by Nickolas Martin

Overcoming Significant Challenges is Inspiring

Stories of people overcoming significant personal challenges in their lives continue to inspire many of us.

Some are born with a disability impacting their ability to see, hear, attend, read or learn. Some encountered life events which tore them apart physically or emotionally due to neglect, abuse, or a life-threatening event. While still others have succumbed to the influence of drugs or alcohol to create distance from their pain and misery.

Many eventually responded to these challenges by not just surviving, but thriving. They and their stories are a tremendous inspiration. They reflect empowered, enabled people whose challenges no longer disabled them.

The Spiritual Story of Transformation

At the center of this enablement is often a “spiritual story.” Frequently, this story begins when people have done any of the following: “hit the bottom”, realize they have been lying to themselves and others, recognize how much they are getting in their way, or opening to receiving the help of others-in this case God.

From the perspective of Ego, Spirit & You, this transformation occurs when people start becoming more connected to their Divine essence. The Love, Life and Energy-God Is within them becomes progressively more immediate and available to them. As the story continues they started looking beyond the “boundaries” of their challenge and toward the “opportunities” of their abilities.

Redefining One’s Self Amid the Challenge

Accompanying this transformation is the resolution of egoic issues of power (a sense of intense weakness involving the challenge they face), flexibility (a rigid way of looking at the challenge they face), or vulnerability (being consumed by fear in their efforts to meet the challenge they face). They stop allowing their challenge to disempower them. They do not approach their challenge with limiting thoughts, or let fear consume them. No longer do they allow the challenge to define them and what they know of themselves-only the human portion of themselves.

Some of these enabled persons say they have a better life because of having “conquered” the challenge, than would have been the case had it not been a part of their lives. Some also add that they were glad that it was a part of their life.

Opening Spiritual Doors to Conquer Distance

At first look this would be difficult to fathom. Who would want to experience the pain and misery which often comes with a significant challenge. However, this is a purely human perspective.

When one considers the spiritual doors that opened wider, these reflections make a lot more sense. They didn’t just conquer the challenge, they conquered themselves. More specifically, although we may be intelligent beings with good intentions, the ego energy imbalance can get in our way. They also conquered the distance they were experiencing in their relationship with God as they awakened fully to the God within their being.

Their experiences do raise an important question for one to consider in the light of our own human imperfection and the challenges we all face. “Are you fully enabled by all which is available to you?”-the synergy of your Humanity and Divinity!

About the Author

Dr. Nickolas Martin is a licensed psychologist who has worked in clinical, university, public school and private practice settings as a therapist, diagnostician, educator and consultant for 35 years. He authored “Ego Therapy: A Method for Healing Your Whole Self” and co-authored with Rev. Linda M. Martin, “EgoSpiritualism: Awakening to Your Human and Divine Self” and “The Two Voices Within: Balancing the Energies of Ego and Spirit to Enhance Your Life.”
https://www.egoandspirit.info/
https://www.facebook.com/egoandspirit/
https://twitter.com/egoandspirit
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpAD–zgwZbXF8V09A6VV1w