No Challenge, No Change…

I think these four words pretty much sum up the last 3 1/2 months we have experienced as a country. Here’s the awesome thing about when things get hard; you can either complain about it and be miserable, or you can lean into it and become an even better human.

I’m not gonna lie by saying that it’s been an easy-breezy experience for me, all that we as a nation are going through + all of the personal challenges I have (or you might have), but I have allowed myself to take it in stride. The truth is, this is part of the human experience. Every day can’t be sunshine and rainbows. The hard days are what make us appreciate the days that are happy, sunny, light and fun.

However, I believe any one of you can agree that the greatest growth comes from our challenges. “No challenge, no change.” It’s in our challenges that character is forged and we get to see what we are made of.

I have shared this quote below with many people over the years because it truly is a testimony to me of who you become in the fiery furnace of life’s challenges:

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”

Something I learned years ago from an older and wiser friend was to not ask “why me?” when faced with a difficult life challenge, rather to ask: “what can I learn from this experience?” See how that feels? You go from feeling like a victim of a life circumstance to being a victor – this puts you in a space of empowerment. This all starts with your brain and what you are CHOOSING to think.

You get to think on PURPOSE instead of being subject to your brain. Look at your challenge(s) and take it head on instead of pulling the covers over your head in fear, denial and doubt because this is a very dis-empowering space to live in. When we operate from fear and doubt what are the results we are going to reap? In contrast, choosing faith, trust, acceptance and confidence are going to give you much better results. It’s like it says in The Bible – “you reap what you sow.”

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’ve spent much of these last few months complaining and making yourself miserable in the process. The awesome thing is you can now start looking at your challenges with fresh eyes and see them as an opportunity to grow and become a better human. When we are better humans, we show up in better ways for our family, friends and community and this naturally has a positive ripple effect on society, and don’t we need a lot more of that right now?!!!!

What we focus on expands. Focus on the bad, you get more bad. Focus on the good, you get more good. This is what I work on with my clients all the time – I show them that they are the ones that are choosing their thoughts and that their thoughts are the lens in which they see things. It reminds me of another great quote: “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”

Start seeing this as a massive growth experience and embrace that this is your opportunity to show up and BE THE CHANGE!

xoxo,

Tammy

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