“Life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, but it's never easy
when there's so much on the line.”
Herman Cain
What type of person are you?
Life is
challenging; full of choices that need to be made, full of right and wrong
decisions and consequences. Every day we
face life challenges. How we handle them
define who we are. Life challenges vary
greatly from what to wear on a bad hair day to the challenges that bring us to
the brink of disaster. As challenging as
life can be what would life be without challenges? Life has taught me there are two types of
people that go through life. Those who
are willing to do whatever it takes to make a difference in their life and
those who are paralyzed by the fear of failure who do not take the chance. What type of person are you?
Challenges come in all shapes and sizes
They say
life happens and with it comes challenges in all shapes and sizes. Daily we face the challenges that shape our
life from day to day and then there are the challenges that shape our entire
life. Life has a way of presenting us
with new and unexpected challenges that block our path and force life
adjustments. These challenges can be the
most difficult to overcome but also can be the most rewarding. Regardless of the challenge it helps build
our character, it strengthens us and teaches the lessons we need to
survive.
A tough day
Throughout
my life I have overcome many difficult life challenges that have shaped me into
the person I am today. From terrorist
attacks, to fears of losing a child to war, to getting a call that your daughter
and her family have been in a terrible automobile accident or the realization
that the day has come where your children are all grown and the house is
empty.
My wife and
I had been looking forward to the day we would have our lives back. No more running to this practice and that
practice. No more school meetings or
private school tuition. No more Friday
nights at the football field followed by dinner in the local diner. No more
pestering about homework which always became our problem. We thought life would be grand. I remember telling my wife how much fun we
were going to have. How much of our life
we would be getting back.
I remember
vividly that last game. It was at the
state playoff game and we had just lost.
I remember how I felt – I wanted to cry.
I would learn quickly that I would miss it all. I remember how we both felt when our son
received a scholarship to play college football. We were so proud; he would be the first in the
family to play college football. I will
never forget the day we pulled away from the dorm. I remember thinking my life, as I have known
it to this point, will never again be the same.
What’s
interesting is we had been preparing him for this event. Long hard days of practice and camps but
never even gave it a second thought that dad and mom needed to prepare
themselves for the day their youngest child left the house. Even though we knew it was coming it took us
by surprise and took time to overcome.
It’s not all that bad
The ending
is not all that bad. Unbeknownst to me, I had gone through a life challenge
that helped write a new chapter in my life.
I worked through that lost feeling I had from no longer being at the
field or in the field house. This life
challenge proved that there is life after football. A sense of stability has returned to my
life. I had met the challenge head on
going full circle bringing me to a new chapter in my life.
What I have
learned from dealing with life challenges is that much of what makes a
challenge seem insurmountable is caused by our perspective. Do you see the glass half full or half
empty? Instead of focusing on how bad
and unfair a life challenge is focus on the possibility of how good things will
be when you overcome the challenge.
With a positive attitude you are already half way to overcoming any
challenge. Sure the next challenge is
just around the corner but prepare yourself by meeting challenges head on with
a positive attitude. Most importantly
what I have learned is that life is a series of calmness, periods of confusion,
change and then transition which brings you back to a new beginning. Knowing this has made the thought of dealing
with the next challenge that much easier to overcome.
