“The challenges  
never disappear.  
They simply  
change form.” 
Beth O’Leary

Everyone experiences challenges. No one escapes. Clearly, some challenges are significantly greater than others, but coping with, and ultimately overcoming the difficult times and situations in our lives is a shared experience. 

When I was in elementary school, challenges included being accepted by my peers, struggling with concepts in math and science, and dealing with the consequences of phone calls from my teachers to my parents. During my four years of high school, my greatest struggles centered around my academic performance, or lack thereof. I had not developed adequate study skills. My parents, and even some of my teachers, expected that I would attain the type of academic success achieved by my older brother. That never happened. 

Generally speaking, throughout much of my life, challenges were few and far between. My achievement level finally caught-up, and occasionally exceeded, my ability level. For the most part, I made good choices. I am convinced that much of the good fortune I experienced had to do with the people I chose to hang out with. My tribe didn’t engage in excessive drinking or dabble in the use of illegal or controlled substances. I drove responsibly. Whether it was school or work, I did what I needed to do to open doors of future possibilities. 

Parenting brought on a whole new set of challenges, many of which I was totally unprepared to handle. I considered myself to be a responsible, conscientious parent. In reality, I parented with blinders on my eyes, believing that my kids wouldn’t get involved in many of the vices which tempt kids today. I honestly didn’t even consider the possibility that any of my kids would make poor, sometimes self-destructive decisions. I was wrong. Such is the reality of raising kids in the new millennium. 

As much as I loved my job for many years, I was confronted with a variety of workplace challenges along the way. I was able to handle most of them with dignity and professionalism. As time went on, however, and the environment in which I worked grew to be increasingly toxic, the challenges increased and became insurmountable. Poor leadership, and an alarming lack of integrity by key players in the workplace, led to my decision to retire prematurely. It was the best decision I ever made. It came as no surprise to me that one year after my retirement, the school was permanently closed.

In my retirement, my goal was to write. I’ve done so, and I continue to do so. I’m on the verge of publishing my seventh book in ten years. While the writing and publishing have gone well, other challenges have arisen in my life. Some of these have proven to be far more problematic than any I experienced in my younger days. Despite the current burdens with which I am confronted, I can look around and see others, many others, who are carrying crosses in their lives far heavier than the ones with which I struggle.  

As author Beth O’Leary points out, “The challenges never disappear. They simply change form.” Thankfully, our ability to cope effectively with these challenges also never disappears. We are constantly given opportunities to develop new, innovative strategies for coping with whatever difficulties come our way. With a positive attitude and a focus on gratitude, none of these challenges are insurmountable.