Rising to the Challenges of Life

It is said that “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations".??

Simple words but comprehensive enough to explain the challenges that shape our success. Imagine you are traveling from Lahore to Fairy Meadows (one of the most beautiful places in Pakistan but hard to reach). First, you will encounter a motorway, a road where you will run faster. With Little caution, you will ultimately reach the foothills of the Himalayas. Your real journey starts here. It will be beautiful but have curvy roads with falling rocks, and steep slopes, that will test your skills. With difficulty, you will travel enough to a place with no metallic Road ahead.?

You will be surprised how you take the following steps; your mind will start questioning your plans. But the mesmerizing beauty of your destination will keep your motivation up. Of course, the jeeps are there for the rescue. You will take the jeep on the strenuous track on mountain hills. You will encounter some points making you feel that you will fall into a deep ditch and nothing will be left of you, but you continue. You will reach a point where even a jeep cannot go beyond. Now you are on your own, on a track that merely fits you. With cautious steps, you travel further to avoid falling into bottomless pits. But ultimately, by conquering your fears you reach the destination. It is marvelously beautiful, like heaven, Fairy Meadow. Finally, an exhaustive yet beautiful journey has ended.?

At this point, some people might decide not to have any such adventure, but those brave enough will go on an even more challenging journey. They are the ones who leave footprints behind. It is like our life journey, where we choose a dream and make our efforts for it. When we start, it seems simple, but when challenges emerge, things tend to change. Our strengths are assessed, and if we keep on with all the challenges, we tend to reach our dreams. Most of the time, we are on our own. There is no help to fast-track our progress, but sometimes, assistance is there, similar to the point where we get a jeep to fast-track our progress on rocky tracks.?

If we look at our life’s journey, we are running behind our dreams. There are no smooth roads toward success. You will always encounter challenging situations that tend to test your abilities. These challenges make you question your plans. Sometimes you lose so much motivation that you settle for what you have, like a compromise. But the world only remembers those who have gone above their strength. They are always ready to define new strengths and conquer new challenges. The challenges that turn your smooth journey into a bumpy ride. The challenges which define you and leave a mark for others to follow.???

Challenges and struggles are not there to make your progress slow. They are there to strengthen you. Without a challenge, success would not appear to be so pleasing.?The efforts we do to overcome the hurdles and reach there make us celebrate it. Life is never about being easy. It is a journey filled with quests. A journey that we must travel through no matter how hard the obstructions are ahead of us. Barriers must not be seen as a showstopper, but rather as a blessing and a springboard for our future success. They give us a chance to grow and nourish.??

We have examples of such people who could have settled with what they had, but their thirst to do extraordinary made them always live. Taking the example of Jinnah, one of the most successful lawyers, he could have enjoyed his luxurious life. However, his mission to make life better for Indian Muslims gave rise to Pakistan. People like Eidhi, Dr. Routh Fau, Nelsen Mandella, and many more are examples of people who never settled for less. They took the arduous path to reach a place that made them remembered for the rest of the time.??

I remember when I was moved to one of the company's key projects to lead it. The project involved multiple technology stacks, a few of which were those which I never touched. Constant client communication and release on Production every three weeks. To add on that, the team included around 10+ individuals I was to lead. The resentment was there as some of the people were expecting to land this opportunity. It was something that opens new doors of opportunities but also a bridge for great pitfalls. Something where I have to set myself to face the challenges or move away from them.?

With cautious steps and motivation to do it, I managed to deliver success. The people which were opposing me started respecting me. With some good initiatives, I was able to win client trust. There were new challenges every day but keeping strong against them resulted in rewards. With the courage to deliver happiness to the client and team, I managed to successfully close the project with good appreciation. Things that were looking tough, were now just the things to feel happy about. It not only gave me the confidence to take on anything but also helped me professionally in getting an early promotion as well. This might be a simple situation but for me, it is one of the biggest challenges taken so far.??

Challenges are often difficult but if you overcome them and perform well, you get great rewards. There are situations where people think about running away from them but remaining steady, is the key. The bigger the challenge is, the better the reward. If you observe it closely, every challenge you face is there to set you ready for a bigger one, no matter whether you win it or lose. If you are ready to take on any hurdle to fulfill your dream, you will succeed.

Remember, situations in life are always there to prepare for a better role, only you need to understand how are you going to take them to win against them.