The single most important step you'll ever take!
Okay, let's jump right in!
There are three major steps you must be able to address before you can SUCCESSFULLY ACCEPT ANY CHALLENGE.
You Must Be There.
You Must Know Your Purpose.
You Must Be Able to Commit.
We will take up each one of these steps in future posts but today we will address what makes up a CHALLENGE because we may just discover that our happiness, success and fulfillment is defined by our ability to accept it.
So, that being said….let's start with the definition of CHALLENGE.
challenge v : to invite into competition
Oh, yes, I like this definition. It takes away the idea of seriousness and puts forth the idea of a game. (Here, we are inadvertently addressing an important part of any game, perspective) So, what do we need for a game? We need players, equipment, and a playing field.
Okay, so let’s start with PLAYERS - those who are trying to help you attain your goal and those who are trying to stop you.
We all have experienced being helped and being stopped. It happens everyday. You are barreling ahead with a great idea for an organizing project or creating the perfect recipes for combining your essential oils. Oh my goodness, it is the greatest idea in the history of mankind! You seriously can't believe no one else has thought of it! You tell your best bud and they either respond with great support or they say without any excitement or hope of enthusiasm, "Yeah, that's cool."
Instantly, either your idea is fueled by encouragement and you power up to develop it, or your idea is drained and you have to fight to keep it alive. You have been met with a challenge either way. There are many nuances and roles players serve in our lives and each of them bring new challenges. This is just one of them. (*Note: With regards to the aforementioned scenario, you are only defeated in the challenge if you give up on your idea.)
Now, let’s take a look at who the players are in our lives. If we merely use relationships as the marker, we can come up with a pretty good list.
So, the question here is whom do you have a relationship with? (Here area a few examples).
- YOURSELF
- PARENTS
- CHILDREN
- FRIENDS
- TEACHERS
- EMPLOYERS
- EMPLOYEES
- CLIENTS
-ETC.
(Go ahead. Make a list.)
Now, on to the equipment - those items, which help or stop you from attaining your goal of winning the game. You know, the game of being the greatest parent in the world, or the most exceptional rock climber, or maybe even the greatest zombie killer on Earth. (A shout out to my gamer fans.)
I mean, how many times have we had a deadline and that one piece of equipment we needed to complete the assignment had a glitch? You know that time when you had to submit your project or taxes online and the internet went down, OR THERE WAS NO MORE LAUNDRY DETERGENT and you had to be somewhere important wearing those pants! Sorry, that just happened to me. Ugh! Exactly! Well, that’s what I’m talking about here. Challenges demand that we deliver something in a specific amount of time. The equipment we use plays a very important role in our ability to deliver that something. We can see here how these challenges can affect our ability to achieve happiness (those moments of cranky frustration are NOT moments of happiness), success (our ability to actually achieve the deadline) and of course therefore our overall goal of fulfillment.
So, the question is: What equipment do you use in your daily lives to get things done?
What does your list look like? We would love you to leave comments below of the tools you use on a daily basis.
Now. What about the playing field? – The arena in which you play the game. The locations, not necessarily just physical locations like the office or the classroom, no we’re also talking about cyberspace (internet gaming, social media, youtubing, emailing). These are the places we have the potential to create an effect. A teacher changes a child’s life in the classroom. A hairdresser affects her/his client’s life in the salon. A blogger opens up possibilities of fulfillment on the internet. : ) This is where we play the game of life.
So, the question here is: Where do you play?
This is where my husband creates his magic. (The Royal Albert Hall)
Each one of these relationships (player, equipment, field) is part of and makes up the challenges in our lives. We could say that these are the games we are playing. One could even say, we have as many challenges in our lives as we have relationships.
Wow! That’s a big statement. It gives us perspective (there is that word again). It allows us to see that choosing who, what and where we create our lives really does matter.
The overall game here is being exceptional in at least one area of life so that we can transcend the normal everyday livingness of life to see the world clearly and purely as ourselves. This view will then spread throughout all your relationships and you’ll be on your road to happiness, success and fulfillment!
So, are you up for the challenge?
We think you are….because YOU ARE AN ARTIST! We See It!
Check out my next blog How to Avoid the #1 Roadblocks to Happiness, Success, & Fulfillment
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With Great Love,
Annie