Challenges are opportunities

The times in our lives that bring us the most challenge are also the times that can bring us the greatest opportunity for growth. Those times, no matter how big or how small, give us the space to find things out about ourselves that we didn’t know.

Challenges allow us the opportunity to experience strengths we didn’t know we had.

Being able to get quiet while during a challenge is a blessing. When we get quiet and observe our thoughts and emotions, instead of acting on them, we gain clarity.

It’s important not to judge our thoughts or emotions, just observe them. Telling ourselves that we shouldn’t think or feel a certain way can cause us to stuff those emotions down and hold them in our bodies. They stay there until we’re triggered and then they come flying out sideways at someone who had nothing to do with the situation.

We want out of the discomfort, so we play our challenge repeatedly in our head making up stories, worrying. We’re more comfortable in the chaos of our minds where we are in control of our stories and make up the outcome. All the while giving our power away to our challenge. That keeps us stuck in a cycle of waiting for someone or something in our outer world to change before we can move past it.

Our power to change lies within us. It can’t be dependent on others or circumstances.

When we’re in a situation that we cannot change, we can use our power to change our mind about how we are thinking about the situation.

When we change our thoughts, we change our actions, when we change our actions, we change our lives.

Our power is in knowing that we have a choice in how we look at and how we handle our challenges.

Our challenges don’t define us, what we tell ourselves about them does.

When we change the world changes.