“It’s impossible,” said pride. “It’s risky,” said experience. “It’s pointless,” said reason.
“Give it a try,” whispered the heart.
That’s one of the things that I remind myself every time I’m faced with a hurdle in life. As it happens, destiny always has a way of foiling my best laid plans. Even if I’m happily reconciled to my lot of living my uneventful (read mundane) ordinary life, I somehow find myself having to rise up to face some extraordinary challenges that fate seems to have ordained solely for me!
Yes, there is no escaping! Challenges mostly come on their own, even though I must admit that at times I have also invited them into my life. So, there are those challenges that have come to me without my asking and those that I’ve invited unto myself. The end result, however, is the same—I’m stuck in a situation from which seemingly there is no escape. Until, of course, I put my head together, gather my will power, force my nerves, muscles and sinew to march into the battlefield ahead, pretty much like Don Quixote leading the imaginary army, towards an unforeseeable fate.
But then, through all this, something truly extraordinary happens.
Through the most confusing, bewildering, darkest of moments, there appears wisdom, hope and light. And, as if by magic, something else comes to the fore—that quiet, soft voice that speaks to me through the silence of my soul, nudging me to do things that I’ve never done before, or face situations that seem too difficult to handle. It is never easy to be daring, but we all have it in us to challenge the status quo and dare to be different, to speak the truth as we follow the path to authentic living, to dare to challenge the limits set by others and begin to see things in order to think better, do better and live better—to dare to be who we really are, in a world that constantly slots you in predefined boxes and expects you to be like someone else. That is what challenges do to me.
I do not know any other way to grow in life because each time I’ve found myself in a tight spot, surrounded by impossible situations, I’ve discovered new aspects within myself and learnt to step into unknown territory, facing my fears right in the face. That’s how I’ve grown. The sum-total of all the hurt, the heartaches, the rejections, the failures—they’ve all taught me that beyond them lies my growth and to be Me, I’d have to look beyond. To be honest, it is messy and nothing like the way one imagines it would be. But, every time I face up to the challenges, I feel a little victorious and a little more alive, and a little proud of myself. It is way better than the feeling of trepidation and uncertainty that I lived with for a long long time, as a young girl of sixteen when I left home to find my way in the world in a new city, many years ago. Some battles we win, and some we lose, but the readiness to face them remains in me even today, as it was years ago.
As a work in progress, I’m as flawed and as imperfect as anyone else, but I like to think that I’m always ready to look beyond the challenges life throws at me, because, eventually they lead me to become a better version of the person that I am, even if not fully, at least, a tad bit better than what I was yesterday. Growth may be painful but growth is essential in life. It keeps me challenged but it also keeps me sane. It keeps me on my toes and it pushes me to stretch myself. The mind that widens never shrinks back to its’ former self.
We never grow when things are easy. We grow when there are challenges.
I look at my life and feel I’ve learnt way more from the challenges in my life, and still do, than when I had it all smooth sailing and happy. But, that’s just me. It may not be that way with you at all and that is fine too.
What’s your take on this? How do you see yourself grow as a person?
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