Challenge promotes growth
A friend of mine recently made a post about ‘the best you have ever felt’ and how it doesn’t occur from a lack of stress/problems but rather directly after highly stressful/challenging situations. After thinking about it for a bit I definitely agreed with his statement but started to wonder why, for me at least, this seemed to be the case. The answer that I arrived at was that after going through and dealing with a stressful and/or challenging situation I always learned something new about myself, I had grown in some way from the experience. That’s what made me feel the best I had ever felt.
Remember the first time you took on a challenge that you had never done before or that terrified you?: your first day of school, your first day in a new job, travelling for the first time, hitting a PB during training, opening up to the people you care about. Remember the stress and anxiety that went along with those challenges? Remember how you felt after getting through and overcoming those moments? It was more than just a sigh of relief, it was a new found confidence because you had discovered something about who you are and what you can do as a person, it was a feeling of growth.
The first time I truly recognized this was the first time I went travelling. I was set to spend a year away from home on the other side of the world and I was fortunate enough at the time that my friend decided that they wanted to come along with me. For me it was a bag of emotions, I was excited, nervous, sad, happy and relieved all at the same time. I went travelling because I wanted to change, to grow as a person and that’s exactly what happened. I don’t want to go into the full story of everything that happened so I will keep it as short as possible. For the first couple of months everything was great, it was fun, I tried new things, I was stepping out of my comfort zone and it felt awesome, and best of all I had my friend there with me along the way. After a those first few months, my friend had met and started dating a local. Initially everything was good, we still hung out and went on adventures a lot but eventually I started to see my friend less and less and started to realize that the person who I went travelling with was no longer around when I needed them. Looking back on this moment now, I realize that my friend also went travelling for similar reasons and this was their way of experiencing it but at the time I was just nervous and scarred at the prospect of being on my own. So there I was, in a strange country, on the other side of the world with neither my friends or my family around to help me. I was depressed, I was scarred, I was questioning everything about myself. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, it was this moment that was a catalyst for substantial growth for me. After a couple of weeks of feeling lost, of tears, of confusion, I realized had two options: I could give up, pack my things and go home or I could get my shit together, get a hold of my emotions and overcome the challenge. Fortunately I chose the latter of the two and after I did, at that moment, I had discovered something about myself, I had a new found confidence about myself and my ability to deal with situations. After going through what was for me at least a stressful and challenging moment, I came out of it feeling amazing.
In case you were wondering, my friend (who to this day I still consider a close friend) ended up staying over there and becoming a citizen, in a happy relationship, with a brand new baby and I couldn’t be more happy for them. As for myself, I decided to travel more after that year (roughly 9 years ago) and today I have found myself in yet another country on the other side of the planet, currently in the process to get permanent residence. I don’t think any of the things that I have done and accomplished over the past years would have ever happened had I not gone through the stress/challenge of that first year I went travelling.
These challenges and stressful situations are always going to be part of life and they may present themselves in a variety of different ways both great and small. I urge you to never shy away from these moments but rather to approach them head on. No matter how difficult or scary they may seem they are an opportunity to discover something new about yourself whether you succeed or fail. They are a chance to grow.
