Challenge Accepted

I once thought as a lot of you do. When a disaster, challenge, or some personal distress happened to me, I gritted my teeth, balled up my fists, and stuck it out. When I reached the other side of the problem, I heaved a sigh of relief and got on with it. The problem, challenge, or disaster was shoved into the back of my mind.

Healing came next. Time would erase much of the emotion or mental damages the challenge or problem caused. The snag to that is that challenges and distress doesn't wait for us to heal. They keep going and going like the Energizer bunny. So we all end up a walking cauldron of bubbling hot damage, wondering if “normal life” would ever be ours again.

I have always been an emotional mess. I was one of those who rarely got a chance to see enough time to heal. I walked through life dreading the next disaster. No one ever taught me about positivity or how it could affect your life. No one ever taught me about the lessons to be learned from any and all happenings in life. I was 45 years old before this realization hit me, and from then on, there was no stopping me.

Inspiration comes in as many types, shapes, and colors as there are people to be inspired. Some of mine have been Erma Bombeck, movies like Accepted, Hairspray, and Sabrina, as well as music from Billy Joel and the Moody Blues. Erma Bombeck was a stay at home mother with no other company than kids who didn't like peanut butter and jelly that day and a mountain of laundry. Some of her bon mots were pithy, and I recognized every one of them when my time came to have kids.

In the movie Accepted, my favorite part is at the end when Bartleby addresses the Board of Education. He can tell by their faces that they won't give him a charter for his experimental college. So he tells them that, adding that real learning went on there, even if there was no structure as the Board understood structure, that they didn't need ivy covered buildings in which to learn. Outside the box worked for them, and would do so whether the Board sanctioned it or not. I learned from that.

Billy Joel and the Moody Blues are my favorite singers. I don't even have to list songs for you to understand that these people are deep thinkers, sometimes spiritual, and all the time touching. Whether your heart or your consciousness, I prefer being touched by people like these than your basic Top 40 singers. To understand what I mean, pull up YouTube and cast an ear on the Moody's The Other Side Of Life. Talk about outside the box. I love those guys!

A word or phrase from an author or musical act will stick in your mind. Your subconscious will then make this word or phrase manifest in your life. This is the Universe's way of reaching you. If you're quick enough to recognize the lesson, then the next word or phrase manifested will be easier to recognize.

It may seem like we're perpetually in a school room, but life's disasters and challenges are lessons. It's how we repeat the lesson back to the Universe that's of paramount importance. Learn your lessons well, and you'll move on to a smoother, more productive existence. Ignore it all, and the problems and disasters will repeat until you finally get it.

When you've examined your past challenges and disasters, pick out the lessons to be learned from them. There's always more than one way of looking at things. Try a positive viewpoint just once. You might find it more interesting than the other way around. Class dismissed!