I've realized lately that as I get further into my college career, and am taking steps into the very real and very scary world, that everyone was right. Life is hard. When faced with challenges, most people either thrive and step up to it, or do the opposite and try to hide from the problems.
I've always thought that I was more like the first, ready to take on whatever was thrown at me. Lately, as the obstacles life throws at me have gotten bigger and scarier, I've found myself avoiding them. I've even spent day after day doing homework all day rather than dealing with and confronting some of these difficulties.
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So, to get over this, I have made a conscious decision to remind myself that these challenges are important, necessary, and need to be faced in order for me to become who I want and need to be. Most of us have heard the 'fight or flight' response. Different people handle obstacles differently by nature. What if, instead of handling things the way we do because it's who we are, we can actually make a choice between the two? Hiding from our problems can be appealing, but it is important to face difficult aspects in order to come out on the other side.
You don't always know what you're capable of until you take a chance. Stopping yourself from doing something or taking a chance that could influence your life is just that: stopping yourself. By taking that chance, you are growing as a person, developing new ideas, strategies, and capabilities that can further help you in life. That is one of the reasons that I believe it is important to face and overcome challenges.
There are a million different kinds of
challenges we all face everyday, so there is no foolproof advice out
there on how to overcome them. Self-empowerment and just believing in
yourself is half the battle. It can help to view things from a
different perspective, and outside advice can be beneficial. At the
end of the day, however, you are the one in charge of your own life.
Another way I've been getting through
my own personal challenges is by focusing on the positives. I know
it's cheesy, but I have so much to be grateful for compared to my
obstacles, and that reminder is so important.
I figured this out at a younger age when I moved to the United States at the age of 13. I had a difficult few months as I attempted to adjust to my new life. Mostly, I was too caught up in my life in India and the change was not something I had wanted. Eventually, after being sat down and talked to by family members, I realized that whether or not I chose to be happy in this new life was my own decision. I chose to get over the home-sickness I felt and started making friends. I chose to get involved in my new lifestyle despite the fact that it beyond terrified me. It was a process but having come out on the other side, I am ultimately happy that I chose to face the challenge.
The dread and fear a lot of us feel
when even deciding to face problems is the first major roadblock in
itself. Taking that jump and letting yourself push past the fear can
be so empowering, which can only be a good thing. One way or another,
no matter how things turn out, you made a conscious effort to get
yourself to where you want to be. That in itself gives you power.
Lastly, the one thing that always motivates me when I'm going through a particularly difficult time is thinking about how much better things are going to be, myself included, when the rough patch is over.
