Are We Up to the Challenge?

This year at work, my team and I have been striving to earn one of the most prestigious awards in our industry. To win this award we must demonstrate excellence in every facet of our business.

A few days ago, we had been doing outstanding and seemed to be on the road to victory. With only 2 months left in the year, we were very confident that we could finish strong and obtain our goal. However, unexpectedly, we were dealt some very negative news that will most likely eliminate our chances of qualifying for the award. In a matter of moments, all of our hard work and dedication seemed to be erased and wiped out. We felt completely defeated, hopeless, and depressed.

As I’ve struggled to get over the bad news at work, many thoughts have come to my mind. And one that seems to stick with me right now is—challenges, obstacles, and hardship are mandatory in this life but failure and misery are optional.
I’ve come to realize that challenges will present themselves often at the most inopportune times in every aspect of our lives. Challenges are not saved for a lucky few, but are given to all of us. There is simply no way around them, only through them.

Challenges give us the opportunity to better ourselves and push ourselves to do more. Challenges force us to think different and sometimes act different. Challenges can bring us to a new level of understanding, achievement, confidence and ultimately satisfaction. Though challenges seem like terrible monsters in the present, often as time passes, we see them for what they really are which in most instances, they are blessings in our lives.

So, the amazing thing about life is that challenges are mandatory yet misery and failure are not. We have the power to choose to let the hardships of life destroy us or allow them to lift us up. We have the power to choose to wallow in despair or search for the silver lining. We have the power to choose to surrender to an unfortunate fate or create our own destiny. Ultimately in life, the power is ours to decide.

At work we’ve began to see this challenge as an opportunity, an opportunity to be better and learn from our mistakes. Though the news was unexpected and devastating, ultimately it is something that could have been avoided had we been more vigilant. Thus it has become an important lesson for us which will make us stronger, better, and more prepared in the future. Had we received the award without being altered of this issue, we would have missed a wonderful opportunity to grow and truly appreciate and enjoy the satisfaction that will come when our hard work finally does pay off someday.

In the end, challenges may make or break us but really the choice is ours. Preparing ourselves at all times and accepting the fact that challenges are inevitable will help us to overcome. I’m convinced that those who learn to best deal with and respond to challenges will find success. And in all reality going through them is really for our own good.