Approach It Like You Chose It

I want you to try an experiment (you’ve got nothing to lose in giving it a shot): Ignore the fear voice in your head and decide to approach every single obstacle in your path like you chose to face them. Agree that you are where you are precisely because you asked to be there, rather than due to misfortunate accident. Resolve that your problems are an awesome opportunity to heal what causes you pain, and are not a curse.

It’s so easy to feel like hardships and trials are happening to you—they’re out of your control and you are just the victim of unfair circumstances. After all, taking such a stance absolves all responsibility, allowing you to collapse and cry, “Pity me! Save me!” while waiting for a hero to come along and banish all troubles.

But playing the victim is a choice we make. It’s just as easy to choose to play the hero.

Imagine that before you were even born, while still a soul untethered to a body, you decided on what you wanted to learn during your next life, and where you wanted it to take you. You drew a map filled with adventure and excitement, meant to test your abilities. You planned to face a few fears and experience scary new things in order to prove your bravery, creativity, and strength. To prepare for this voyage, you blessed yourself with each of the particular gifts you’d need in order to carry out the tasks that lie ahead. You invested the parts of your soul you most wanted to grow and empower. When you arrived on Earth, your quest had begun. You left your memories of the map behind (it would be cheating to know what to expect ahead of time). Now, you’re here! You’re in the thick of it. Your dream has come true and things are really getting exciting!

Everything in life is a puzzle left for you to solve, or not. Free will gives us the option to give up, even though we are always capable of finding our needed answers. I’m daring you, here and now, to try and face everything that crosses your path like you planned for it to happen at exactly the time it does, for a very good, specific reason—you’re on a treasure hunt and the only way forward is through.

Where’s the fun in giving up? Would you rather be broken down on the side of the road, or off chasing the biggest prize of all? You absolutely can stay right where you are and raise a white flag of defeat, but that won’t get you a free pass. When we shut down and stay stuck, life puts the squeeze on us. It wants us to move and grow. It wants us to live and be. When you choose stagnation, life will make you increasingly uncomfortable until you make a different choice, and start moving again. And if you leave the game before it’s over? You come right back to that starting line for another round.

On the other hand, if you accept the mindset that you are in charge, that you’re the captain of your beautiful ship, carving a path through choppy water and stormy seas, life will reward you. It will empower you. It will help you find the courage and motivation needed to succeed at every single thing you try to do.

No one is doing anything to you. You wanted to be here. You decided to come. On a deeper level, you already believe you can do it, you just need to figure out how to tap into that knowledge hidden within yourself. You’re experiencing the exact things you came here to experience. Nothing is coincidence or accidental.

Think about it: How would your life change if you approached it as the architect of your circumstances? Would it help things seem less scary? Less impossible?

You believed in yourself enough to put yourself here. Are you curious about what your reward will be if you succeed? Does it give you comfort to know there is a map, and you’re exactly where you need to be? Are you excited to wonder what might come next?

You designed this life you’re living. The seemingly impossible challenges in front of you have solutions, and they’ll reveal themselves if you keep doing your best to find them. Everything is a puzzle. Puzzles have solutions. They can be completed and beaten. Nothing in your custom-tailored life is impossible. When you get to a dead end, it just means it’s time to try a different route. If you have faith in yourself and in the thrill of being, the answers will come to you naturally. They will flow your way and fall right into your hand. All that’s left is to recognize them for what they are and grab hold. But that’s a choice you have to make. You need to decide to solve your puzzles. No one will do it for you. No one can save you from a life you chose to experience.

You are your own champion. That fact scares some people. They don’t want to do the hard work. They don’t want the responsibility. But the truth is you have everything you need already inside of you. You planned it out that way. Deep down, you do remember that map you drew before you arrived. You know the secrets. You are capable of triumphing over anything that comes your way. Anything! All of the power and magic you desire is already within you, waiting to be revealed.

And what’s the prize waiting for you at the end? Its shape and form is different for each of us, but its essence is growth. Wisdom. Enlightenment. Paradise. The more puzzles you solve, the more you recognize the rules to playing the game, allowing you to take control of how it unfolds. You can create your dreams while you’re still here. You drew this map and you can keep drawing it. You can transform your existence into something where fear doesn’t exist and the joy of living, the love of being, is what fills your soul and your days.

So, my friends, you have a choice to make. What will it be?

Love and blessings.