What’s in it for You?
by Kanta Bosniak
Approaching challenges with gratitude may seem an unlikely response. A good idea, but maybe a little airy fairy, even unrealistically sanctimonious. Like deciding to eat carrots on your birthday instead of cake. Good for me, maybe. Am I going to do it? I don’t think so!
I’m certainly not suggesting that we shouldn’t acknowledge our natural feelings of shock, dismay, loss, even anger, when initially facing an unexpected challenge. Self-empathy is essential and trying to do “spiritual bypass” only pushes the feelings down into the body. But to let the feeling run its natural course while remembering that this situation, whatever its form, is your soul’s call to change…that is the magic combination!
The assumption of meaning, order and purpose is not just a good idea. It’s practical, and it can color your entire experience. When you meet a challenge with the assumption that there is a gift, not only in the outcome, but in the process you will go through to achieve the outcome, it’s as if you plugged yourself into an infinite power source. You will find that you have so much more energy to draw on! This attitude of positive expectation is pivotal to what I call your “Becoming Process,” becoming who you really are.
My experiences of recovery from childhood abuse, weight loss and surviving cancer all helped me learn how to be a happier and happier person. What a huge gift these were! Each challenge was an invitation to uplevel my consciousness: to find love, satisfaction, and wholeness inside myself.
May you face your challenges with gentle self-empathy and a sense of curiosity, reframing the old materialistic question, “What’s in it for me?” into a resourceful stance of spiritual willingness to find the gift and claim it, and share it.
Kanta Bosniak is an artist, writer, and hypnotherapist with an international telephone and in-office coaching practice. You can find her at http://KantaBosniak.com Her book, “Surviving Cancer and Other Tough Stuff: An Illustrated Journal” is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.
