Lessons to Overcome Life's Challenges and Enjoy it Victoriously

by: Breian Malupa

There was a point in my life when I felt like an ant. Small, little and insignificant compared to the whole world. I felt like a little ant trying to carry a big load of food on its back and slowly dragging it. Inch by inch seems like eternity. The last time I looked at my baggage it was food. Soon I realized that it was actually the whole world that I was carrying and not the food I once thought it was.

Have you ever heard of coincidence? It was a coincidence that somehow life had conspired against me. Life threw every possible misfortunes and bad luck down my way. My relationship just ended, a family member was facing a life-threatening illness, I developed a health problem and became bed bound. These were just the few screwed up events and not including the other incidents which happened all at the same time. To sum it up precisely; I had found myself in the deepest sh*t that I could never imagine.

I felt like an ant and that the whole world was crushing down on me. I felt depleted. I felt I had no more energy to get me through to the finishing line. Even though my strength is twenty times my size, the world that was placed upon my shoulders was too much for me to handle. Sure, I have family and friends around me, but they can only do and help as much.

Losing your Life

I saw myself as a young man with full of potential, confidence and power. Then at a blink of an eye, I found myself crying, weeping and wishing for someone to come and take all my problems away. My self image as a man was shattered. It was replaced by an image of a little boy crying… A little boy crying who didn’t know what to do.  

It went on for days, weeks and months. I think that sometimes we only learn when we start to lose things in life. Whether it is our health, our love ones or someone close to us... even the materialistic things we have. When we start losing things, only then we start to place more value to it. We start to value the time we spend, we start to value the things we have and we start to value the things we do.

There was that small voice inside of me that said, “Don’t wait until you lose those things.” At that point, I guess I was trying to salvage whatever was left in my life. I started to be grateful, even with the small things. There was no point of crying over spilled milk. It had not served me any benefits. It had not helped me in any way with my situation.

Acceptance & Embracement

Life will throw things at you, good and bad. Do you remember your parents throwing vegetables at you at the dinner table? I remember when I was 5. My parents kept throwing vegetables on my dinner plate, even when they knew how much I hated it. I guess life never throws us a bad thing. We just assume that it is. We then realize that it was actually beneficial for us later down the road.   

I found out that we can never run away from it nor try to escape from it. The only way is to actually face it, accept it and embrace it for our own personal development. As I slowly faced the setbacks and misfortunes one by one, I slowly grew and developed. Like a kite against the wind of adversaries, the only one way is up.

I know for the fact that no one will never live a smooth life. Each and one of us will find ourselves at our own crossroads with our own sets of challenges. You will find yourselves surrounded by love ones and friends, but at the same time you will also feel very alone.

The Gift of Life

It has been several years now. Every time I encounter one of life’s misfortune, I happily stand with confidence. I am always ready to accept a new challenge. My message is that you also face it. Let it grow you and let it develop you. With each experience, there is a gift hidden in it. When you embrace it, you too will grow and develop.

Remember these lessons in your heart:

Embrace the challenges of what life has to offer. Don’t wait until you start losing things. Always be grateful... Always value the time you spend, always value the things you have and always value the things you do.

I pray that one day you will find yourself standing with a rock-solid confidence. A smile that says nothing can break your spirit. The energy to tackle big illusionary problems. I can picture you looking at life's challenges, face to face saying…

“Is that all you got!?... Hit me with your best shot!”