Friday, April 17, 2009

Life and Challenge

Challenge. There are many challenges in life. For young people, old people, rich, poor, all kings of people. This one word has different meaning to different people. For some people it could mean fear, fear of not being able to overcome the challenge. For other people challenge means a stepping stone. A phase of life that could make us stronger and wiser. When I hear the word 'challenge', I always remember what my dad used to say about it. He said to me and my siblings that whenever there are any challenge in front of you, try not to see it as something that can ruin your life. But see it. You must be able to face it. If it is as big as the mountain, climb it. Do not find other way to get through it. We all are equipped with our brain, our mind, our heart, our body and so on. Use those things to go through the challenge. Once you are able to climb the mountain called challenge, you will be proud of yourself. So, be brave...Life is about challenge and you can be the winner=)


4 Smart Ways to Overcome Challenges

Here are four tips to face your challenges in life:

1. Learn to forget the problem and focus only on solutions – Well, forgetting the problem does not certainly make it disappear! But if you temporarily take your mind off the problem you would save yourself from unwanted anxiety. Unwanted stress would only lead to wasting your energy. You could instead spend that energy on looking for ways to solve the problem. Majority of us just freeze when we are faced with challenging situations. Instead, if we could immediately look for solutions the problem may clear easily. This is not easy but with some self-awareness and positive attitude you would learn to find your way through problems. When you are challenged with a problem the
next time, first set aside your emotions, understand the problem and search for a solution right away.

2. Get help by reaching out to friends and family: Sometimes when you just let go of your ego and shame and ask for help you would be surprised at the way people receive you with love and concern. What are family and friends for? These days support groups are available online and in the community for almost every problem. You have support groups for addictions, seniors, single parents, parenting, marriage, education, health and religion… just about anything. When you have a problem do not think
you are all alone. When you get in touch with these support groups you would realize that you are not the only one being tested by life’s challenges. You would share each other’s experiences and shoulder each other’s problems through these support groups. You could search for support groups in the Internet or call an expert, look in the newspapers, magazines, talk to people, etc. Support groups give a lot of strength and courage to fight your challenges.

3. Act now! - ‘Now’ is the best time to take on your challenges. Many people think and think and think and talk about it all the while but they would not move an inch towards a solution. What good is that? When you see a challenge, take action immediately. You would waste precious time if you wait around or wait for someone else to start dealing with your issues. Build self-confidence and resilience and start to fight your problems and you would have overcome your challenge before it settles down on you! The faster you act, the speedier the problem gets solved.
4. Practice patience and Perseverance - Nobody is a born professional at solving problems. Each time a problem challenges you it is a new experience. You could act wise by learning to be patient and persistent and practice perseverance in order to study your pattern of problems. This is a good way to draw your strategies and act accordingly. Soon you would be a master at dealing with your challenges.

We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve. -Maxwell Maltz-

(source from articlesbase.com - images from justbesplendid.tumblr)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Boya Arsila,

Nice post. Challenge for me is trying to get back to functioning normally in every day life. It was quite overwhelming for years (in short, I suffered depression and burnout). I have a new attitude about it, and it applies to everything. I look at a big challenge and segment it into smaller tasks. If I look at my day as too busy or too much on the list...oh my gosh, I will just stay in bed! But instead, I break it down into details and make a schedule. Every time I succeed at one task, it gives me more confidence to tackle the next one and before I know it, I've completed the "big" challenge.

EdinNJ said...

Another place to find support groups is the non-profit, keyword-searchable online database of the American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse, www.selfhelpgroups.org

For example, there are local mutual support groups just for those in recovery from chronic depression where members share their strategies (like Rain's tactic of breaking down any big challenge into small steps), strengths, and hopes. The largest group for depression is DBSA, the national Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance at www.DBSAlliance.org
They have over a thousand local groups in the USA.

The American Clearinghouse has information on over 1,100 national, international, and some online member-run support groups.

Take care and hope, - Ed

boya arsila said...

Hi Rain..nice to see you here. I completely agree with you that once we're able to complete the challenge...we will be proud of what we have done. I believe that we have our own abilities to overcome obstacles in life. Challenge can definitely makes us grow stronger=)