The challenges we meet in life are often seen as the negative side of our existence. We alone can decide how we deal with them, either we can accept them, tackle them head on, or we can shy away from them and hope they go away. Anyone who has tried the second path will know that it virtually never works, so accepting challenges has to be the right way to go.
Accepting our challenges is not, initially, the most natural thing to do. It might seem easier to run away, to bury our heads, or just ignore the issues, but no good will ever come of taking that path. Taking responsibility and meeting challenges head on can be really hard. That doesn’t mean it has to be difficult, but it does mean we have to dig deep, stay strong and never ever give in.
So how should we approach the process? For me, it means looking at the challenge from all sides, and that involves keeping a calm mind and thinking clearly about all the aspects involved. Chanting allows me to calm my mind, to focus and to concentrate. This is the state of mindfulness and gives me control over my thoughts, words and deeds. For others it may be beneficial to meditate or to write down a list of all the facets of the challenge.
The whole process can be thrown into turmoil by our fundamental darkness, that little voice in our heads, that tells us the challenge is too hard, that we cannot overcome it and that giving up is the easy path. We must listen to that voice because it is part of us, but we must then rationalise the alternatives and be determined to take the right path, not the easiest path.
When you overcome a challenge, the feelings of elation are immense. When we give into a challenge, the feelings of defeat are equally immense, but terribly damaging. Gaining your first win will be the hardest. Once you know the winning feeling, you will never again want to feel defeat again.
So try different coping strategies, be that chanting, meditation, list building or whatever works for you. Be sure that overcoming challenges will make you a stronger and more confident person and that each win will make the next challenge easier to overcome. In time, you will lose the fear of challenges, and although you may not actually look forward to the next one, you will be more prepared to meet it and overcome it when it arrives.
If you think about it, although we may not be destined to die five minutes from now, we are all, without exception, going to die at some point. We can count on it 100%. There is nothing surer than this.
I love the way this poem beautifully encapsulates the stages of learning, and the long, long road to enlightenment …
Today has been fantastic, the sun shone, the sky was blue and although it wasn’t exactly tropical, the conditions for going over to Swanage for the Wiggle MTB event were pretty much perfect. The ground had dried up considerably from the mud-fest of last week, so I even managed to do my favourite circuit whilst staying a bit cleaner.
So even though it was tempting to accept the generous offers of test rides, I politely declined. I didn’t see the point in risking making myself dissatisfied with my own bike. I was very pleased with the free gifts that the lady from Wiggle gave me. A nice new water bottle and a pair of handlebar grips, that perfectly match the colour of my frame.
You know the saying about taking the rough with the smooth? Well life generally consists of a mixture of good times and bad times, happiness and sadness, health as well as sickness. In general, it is the ratio of these opposites that makes us feel that life is going well, or going badly.
Whilst feeling a little adrift given my current situation and enraged by the lack of fairness in the way modern institutions and those in power treat us mere morals, I found this piece by Sensei rather encouraging …
Going back over your mistakes, asking yourself painful questions and giving honest answers is a difficult, but cathartic experience.
I can’t remember the first time I watched the Service of Remembrance on TV, but it must be well over fifty years ago now. It has always been a family event, with my Mom and Dad and my brothers. And although, sadly, my Dad is no longer with us, and the family is spread across the globe, watching it again brought back poignant memories, as always.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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