You know how sometimes things are easy and everything is awesome? And then there’s 2020. There’s been a lot of challenges and difficulties this year (to put it mildly). It’s easy to celebrate the smooth sailing. It takes more work to be thankful for the difficulties.

There are tiny annoyances like spilling coffee on yourself right before heading out the door. There are bigger obstacles like a seemingly impossible problem that is your responsibility to solve at work. And there are the major issues of loss and grief we all experience over the course of a lifetime.

Whether tiny or large, it’s a chance to be grateful. We are shaped into the people we need to be through our challenges more so than our successes.

When I was suffering with burnout and depression, being grateful for the experience was the last thing on my mind. I was only focused on surviving it. Now, however, I greatly appreciate the experience.

I know that only something as dramatic as that situation could have forced me to assess what I was doing and what direction I was heading. If it weren’t for the difficulty of that experience, it’s unlikely I would have dared to make a change. I would have kept muddling through, being bored and unfulfilled, for who knows how long!

We all have challenges like that, big and small, that give us a chance to practice gratitude. It’s not always easy, but when I remind myself that difficulties are as much a part of the career journey as awesomeness, it’s a lot easier to be thankful for the challenges.

#PositiveAction What challenge or obstacle are you facing right now? Give thanks for the chance to learn something new and the opportunity try a different approach!

 

Image by Mike Foster from Pixabay