Challenge is good for the soul. We need challenges in life. They make us better. They teach us about ourselves, and they teach us about others. Challenges hone our abilities & skills. If we don’t push ourselves we won’t find our true potential.
It isn’t easy to challenge ourselves. It’s always easier to be comfortable with where we are at the moment, what we have accomplished in life, and who we are as a person. Additionally, when we consider how much of a challenge it is just to make it through this life we lead it becomes easy to rationalize away extra endeavors. And, excuses are plentiful, they abound & reproduce with each second of thought process pulling us further & further from accepting a new challenge. Then all we need to do is choose our favorite & we are off the hook!
Is this really what we want? Are we happy with where we are in our lives? Have we decided “this is good enough”? Or do we want to see what more there is to be seen, tried, learned, & lived? Could we find out there is greater fulfillment, love, & accomplishment to be found?
In a lot of ways, life is a numbers game. We have all heard the axiom “practice makes perfect”, and there is certainly truth behind it. The more we challenge ourselves with anything, the better we become. The better we become, the further we can reach. When I was a headhunter (recruiter is probably the correct term these days), we would tell prospective candidates to interview for several positions not just the dream jobs because the more you interview the more comfortable you become with the process. By the time your dream job comes along, you want to be comfortable and spot on for the moment your chance comes.
For most of my life friends & acquaintances have given me a tough time about how “lucky” I am. They tell me how easily good things fall into my lap others have to work long & hard for. No doubt I have had my share of good fortune, and many others do not, or have not, had as many opportunities as I have been afforded in my life. However, one of the things I’ve noticed is my love to learn about many different things & challenge myself to know, understand, & actively try to do them has lead me to more opportunities. When I started in the Information Technology field I had to learn everything from the ground up. So I went home & built file servers from books, installed software I knew nothing about, built a home network, and anything else I could do because I learned to be fascinated with learning about it. They were self-imposed challenges. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to know more. I wanted to get better.
When I started this website, Plain Ordinary Dragon, I hadn’t ever had a discipline to write daily. So I challenged myself to write every day for 30 days for the site. It was a great challenge. It is so much easier to write now. I have gained some confidence. I’m better at putting my voice out into the world. It wasn’t so the writing would pay monetary dividends or make me a famous writer. I decided to do it because it was good for me, hopefully it was good for you, and it is good for the soul. Challenge is good for the soul.
I’m going to be setting some challenges for myself in the coming days, and I invite you to do the same. Will you do something good for your soul?
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