Our lives present us with a multitude of challenges, from the clock that needs a new battery or the computer that won’t talk to the printer to arguments about teen bedtime, how to pay this month’s bills, getting laid off, a family dispute, looking for a new place to live, coughs and colds, terminal illness, a broken arm, divorce, an accident where a family member dies, the dog swallows something it shouldn’t have been chewing in the first place… the list goes on and on.

Sometimes the challenges can seem overwhelming and we get emotionally lost in what is happening. Before we know it, the smallest problem feels like the biggest challenge in the world. We can recognize when the challenge has blown out of proportion when we step back and see that the amount of stress caused by needing to find a watch battery far outweighed the true importance of having a working watch. But when it comes to things like family disputes or issues that interfere with our work (like the car breaking down and not being able to get to where we need to be), the line between what’s important becomes very blurred. At the moment you can feel that the problem is the most important thing in the world and that nothing else matters. However, is this really true?

One of the ways to overcome adversity is to get away from the problem itself. When we are able to step back from the center of what we are experiencing and stand on the edge, then we can see a bigger picture and see how the challenge fits into our life. It’s easy to get carried away by challenges that don’t really matter, and it’s only when we take a step back that we can see where this challenge fits in proportion to everything else in our lives. By letting go of the emotions that overwhelm us and seeing the problem in perspective, we can see how it really fits. Does it really matter if we can’t do the work we plan to do today? Do I really need to keep arguing the same point over and over just because I don’t want to look bad? Is someone going to die if I don’t get help to overcome adversity like this? When we put the challenge in perspective and realize that in reality the problem is not really that important, then we can instantly overcome the problem: we can see that there is no problem after all or we can see a simple solution that we had not noticed. prior to.

Of course, not all problems are overcome in this way because they are really significant and important in our lives. So what happens when the problem in our lives is big and significant, like the loss of a job or a home, the breakup of a relationship, or the loss of a child or other loved one? Here the challenges are real. They are not challenges that can be solved in 5 minutes and the way to overcome adversity like these is to reach a place of acceptance.

Once we reach a place of acceptance, we will have worked through a variety of emotions that could include anger, frustration, sadness, depression, and others. And getting to this place of acceptance takes time. It can’t be rushed. It is not a place you can pretend to be. And yet, you can work to put yourself on the path to acceptance. The route you take is one of personal choice: talking to friends, professional counseling, meditation, visualization, reiki, journaling, whatever works best for you and your lifestyle.

Overcoming adversity and coming to this place of acceptance is a true gift. Along the way we will have learned much about ourselves, our friends and family, and the world around us as we strive to come to terms with life-changing events and understand why they happened. Everything happens for a reason and from everything that happens in our lives there is something we must learn. It may take time for us to fathom reason, and a thought that has sustained me through some of the most difficult times is that we are never presented with more than we can handle. Sometimes it certainly may not feel that way, and if we are able, in those most difficult moments, to center ourselves, to return to who we are simply by inhaling and exhaling deeply, then we can really feel that we are we have survived that moment, that we are still alive and that ultimately life will be fine.

Big changes in our lives often mean life changing events where nothing is the same for us anymore. And within this, there is an ongoing reach for us to learn, connect with our hearts, and live in the most beautiful and connected way we can. It is through overcoming adversity that we learn the most, that we truly know ourselves, and that we are given the gift of being truly connected to our hearts. When we come to the place of acceptance, we come to a place of rest: the emotions calm down and we have found a way to satisfy our emotional needs. From here comes the beginning of the road to peace.