Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Accepting Challenges and Challenging our Own

Someone once said that continuous effort, not intelligence or even strength, is the key to releasing our potentials. Well, perseverance indeed may well be our greatest asset - to keep going. We've always been told that quitters never win.

Each of us has something uniquely special to offer. At the same time, we also have the potential to offer it successfully, but often we don't always realize this. Consciously or not, we stifle our self-development or growth with fears, from low self-esteem, and  inadequacies sometimes assumed.

This doesn't mean that we refuse to accept our weaknesses, but at least we can try to do best of what we can offer to live.  As long as we persevere, our confidence and abilities will grow in concert with our progress, until we find that completion we work towards.

Thoughts before the dawn breaks...

Life Choices

Life is full of challenges. When we are faced with them, we have two choices: to meet them fearfully or to face them and do something about it.


To choose fear we simply avoid taking risk, but it is a way of already giving up, preventing ourselves from ever winning. If we choose to welcome challenges, we acknowledge that life is made up of win or lose, of joys and pains. We open up to the possibility of a winning, a victory.

Sometimes we feel in the cycle of circumstances beyond our control, underlying constraints that need to be considered. Making a choice resurfaces again. When this happens we can remind ourselves that we have the power to choose what our attitude will be towards the situation.

Life Challenges, and More 


It's never easy this matter of choices.  Always a challenge.

But it's a move forward to acknowledge and accept that life will always be made up of choices.  We build and decide on them.

We are all capable of far more than we think we are. It's in the toughest of times that we find out and realize how much strength we have.

How can we challenge our own challenges?

I'm at it now. I've been for a while, but this month has been toughest yet. Continuously seeking strength from God, then I'm stilled. What to do? Face the problems squarely (I know; easy to say but most difficult to handle.)   Touch base with caring kins and/or true friends, handful they maybe. They will offer support their own way. Be sincerely grateful for their offerings, expecting for nothing more.  Try to practice the old reliable time management, with realistic to-dos to avoid unnecessary stress... Prioritise.  If everything else fails - simply - take it easy. Relax. Have a drink of cold water or clear juice.  Then indulge in something you love to do and enjoy. Read a good book. Indulge in Sudoku. Watch stress-free DVDs, or play a musical instrument but only for your pleasure.  Or, simply remember your favourite things.

Are you experiencing your challenging times? I mean, really tough, dark days? Continue seeking strength and support from God or whatever you call your  Higher Power, even if what you need seems impossible. That's what faith means. You can revise my suggestions to your own needs.


Challenges Test our Strengths

It's during the tough times that we discover the depths of our strength. It's then that we know some power has enabled us to do what we thought we could not. Some call this a Higher Power. I call mine God. It is available when we need it; we only need to pray for guidance.

One hindrance I can think of is fear. That's why we need to have faith and trust in that power.

One of my favourite poets is Emily Dickinson. She beautifully and succintly put my thoughts to her words. 
Reflection:

"We never know how high we are
'Til we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies."


~ Emily Dickinson, American Poet

Every which way we turn we will have challenges. But we can grow on from these challenges by trusting that power whatever we conceive God to be.

6 Solutions for Women with Much to Do

How to Counter the Urge to Assume Responsibility for Everything.


I'd like to share Mary LoVerde's message in her book, i used to have a handle on life but it BROKE.  It is the six power solutions for women with too much to do...  LoVerde is a motivational speaker and author of other books including the humorous Stop Screaming at the Microwave!   

Often, we work until the wee hours and STILL can't get it all done.

According to LoVerde, "Then don't!"  From this age of time management and Stephen Covey's first things first, and all that,  we've heard and read them all - we've been so brainwashed to think that the only way to manage the mounting chaos in out lives is to take control and organize.


No wonder we have overwhelming to-do lists that leave us feeling exhausted.  *I don't know about you, but my to-do notebook is filling up quite fast these days.*


In this book in front of me now, I Used to Have a Handle on Life but It Broke, LoVerde has a better idea.  She shows us that the opposite of control is not chaos but contentment, and how to counter the natural urge to assume responsibility for everything, as we women often do.

Okay, instead of frustrating and controlling strategies, she gives straightforward techniques for maintaining energy and keeping balance no matter what life throws our way. By recognizing that we often confuse control with power, Mary LoVerde delineates 6 solutions that will help women (sorry, men!) change from striving for control to thriving with true power:

1.  POSE GOOD QUESTIONS - Ask Rightly!

Ask the right questions and reap the rewards.

2. PAY ATTENTION - Listen Up!

Listen with your eyes, give from your heart, and stage a sit-in.

3. PREDICT YOUR ACHILLES' HEEL - Shore Up!

You will turn your weakness into your strength and your failure to success.

4. PARTNER WITH WOMEN - Pair Up for Help!

Together we make a difference. Strength is in unity.

5. PAUSE BEFORE JUDGING - Slow Up!

You'll save yourself and others untold misery.

6. POSITION YOURSELF - Wise Up!

Place your mind, body, and soul in the best possible position to receive all the abundance the universe has to offer.

Sometimes, a result of letting go isn't necessarily a black hole of laundry waiting and unpaid bills, it just might be a life that is light and joyful.