever challenge you are facing right now will pass.
Hope you have a fantastic day! Please follow me on twitter (@terezacher), Instagram (@insightfulrunner) and on my Facebook page (Tere Zacher / athlete) for motivation through the day.
insightful runner 
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