The Gift of Challenges

We tend to hold onto our experiences in life, cataloging them in our minds as “good” or “bad”, bringing them up to react to new experiences based on the old ones to avoid being hurt. We may take the emotions from these experiences and form beliefs out of them and they then become our TRUTH. This is an ego function – trying to protect the Self from experiencing pain. Where’s the harm in that, right?

Well, we don’t want to miss out on the gift or opportunity in the challenge when we classify it as bad and push it away from us or become the victim. Pushing it away really just makes it stick more because we hold onto the pain, the emotions and we still feel it in our hearts, our mind, our bodies. Sometimes the most profound gifts and opportunities arise from our challenges. For example, I experienced situations of addiction, abandonment, poverty and abuse in my life. During those challenges, I didn’t recognize the gift in them. Now I look at them as HUGE gifts because I chose to be Life Coach, and having gone through all of those challenges, I am able to understand what many of my clients have experienced because I’ve been there firsthand and I can support them on a deeper level. If I hadn’t experienced those challenges, it may not be as easy to relate to my clients. You wouldn’t go to a plumber that had no experience in plumbing. By living the challenges, I gained the gifts of supporting others in their process. WOW!

Look at the challenges that you’ve experienced or are going through currently in your life. What gifts have they brought you? Bless each challenge, look for the gift and release attachment to it (don’t invest your energy into something you cannot control). Be empowered, not victimized. There are situations that you cannot control, but you can decide how you’re going to react to them. Trust that everything in your space is supporting you in some way for your highest good. Think of a time when you thought a situation was “bad” but it ended up leading you to a great opportunity that may not have come about without that “bad” situation happening. It was a blessing in disguise. For example, Suzy’s husband, Allan, left her for another woman and she was crushed. Eventually though, she met and married a wonderful man, Jack, who treated her so much better and who she enjoyed sharing her life with. She probably wouldn’t have married Jack if it weren’t for Allan leaving her. It was a blessing in disguise ?

Bless all of your current and past challenges and focus on the gifts in them. If you aren’t sure of what the gift is yet, trust that there is a gift and affirm “I am open to receiving the gift from this challenge”.

“The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. Which one do you choose to BE?

Blessings,

Kimberly Coots
Life Empowerment Services, LLC
www.embracinginnerpower.com