The Valley of Challenge

Composer and musician Alanis Morissette was interviewed in the July/August 2013 edition of Energy Times, eloquently telling about the ways she pursues health and happiness.  Alanis Morissette explained that she doesn't shy away from confusion, anger, fear, frustration and sadness, but accepts them for the value that they can have in her life.  She then said that she gets back to wellness "by walking through the valley of challenge."  The valley of challenge.  What an apt description. In all of our lives, we encounter those occasional valleys of challenge (and sometimes not so occasional).  So what do we do with them?  Perhaps they are important indicators of things that require change or temporary setbacks that lead us to new, right directions.   These days, there are countless books, articles, speakers, blogs and more on the art of happiness.  It's almost as if we've forgotten how to be happy or we want to march right out of that valley of challenge as fast as possible so we don't have to experience pain.  But those valleys can be unavoidable.  They provide valuable lessons and we must experience them in order to live a real and complete life.  What we learn from those experiences and how we use that knowledge to live our own better lives and help others is even more important, in my opinion.