The GIFT in the face of Adversity

LOVING LIFE WHETHER IT’S GOOD, BAD OR INDIFFERENT Do you ever catch yourself thinking, oh, here we go, just another challenging time in life. I’ll just hold my breath and wish this phase away, until the next one comes along. “coz there always seems to be something going wrong”...

It’s true, the life we all lead always has and always will have challenging times. Period. But here’s the good thing for you to know....you can actually choose to embrace the challenges and rise above them and even see the beauty or the ‘gift’ to you as to why they’re happening.

Mad, you may think. But here’s the greatest metaphor to explain this one. When a person goes to the gym or joins a new sporting activity, they do so to fundamentally to get fit. To build their physical self bigger, better, newer, stronger.

Consider a person just starting to train. They stand with 5kg dumbbells in each hand and do 4 sets of 18 repetitions. The first few sets aren’t too intense, but then as the muscle fatigues, they start to grimace a little. Physiologically, what they are actually doing is tearing that muscle apart. Yes, this is how muscle grows goes. Their muscle tissue will actually get pulled apart, broken down during the repetitive action. And I dare say that the look on that persons face is not necessarily that of joy, it’s more like a painful flinch. They grit their teeth, hold their body tight and focus on that bicep that they are so committed to growing.

In essence, they will tear the muscle apart for that 5-10 minute period, before moving onto another part of the body to isolate their focus, and again, tear apart to make it bigger, better, newer. They’ll finish their workout and then give the muscles a rest. They’ll hydrate, eat nourishing foods and lay their ‘worked’ body down at night time to continue the rejuvenation of those muscles. All the while knowing, that they do this to better their physical functionality, their health, their fitness and yes indeedy, create some gun muscles.

So, now, apply this in relation to life’s adversities, to the challenges that it can throw your way. In essence, you are challenged because you need to shift perspective, let go, learn something, do it all differently so that you can have an expansion point. A growth. Just like that muscle. So, here’s a new perspective for you. The next wave of challenges that come your way, try not to resist them, to get your back up at them and feel down or dis empowered. Instead, ask yourself the question, “where is the growth in this for me?” “What is the gift that this challenge is trying to give me?” “How can I perceive it differently and how can I grow from this so my lesson is done..?”

They say that life will keep giving you the same lessons over and over again until you learn from them. Can you see a pattern of the same recurring lesson in your life? What’s the common denominator here? What’s the recurring discomfort on a mental and emotional level?

Perhaps you are being asked to face your fears and stand up for yourself. Or you need to step up and speak your truth. Or maybe you just need to let the other person be right and be ok with that. Or you need to let go or surrender. You will know. Have a look at what it is that keeps prevailing as discomfort in your life and keeps recurring with the same theme, just hidden behind a different guise.

And ask yourself, what is the gift in this. What have I learned. What’s the gift in the face of this adversity...?

Because this is your true place of growth, expansion and understanding.