At all times and in all Ages, in all places and in all situations and circumstances, challenges have been known to exert great influences in the outcome of people’s strides and journeys of life. These influences could be positive or negative.
What are the challenges in our march to greatness and abundance?
What have been the effects of these challenges?
Is it possible to live a well fulfilled and well accomplished life devoid of challenges?
A challenge could simply be taken to mean an invitation to a contest, an invitation to prove or disprove a point or points, an invitation to prove a claim or disprove another.
In summary, challenges as used here, mean difficult situations and circumstances, and represent the obstacles losses, impediments, frustrations, failures, insufficiencies, limitations and deprivations on our way to the actualization of our plans and set goals.
Challenges come in different forms and magnitudes. They include, but are not limited to : physical and economic challenges, psychosocial challenges, fears and insecurities, failures, Age related challenges, crises in health, workplace, religion, marriage, family, friendship and other relationship crises.
Is it possible to live a meaningful, well fulfilled and well accomplished life completely free of challenges?
Are there benefits derivable from the challenges we face?
Some people have been substantially destabilized, frustrated, crushed and broken by existential challenges that they have not been able to rise and shine again. For such brothers and sisters of ours, we pray for God’s grace and mercy.
But consider the following :
… The world is not a Bed of Roses
… There is hardly True joy not preceded by pain of some sort.
… Nothing good is ever gotten on a platter of gold.
… You must first go through the dark tunnel to find light at it’s end.
… The Road to stardom is lined with thorns and brambles.
… Joy is not mostly pleasure, it is mostly victory… The victory that comes from a sense of accomplishment, of taming and dismantling the challenges and obstacles on our way to true success and happiness. Yes.. Joy is mostly victory.
Challenges and impediments are therefore great stimuli for great achievements and accomplishments.
If this assertion is true, would it be acceptable for us to pray that “our Roads Be Rough “?
“God Forbid “,”Not My Portion “, would be the immediate response of many.
Whatever our prayers have been or will be, Life has consistently and persistently been an Admixture of sadness and joy, good and bad, happiness and sorrow, success and failure, and such other contrasting experiences.
While some people appear to have fallen irredeemably, crushed under the excruciating weight of challenges and negative life experiences, a lot more of others have used the challenges and obstacles and lessons of sad experiences as launching pads for self-assessment, self-motivation, self-improvement and self-actualization.
Facing and overcoming obstacles and challenges build resilience and resourcefulness and lay solid foundations for future success, with uplifting feelings of accomplishment and exhilaration. Yes.. Hard times stimulate growth and innovation more than good times.
Challenges are therefore excellent opportunities for growth and improvement.
Every person created in the image and likeness of God has been imbued with the power to rise and shine after an adversity.
Many things are in the spirit and come from the spirit. If the spirit remains down after a fall, the body remains down with it. One of the wonderful characteristics of our creation is our ability to turn a minus into a plus… The ability to gain from negative and adverse life experiences.
To achieve this feat of turning our adversities into gains, we need to be consistently determined, courageous and with unwavering willpower.
In conclusion, the journey of life is like a PENDULOUS ROLLER COASTER. It swings up and swings down.
It is difficult to imagine a world without challenges, without hills and valleys.
After crossing a great river, we often discover that there are many more rivers to cross before we get to the mountaintops of our destination.
Challenges are therefore the stimuli for a meaningful and successful life of great achievements and accomplishments.
To overcome our challenges, we have to be positive and optimistic, unwaveringly consistent in our pursuits and courageous.
May our challenges spur us to great achievements and wonderful accomplishments, and may God graciously grant us that which we seek : The Will, The Determination, The Zeal, The Wisdom and The Strength to Face Our Challenges With Courage and Equanimity.
God’s grace and mercy all the way.
:::::: Dr Nwakile I. N. O
