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By Hal Isen Each of us has faced challenges that may have seemed insurmountable. Our challenges may appear in the guise of life-draining, outer circumstances such as war, the sudden death of a loved one, the slow, grinding presence of chronic poverty, overt or covert racism, or political repression. In these circumstances, our biggest challenge may be to not surrender our humanity, our creativity, and our capacity to love and contribute over to the suffocating grip of cynicism, hate or apathy. This was the challenge and triumph of people like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Our challenges may be of a more positive nature: the challenge to personally excel at fulfilling a task, project, or passion that others call impossible, or the challenge to bring individual gifts together in an aligned championship team --be it in sports, business, the arts or putting a man on the moon&emdash;and inspire others with a capacity for excellence that transcends history. Often, the challenge is an inner one. Do we have the courage to transcend our personal history and limiting fears, and maintain undiminished our capacity to love and be loved when visited by betrayal, loss or tragedy? Can we live from acceptance, gratitude and appreciation, regardless of the circumstances, awed by the ever-unfolding miracle of life, or do we capitulate to the disempowering illusion and bitterness of "what should be?" Can we rise above failure, and open our arms wide to change, or must we limit our embrace to that which is safe and predictable? Can we invite ourselves to create in the presence of the unknown, or do we shrink back to the well-worn rut of the habitual and familiar? All challenges are gateways to our evolvement as human beings. The greatest challenge is a gift from Spirit to each of us. It is the challenge to discover and know our true, essential nature, and to live our lives from it, inwardly and outwardly, in each and every moment. Other challenges come and go; this one remains. It is our ultimate test and lesson, and is found at the core of all other challenges that we may grapple with. The American poet, E.E. Cummings, said it well: "To be nobody-but-yourself--in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else--means to fight the hardest battle which any human can fight." We can learn much from others, but at some point we must ask, Who Am I? and listen from the quiet, infinite silence that waits within us. When we have re-discovered our true Self, we are home ---the still center in the hurricane of life. Listen carefully to your authentic inner voice, and you will hear your own sacred song. Step beyond the beliefs that you have inherited, and discover what resonates with your inner knowing. Love, joy, grace, passion, and wisdom will open up within you, organizing and shaping your inner and outer worlds. You will know yourself to be an expression of the Divine. In the Core Wisdom® courses and individual LifeCoaching® sessions, knowing and trusting your true, infinite Self is the key to meeting the challenge and gift of life.  |
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