Are you up for a challenge?
I am a sucker for a challenge! I’m not sure if it’s because I want to prove something to myself or because I want to prove my ability to the person offering the challenge.
The word challenge brings to mind something that is not going to be easy, something that is going to push me past my comfort zone to a place where I gain something new. Maybe I will learn a new skill. Maybe I will gain strength or endurance. I think that is the intrigue for me. I desire activities that push me past the comforting known and into the challenging unknown, where I will gain a different perspective and, ultimately, a feeling of accomplishment.
This particular word, challenge, has become a focal point for me, encapsulating a period of my life and an awakening to my beliefs. I started focusing on the word while my husband Dwayne was in the hospital (see Resilience). I can’t say my word-focus was positive during that trying time—in all honesty, the whole concept and its impact in my little world left me with more questions than answers.
Nevertheless, the word challenge kept appearing in other areas of my life.
At the suggestion of my developmental editor, I joined a writing group that encourages daily writing to build patterns of writing behavior. I hit a high number of written words with this group’s support in January, but with my numerous life events in February, my word count dropped by half. What happened next was not thanks to my motivation alone, but because the leader of my writing group wanted to encourage our group as a whole to write more—she challenged our group to write 100 more words in March than we did in February. I accepted, of course, and beat her challenge halfway through the month. The feeling of accomplishment from that success boosted my self-esteem and my momentum. I challenged myself further with a goal to surpass my January totals, and I did.
I have also accepted several challenges in the area of fitness this year. My diet and exercise regimen are still not where I want them to be, but each challenge is helping me to get closer to my goals as I gain strength and endurance.
All the elements of my word-focus on challenge came together when I started reading Life Word: Discover Your One Word to Leave a Legacy. This book is a quick yet thoughtful read. If you need a way to focus your life, I recommend you invest in this book and discover your “life word.” Authors Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page guide you to discover your power, your purpose, and your passion in order to identify your life word. Your power lies in your areas of strength. Your purpose is your calling or, more specifically, why you are here. And your passion? Well, that’s the reason you get out of the bed in the morning and stay up late at night.
Ultimately, as you go through the ten chapters of this book you begin to discover a word that will bring clarity in the fight towards the big goals you have for your life. Think of this word as your battle cry. As the authors point out, if you can visualize your life word on your tombstone and decide it fits, that word becomes a device to help you live out the legacy you hope to achieve.
So, guess what I have chosen as my life word? Challenge.
Not because I wanted more of the trials that seemed to wash over me like suffocating tidal waves in January and February, but because of all of the different nuances of that word and how they apply to me.
Life is challenging! I want to have strength and hope to embrace the challenges as part of my life journey, and continue to push through to a place of new perspective and accomplishment … and in the end, to be remembered as such.
How about you? Is there a life word that comes to mind? If not, are you ready to discover it? Hopefully, once you identify your life word you will rise to life’s challenges, push through those challenges, and challenge others to do the same.
What is your battle cry? Please share in the comments below.
