Can Challenges be the Steppingstones to Progress?
L
ife can be defined in many ways, one of which is facing challenges and making them a ladder for progress. What is the significance of life without challenges and struggles? Only by struggling amid adversities, a person could come up shining like pure gold and spread his timeless radiance all around with his credibility. A sedentary life, which is devoid of challenges, and which refrains from strife, fades away with time and loses its luster without realizing its inherent potentials, and eventually remains devoid of the endless opportunities affiliated with human life. However, facing every challenge and moving forward is also not easy. The apparent primary response to challenges is that of fear and escape. It seems as if the problem will wreak havoc by becoming a threat to our existence. With this apprehension, the intellect becomes crippled, which affects the decisions of life adversely. In this state of mind, which is driven by fear and insecurity, one often takes such short-sighted decisions, for which
he has to repent later. As a result, he could himself feel a decline from his dignified position, and his life gets subverted by the feeling of paucity, inferiority, and infirmity. Also, he becomes trapped in the distorted devious ploys because he cannot handle the challenges properly. This also increases the risk of indulging in the vicious circles of mutual dissension, discord, envy- hatred, and collusions of the rivals. The natural, unopposed development of the individual gets obstructed somewhere. However, challenges do not come for this purpose. On the contrary, they come to enhance the inherent capabilities of the person. If these challenges are dealt with prudence and courage, they will serve as the steps to progress and prosperity. Challenges can be considered a kind of divine gift, which comes not to destroy or ruin the person but to make him stronger. They come to indicate one's intrinsic frailties, shortcomings, and flaws, highlight his slackness of efforts, awaken him from ignorance, and open the gateway to his inherent infinite possibilities. These challenges allude to the imperfections of life so that one can materialize his intrinsic potentials and consciously move forward on the path to perfection while imbibing the necessary virtues. Thus, in order to turn challenges into the ladder of development and progress, the first step is to perceive them as your benefactor and accept them readily. Confront the debilitating feelings of fear and doubt associated with them. Then, understand the significant message contained in them and use these indications to make a concrete plan of action
Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect. – Alan Cohen AKHAND JYOTI
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JAN.-FEB. 2022
