I often think about my messaging around the authentic life and worry that it comes across as if living your authentic life will protect you from adversity, challenges, and, as Gandhi notes, conflict because it won’t.

Part of the human experience is navigating life’s challenges, and, as you probably have discovered or at least are beginning to understand, it’s through these challenges, both big and small, that we grow. So it’s not that we want to avoid challenges, but we want to be prepared for them, maybe even expect that they will arise, and be able to handle and cope with them–I don’t think we necessarily want to seek out more challenges than what life already has in store for us either.

This leads to how we can best prepare for coping with life’s challenges.

First, since I already mentioned it, it is to understand that it is impossible to avoid challenges—there is no perfect life. Expecting, not necessarily wanting, challenges to arise can keep you from being caught off guard when they show up. It is important to avoid becoming too expectant of challenges because I think there is a fine line between understanding challenges will arise and creating your challenges by manifesting them.

Secondly, and this will be obvious, living your authentic life will minimize the challenges that arise because some challenges are meant to redirect you toward your authentic life. When you are already living your authentic life, or on the path towards it, the Universe doesn’t need to redirect you because you’re already heading in the right direction—the redirection challenges are often the most severe as well, so living your authentic life can help minimize the severity of the challenges you will face. Again, it’s important to note living your authentic life will not help you avoid challenges, but I believe it will reduce the frequency and severity of challenges. I also think your personal alignment (spirit, mind, and body) will help you find the strength to handle the challenges you will face without allowing them to compound and grow.

Finally, paying attention to the signs from the Universe. I can’t prove this to you, but I believe the Universe provides guidance through signs (bald eagles), small challenges, and your intuition, and if we miss or ignore these signs, the Universe turns up the volume or severity in the case of challenges. If you can catch the sign early, then the Universe doesn’t need to dial up the severity, and you can learn the lesson or make the change needed without the struggle you’d experience if you kept missing the signs.

Challenges are inescapable.

Your ability to cope with the challenges is within your control, and thankfully, there are some things you can do to make coping easier.

If you are living or pursuing your authentic life, don’t fear the challenges you must experience to continue your evolution; trust that you are in the best position to cope, learn, and grow.

🎧 Listen to today's Note on the LifeDesign+ podcast.​

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See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC