Challenges make Us Who We Are

Some days are harder than others.

Those are the days when we won't only be dealing with life's ups & downs the best we can, but we may also realize that what we had planned may not work after all.

We've all been there, haven't we?

We've all got up one morning and realized that whatever it is that we want to achieve, is either going to take longer that we thought or not happen at all.

That's the time when we've just left wondering "What is the point?"

And we all thought that, and probably still do.

No matter how enlightened we think we are, at the end of the day challenges often feel like "massive rocks" on our path.

And by this point, we'll be far too exhausted to even consider getting them out of the way.

But what if we were our own obstacle?

What if we were the ones in our own way?

I can honestly say that the amount of times I felt I was standing before something insuperable, I was actually standing before my very self.

With all my thoughts, agendas, fears.

Unable to get out of my own head, I'd find hard to find solace anywhere else.

I'd go around and around, asking others for opinions and advice.

"What would you do if you were me?" - I remember asking over and over again to just about anyone.

In time I realized how when we fail to acknowledge challenges for what they truly are, we are left frustrated and unable to see how we often contribute to what we call "life's hardship".

We'll go into a "safe place" from where we'll try and re arrange events and people around us, still missing the most important thing.

When we fail to see that challenges are what forms us and makes us who we are, we keep on looking for answers outside of us. 

Obstacles stretches us in ways we never thought possible.

We often feel expanded and changed to our core when we embrace their message.

So today, no matter what you are facing, sit with it.

Sit in your stillness and speak with your challenge.

Create time and space out of your busy day to come into the silence of your heart.

Just sit comfortably and allow your thoughts to come and go.

Try not to have an agenda but to allow something bigger to emerge.

When you feel settled enough and your head is slightly more clear, grab some a paper and start asking questions.

• What is my challenge teaching me?

• What is it triggering within me?

• How is it changing me?

• What does it feel like?

• Where in my body can I feel it?

Start writing down whatever answer you get, trusting it's your own guiding system speaking to you.

Your own wisdom.

You heart.

You may have to repeat this process few times, but eventually you will learn to surrender and release your challenge.

When you do that, you will create space for  new way to think, be and live.

In that space you will feel a bit more rooted within your own truth and a bit more free.

And remember, you don't have to do this alone.

If what you are facing feels particularly challenging, reach for help.

Don't ever deny the importance of what wishes to emerge at times like this.

Instead honor it and respect it and it shall make you who you are.

Antonia Lyons

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