Reason, or Excuse?

Your life will always hold some challenges. they may cause difficulties in your ability to accomplish tasks and interact with others.

Believe it or not, the unique set of challenges you face are a blessing. They are the tools which will enable you to achieve your life's purpose.

Not directly, but through working around them and developing skills to overcome them. Spiritually speaking, your challenges can be your greatest treasure, if you use them to make the world, and your life, better.

Do not make the mistake of allowing your challenges to become an insurmountable obstacle. Use them as an inspiration to others, a bridge that helps you build strong connections. Do not allow them to become an excuse for having a below-average life, or for bad behavior towards others.

If you had a condition that caused you to limp, you could give up all physical exercise, and spend your days sitting in front of the television. If anyone asks about your life, you speak of the limp and how it prevents you from doing anything. That is your excuse.

Conversely, you could investigate and try forms of exercise that strengthen the muscles around the leg. You could go to school and learn a trade or skill that enables you to make a living without using your physical body. When people ask why you became a journalist or computer programmer rather than an aerobics instructor, or why you don't do certain forms of exercise, you mention the limp. It is no longer an excuse but a reason for your behavior. An explanation of why you do not do certain things, and why you have developed other skills.

Many of you live with emotional, mental or social challenges. You can work with these in the same way.
You may have moments where they create conflicts with others. Look at the situation and learn from it.
Be grateful that it has come up so that you can grow, then apologize if you have hurt someone. Your challenges belong to you, not them. You can explain or give reasons why you act a certain way ("I have ADHD, I'm bi-polar, I'm autistic/I have Asperger's Syndrome..."), but do not let it become a wedge between you and others. They are gifts and tools for growth. The greater the challenge, the greater the growth potential.

If you know someone with special challenges, do not insult or challenge them further. Encourage and empower them. Listen to them and show compassion, not pity. You have much to learn from each other.

Use your challenges as an opportunity for physical, emotional and spiritual growth. Don't allow them to be an excuse to halt your forward motion, or to hurt others. You deserve better than that. ~Silas