Life is full of challenges. This is not a new concept to anyone who has lived, But life is not only filled with challenges. Life is also filled with opportunities.

And in fact, depending on your mindset, the challenges are nothing more than cloaked opportunities. And those who see it as such tend to rise above.

They don’t stay down for the count when they are knocked down. In fact, when they fall, they are thankful for the pause. This has given them the opportunity to be grounded, look up, look within, and find that second wind, and often they come back swinging. They are that much stronger than before.

A Contender or a Champion

What is the skill that sets a Contender apart from a Champion?

What is it that these people do differently?

There are a lot of answers to that question, but there is one thing, in particular, these formidable spirits have learned.

They have learned the art of responding to life rather than reacting to life.

Some unquestionably are scratching their heads right now as they have for long-lived, assuming both are the same.

But they are not.

A reaction is a guttural response to something that has happened to one’s person. It’s automatic. It takes little thought.

For example, if an individual cuts you off, you give the person a piece of your mind without stopping to think about what that person might be going through. It is a poor way to interact with the world and usually calls more pain than anything. People who quickly react often find themselves cleaning up their messes later.

First Responders: Champions in the Making

Those who have learned to respond have discovered the beauty of stopping to think before acting. These are those who have mastered the art of turning challenges into opportunities.

The Process

They stop to assess the challenge and turn it over in their mind.

They assess what is needed to surmount the challenge rather than running headfirst into it.

A Tale of a Little Champion

There is a tale of a little train of which many have heard.

There once was a train miniature in stature that came up against an almost insurmountable obstacle. The further the train went, the harder it seemed. But this little train wasn’t ordinary. He was rather Extraordinary.

That little engine knew how to respond to its challenge. It didn’t stop when it was faced with what seemed like an impossibility.

When every bit of logic contended, it should give up because the wall it faced was ginormous and unscalable.

It didn’t give up. It looked at the obstacle and said ‘I think I can until it knew it could!”

My story: Transforming from Contender to Champion

I am still learning day today. There have been many times I have reacted in life even overreacted. And by grace, it didn’t lay me horizontally. permanently. Sometimes we sit in life’s classroom repeating the exam until we learn the lesson.

I am learning to apply the lessons. I am becoming a student of life. One of the outcomes of my lesson is learning to respond to life’s challenges. And I am being blessed like never before.

Back to the Beginning

Returning to what I said at the beginning.

At the start, I offered opposing views of reality permitting you to see two sides of the coin. However, for those whose desire to become champions there need only exist one side of the coin.

This is the reality they must learn to put before them every day.

That is,

In reality, there are no challenges only opportunities.

Life is full of opportunities to better yourself and to become wildly successful,

“You don’t become enormously successful without encountering a number of extremely challenging problems.” Mark Victor Hansen

Final Words the Final Transformation

So If you dream of a fulfilling life or living out your wildest dream, then begin by reframing how you look at life.

Learn the art of surrender.

Learn to take life as it comes.

Look at what comes at you with a more open mind and attempt to find the silver lining in those gray clouds.

You may be surprised by what you observe

In the words of Cicely Tyson,

“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.”

And they will help you rise to heights never imagined.