The Hero's Quest

[salixj]

Presents, whether they are actually pretty packages wrapped up in a box with a nice fat bow, or a loving hug or a beautiful sunset, are easily understood as gifts. 

You want them, you like them, they make you happy, feel loved, feel wanted.

There is a second type of gift we receive, and it isn't something we necessarily want. That is the gift of a challenge.

Challenges, like presents, are wide ranging, and some may be easy to surmount, finishing the laundry for instances (though, can we ever really finish laundry?) or annoying but necessary tasks we keep putting off, such as going to the dentist or getting a flu shot. They can be more difficult, such as dealing effectively with a boss who is driving you mad, or a relative who you wish you didn't have to deal with. Challenges can also be tests, exams, driving in rush hour, dealing with a whining child, dealing with a parent who has dementia or dealing with someone who has medical, be it physical or psychological issues. 

Challenges greet us everyday. Like a hero in a novel, how we must learn to deal with a challenge in the best way possible. Sometimes that includes a fight; fighting for a child to get the correct educational program for instance. Sometimes that means flight; leaving when someone gets abusive. Sometimes that means freeze; accepting whatever is happening as beyond ones control, and adjusting your emotional state to acceptance; an adult with dementia is not going to remember, and you may have to repeat yourself several times. 

Sometimes we can prepare for a challenge way ahead of time, by studying for a test, or making a plan on how to deal with a difficult relative. Sometimes we are thrust into a situation we haven't had time to plan for. We must then rely on our equipment that we carry with us everyday, swords and shields of life; our knowledge, our patience, our intelligence. 

Whatever the circumstance, these challenges help us grow as human beings. Each time, even if we fail (and failure is not evil if we learn from it), we meet a challenge, we take something from that challenge.

In your journal discuss at least one challenge that you have met today, and how you met it. Did you succeed, or fail and what can you learn from your encounter? 

Also, as for many people the holidays are coming up, are there challenges that you are going to meet, and how can you best equip yourself to deal with them? What steps can you take now to make meeting those challenges successful?