Challenges are not something we need to avoid.
While challenges are not comfortable, they do serve a purpose.
They push us beyond what we thought our limits are.
They help us to get out of our comfort zone and bring real growth.
Just like an animal that must shed it's skin to grow, the process is uncomfortable.
Just like a seed that must exert immense pressure to break through it's case, it's not easy.
Yet in order for our muscles to grow, they need resistance to push against.
In order for us to build our emotional, physical and spiritual muscles, we must push against resistance.
Once we have developed our muscles, then we can dance with it.
After we have gone through our transformation, then we can use our new wings and fly.
When we are in the middle of our challenges, they don't feel very nice.
Yes, when we are experiencing the very things we want to avoid, we don't feel good.
And if we can face the challenge without judgment and criticism, we may find it a little easier to get through.
When we judge our experiences and make them wrong or bad we are only making it more difficult for ourselves.
When we release our expectations and let go of our opinions about the challenges we face, then we can allow them to unfold more naturally and more quickly.
In the end, is that not what we truly want? To get through our challenges as quickly as possible?
Then it is up to us to stop resisting them.
The choice and the power is with us.
We can choose to fight against them and try to push them away.
Or we can embrace them.
We can revel in them.
We can bring our joy to them.
And then see what happens...
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant