Life itself is a series of challenges, whether large or small.
Just as Smaug, Tolkien’s firedrake, created havoc by laying waste to the town of Dale, we all have our dragons that seem to belch their flaming breath…scorching our plans, upsetting our dreams, and torching our path.
Recently, as happens to each of us, I battled some life challenges. And, as human frailty would dictate, I began to slip into a funk. Thankfully, my life is full of great, caring people. Blessed with friends and family gently positioned by God, they stand with me, strengthen me and keep me grounded in the faith that is immutable. Still, as Rick Warren explained today in his DailyHope blog—we are a product of the trauma, troubles, suffering, shame, shock, pressures, and pain that have entered our life. www.rickwarren.org
But those challenges really are our opportunities. Opportunities to be who we are meant to be.
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.” Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes
My older, wiser brother sat me down for an uplifting (or scolding depending on your perspective). Age and wisdom are not always synonymous, but in this particular case the wisdom is well formed. Wearing many of his own scars, he told me his realization of life’s glory came when he accepted life as a series of challenges, viewed best as opportunities. And, to fulfill the glory of life we should search for and embrace the opportunities to face these challenges while they tramp by like so many soldiers.
He then read me this quote from Moby-Dick, The White Whale, Herman Melville’s masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of all time. The narrator, Ishmael, the only survivor of the epic adventure of hardship and challenge, speaks these words:
“Many is the time, when, after the severest uninterrupted labors, which know no night; continuing straight through for ninety-six hours; when from the boat, where they have swelled their wrists with all day rowing on the line, –they only step to the deck to carry vast chains, and heave the heavy windlass, and cut and slash, yea, and in their very sweatings to be smoked and burned anew by the combined fires of the equatorial sun and equatorial try-works;
When, on the heel of all this, they have finally bestirred themselves to cleanse the ship and make a spotless dairy room of it; many is the time the poor fellows, just buttoning the necks of their clean frocks, are startled by the cry of
‘There she blows!’
And away they fly to fight another whale and go through the whole weary thing again.
Oh, my friends, but this is man-killing! Yet this is life.
For hardly have we mortals, by long toilings, extracted from this world’s vast bulk its small but valuable sperm and then, with weary patience, cleansed ourselves from its defilements and learned to live here in clean tabernacles of the soul; hardly is this done, when—
‘There she blows!’
The ghost is spouted up, and away we sail to fight some other world and go through young life’s old routine again.“
“Yet this is life.”
To me, life involves seeking out the next spout—the next challenge, roadblock, opportunity—this determines our life, our toil and just how hallow our mark. To begrudge the challenge is to begrudge living; we all begrudge much too well. We should thrill in the swollen wrists. We should acknowledge the opportunity as meaning and God’s blessing.
The American Psychological Association’s Road to Resilience Initiative has observed that “each of us faces challenges and unexpected events in our lives. Some are invigorating; some are devastating. The key is how well we are able to cope with life’s surprises. Resilience is our capacity to adjust to changes and challenges in our life, as well as the ability to “spring back” emotionally after dealing with a difficult and stressful time.”
Within your faith and belief system there are fundamental ways to deal with stressful times. The American Psychological Association identifies 10 ways to build resilience:
- Make Connections
- Avoid seeing crisis as insurmountable problems
- Accept that change is a part of living
- Move toward your goals
- Take decisive actions
- Look for opportunities for self-discovery
- Nurture a positive view of yourself
- Keep things in perspective
- Maintain a hopeful outlook
- Take care of yourself
We don’t have control over the bumps and turns that we encounter. They are dealt for a reason. No human across history has lived a life unmarked by one mishap or another. The strength to rise up again after every setback…to be prodded on by a spirit that refuses to concede defeat and relishes challenges, this is to live for and can actually become a source of joy.