Blessed with Challenge

Steve Brunkhorst

There I Grow Again!

Maybe you have seen the Great Barrier Reef, stretching some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Tour guides regularly take visitors to view the reef. On one tour, a traveler asked the guide an interesting question.

"I noticed that the lagoon side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant and colorful," the traveler observed. "Why is this?"

The guide gave an interesting answer:

"The coral around the lagoon side is in still water with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. The coral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves, and storms—surges of power. It has to fight for survival every day of its life.

"As it is challenged and tested, it changes and adapts. It grows healthy. It grows strong. And it reproduces."

Then he added this telling note, "That's the way it is with every living organism."

That's how it is with people. Challenged and tested, we come alive! Like coral pounded by the sea, we grow. Physical demands can cause us to grow stronger. Mental and emotional stress can produce tough-mindedness and resiliency. Spiritual testing can produce strength of character and faithfulness.

So, you have problems? No problem!

Just tell yourself, "There I grow again!"

~ Anonymous Author

Sometimes we are tested to the limit of our endurance. We might set out to make our mark on the world and find that "school" just began instead of ended. Nothing has ever been so challenging before! We may suffer losses, and quite often life will not seem fair. In those times, consider how you are being led forward.

Difficult challenges lead us to grow more resilient, loving, knowledgeable, and capable. So how can we find blessings like these within difficult challenges?

First, we need to acknowledge our challenges for what they are. We need to see roadblocks clearly, take full responsibility for meeting them, and only then can we focus creatively on our desired outcomes.

Next, we need focused vision. With steady, faith-filled awareness and patience, we find solutions. It seems as if the mind generates ideas we've never heard before, and we see situations much clearer than before.

We receive guidance, and even in adversity we are strengthened. Challenges don't ever leave us the same as they found us, and we never leave a challenge the same as we first found it. We can choose to have our challenges leave us wiser and more compassionate.

Helen Keller wrote, "Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."

With faith, we can surmount difficulties and heal hurts that once were overwhelming. With clear vision, we find blessings on the other side of our barriers. And like the coral in today's tale, we will always be blessed with challenge. We will change, adapt, and grow. Life makes sure of it.

What Do You See?

Thomas Dreier

Before a painter puts a brush to his canvas he sees his picture mentally. If you think of yourself in terms of a painting, what do you see? Is the picture one you think worth painting? You create yourself in the image you hold in your mind.

Everyone Wants and Needs It
excerpted from The Simple Truths of Appreciation

Barbara A. Glanz

No matter who we are or what our actions may say, we all want to be recognized and appreciated. I often quote Lou Holtz, the famous Notre Dame Coach, who said, "Why is it that the people who need love, (appreciation), and understanding the most usually deserve it the least?"

Jaime Escalante, the teacher on whom the movie Stand and Deliver was based, tells an amazing story about a mistaken identity and the difference it made in a young man's life.

This teacher had two students in his class who were both named Johnny. One Johnny was an excellent student, a happy child, and always had his homework completed on time. The other Johnny was always in trouble, never had his work finished, and generally made the teacher's life miserable.

The night of their first PTA Open House of the year, a mother stayed after the meeting to ask about her son, Johnny, and how he was getting along in the class. Assuming it was the mother of the "good" Johnny, the teacher replied, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate him. I am so glad he's in my class."

The next day, for the first time all year, the "problem" Johnny had all his work done, spoke up in class, and never once caused a disruption. He even volunteered to help another student. The teacher was astounded!

At the end of the day when everyone else had left, "problem" Johnny came up to the teacher and said, "My mom told me what you said about me last night. I haven't ever had a teacher who wanted me in his class."

That Johnny became one of the best students the teacher ever had—and all because of a mistaken dose of appreciation! No matter who we are and what our situation in life is, we all want and need to be appreciated.

A Gentle Reminder

Gregge Tiffen

Let me never forget how important I am to the Universal picture. Without me, there would be a blank space where there should be color.

Let me understand that the challenges of life are just that and not battles. I am not out there to win or lose, only to develop my skills as an ongoing student in an omnipotent school.

Let me understand that the differences between people are one of the wondrous realities of an infinite Universe. Giving those differences space to be is far more important than comparing them to my set of beliefs.

Let me be proud of what I do. To whatever my hand touches, let me remind myself that it was my effort that added to the result. Perfection is not my goal. Creativity is.

Let me remind myself that most of what I take seriously about myself also qualifies for a good laugh.

Let me remember to be kind to myself. Loving companions are one of life 's treats, but they are not responsible for my care. Self kindness can heal most any hurt.

Let me take responsibility as a gift, not a burden. Within that effort is the greatest sense of accomplishment I could achieve.

Let me be patient with life. Nature does not produce the flower before the roots have taken hold. If I recognize that the place I'm in is the right place at the right time, it will always be the right place at the right time.

Normal Chaos

Jim Stovall

You have probably heard it said by someone wanting you to repeat a monotonous activity that "practice makes perfect." As many times as you and I may have heard this, it is quite simply not true. Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes consistent.

If you practice something at a high level of performance, it will reinforce that same level of performance. On the other hand, if you practice an activity over and over in a substandard manner, you will do little more than reinforce this substandard level of performance.

You have probably dealt with people or organizations that consistently perform at an unprofessional, impolite, and substandard level. Like me, you probably wonder, "How did things ever get so bad in this organization?" The answer is simply that mediocrity has been going on for so long, and reinforced so deeply, that it now seems normal.

Human beings always seek their own level of comfort. You have probably heard about prisoners who are finally released after spending many years behind bars. Then, more often than you would think, these individuals will go out and do something stupid, get caught, and get sent right back to prison.

After years of counseling within the prison system, psychologists have determined that some inmates become so accustomed to living within prison walls, that it becomes their comfort zone and, on a subconscious level, they prefer it to life in society with you and me.

So much of what we do in our personal and professional lives is done out of habit. If you will consider your morning routine as you get ready to go to work, you will realize that dozens of things happen in a mindless habitual fashion.

This is a powerful tool if you use it wisely, because we can control our habits if we will simply become proactive and choose our own course of action.

Anything we do for 21 days will begin to become a habit. This means that, on the 22nd day, something will seem strange or out of place if you do not follow the routine you have established.

Excellence can become a habit. Chaos can become a habit. And mediocrity can become a habit. The process is inert. It does not care at what level you perform. Our minds simply want to reproduce that with which we are familiar.

As you go through your day today, remember: You are currently a product of yesterday's habits; but take heart, because tomorrow will be a product of the habits you form now.

Today's the day!

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