Challenges

Without challenges, there would be no progress but at the same time, inherent in all challenges are conflicts, which we normally try to avoid. Every day poses many such challenges, whether we are dealing with some uncomfortable situation at work, an emotional trauma in life, or simply trying to wake up to an alarm clock. But we always seem to equate too many challenges with a state of stress and too few with a state of inactivity and boredom. If we have too many conflicts, we can eventually remove some of the stress factors; but does it similarly make sense to add challenges, when we really don't like conflicts?

Many times, we place ourselves in very involved and difficult situations and in turn, we are totally enraptured by the situation; rather than governing ourselves, we are, then, governed by the situation and when we finish that particular interest, we find something else and continue in this incessant cycle. Instead of helping progress, challenges often become an escape from our insecurities.

It is very simple to attest for this; when we sit down for an hour and remove all the distractions of the material world, we are often uncomfortable. Why? This discomfort with ourselves can only result when we are controlled by the personal dramas of daily life, blind folded pursuits for achievement, and ignorant longings for distractions. Rather than enjoying each action on its own, we act to satisfy a certain need within ourselves. When we meditate, we face this issue instead of avoiding it. In absence of the things that usually work to keep us occupied, we become aware of these subtle yet crucial dependencies, and take the first step in attaining freedom.