Challenges Are "Par For The Course"

October 16, 2011

Dear Friends,

The home that Carol and I rent here in Sedona is in the middle of a large golf resort. When some friends of ours in Texas found out that we were living in a golfing community (even though we don’t play the game), they gave us a book called “Golf for Enlightenment” by Deepak Chopra.

One of the most interesting points that Chopra makes in his book is this: No matter how skilled and experienced you are at golf, there will always be days when you are just plain lousy at it. Instead of holding yourself up to an impossibly high standard of perfection, a more “enlightened” approach is to recognize that disappointing days are inevitable, and to keep those challenging times in their proper perspective.

And so it is with living life in the divine flow. No matter how good you think you are at following divine direction, there will always be days when you will not glide down the stream toward your dream with effortless ease. Instead, you will find yourself running into rocks or getting tied up in the reeds.

Why? There are numerous reasons why you might encounter uncomfortably challenging circumstances in your life. Here are five:

First, you have to remember that many of the situations in life that you consider to be undesirable are only undesirable from your personal point of view. Someone else who has a different history or belief system might easily take that very same challenge in stride. In other words, your situation may not be—in and of itself—particularly challenging. It just looks that way to you, and what you are actually experiencing may simply be a “bend in the stream”—a bend that may quickly transform into something very beneficial.

Second, some of the challenges you face in life are there because—on the level of your Spirit—you have specifically chosen to experience them. In other words, you may actually want these particular challenges to be in your life, so you can heal a long neglected emotional wound, or expand a limited way of being that is preventing you from living a more fulfilling and joyful life.

Third, quite a few of life’s challenges are simply the natural consequence of making too many misguided choices . . . choices made from fear instead of faith . . . choices that are not divinely guided or inspired, but are, in fact, ego-driven. Even if those choices were made with the best of intentions, decisions made from the ego—or based on the ego-advice of someone else whom you are “blindly” following—will never be in your best interest.

Fourth, many challenges you face in life are actually the result of misguided choices made by other people. I’m referring here to “the ripple effect.” Keep in mind that we are all interrelated and interconnected in ways that we can’t even begin to conceive of. So, when even one of us does not follow the Guidance of The Divine, and, instead, makes a choice out of fear or frustration, judgment or jealousy, that decision can possibly affect you and many others. It’s a simple matter of cause and effect.

And finally, some challenges are the natural result of going through life unguided—that is, you are just not paying attention. The divine signs and synchronicities are there, but you’re not present enough to notice them. Other people have been divinely inspired to guide you, but you’re ignoring them. Even your own intuition may be clearly speaking to you, but you’re not listening to it. Obviously, you are bound to get a little lost in life when you don’t know the best way to go!

Are you experiencing a trying time in your life right now? Rest assured, I am not going to tell you to think of this painful period as just “a bad round of golf.” No matter what is going on in your life, the discomfort you are experiencing is real, and I certainly don’t want to make light of that, or summarily dismiss it.

However, I do invite you to keep in mind what I suggest again and again in these messages: Every challenge you experience in your life—no matter what it is, or why it is there—can be a stepping-stone to your highest good. With the help of The Divine, it can become an opportunity for you to move closer to your dream . . . a chance for you to grow in compassion and wisdom . . . an occasion for you to heal what needs healing . . . or all of those things.

When it comes to living life in the divine flow, it helps to remember that disappointing days and trying times—when seen in their proper perspective—are “par for the course.”

Steven

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© 2011 by Steven Lane Taylor
Author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:
A Guide for Living Life in the Divine Flow
www.rowrowrow.com
Steven Lane Taylor, LLC