Spiritual Lessons in Everyday Life: Challenge as a Validation of Growth

While in meditation this morning, I got the nudge to share a story of a recent experience I had with you all.

An unexpected challenge

This past weekend, my partner and I took the time to pick up the last of my belongings from storage in Washington and bring them to our new home. Because we now live on an island, this involved a bit more coordination, scheduling ferry rides, and booking an overnight stay.

The trip was moving along smoothly… right up until our new-ish car's battery spontaneously died… right at the moment that we were supposed to drive our car onto the return ferry home! 🫠

We were not allowed to board the ferry until our car had a new battery installed and was working properly. Our car, an EV, required a specific kind of battery - one that, when we called stores in the area, they did not carry. The first few people we called told us that we would need to wait 3-4 days for a new one to arrive!

Naturally, this was the perfect time to ask my spirit team for help, and after taking a few deep breaths and making many more calls, I found a dealership within reasonable driving distance, full of kind people, that had just one battery left and offered to rearrange their schedule and replace it within a couple of hours.

Heading back, finally ready to return home, we were told that there was a chance that we would not make the evening sailing, as we had to forfeit our reservation to get the car fixed… however, we managed to be the second to last car to board the ship, and arrived home tired, relieved, and grateful.

Spiritual lessons - finding the meaning in the moment

In comparison to the challenges many are facing right now, and that I have faced in the past, this was nothing major, to be sure. But it certainly felt pressing in the moment!

This morning I asked in meditation, why did this happen? Why did I experience that challenge at that particular moment?

To validate your growth.

That was the answer.

I experienced this particular challenge to validate, to prove to me, how much I have grown as a person.

Throughout the entire ordeal, I remained confident that everything would work out in our favor. This experience gave me the opportunity to respond to spontaneous challenge in a different way. Immediately with trust, and without fear.

Witnessing my own growth

No judgment on her, but I know that the me of recent past would have really struggled with this particular type of unexpected challenge. It would have drained her and caused her physical and emotional stress. In fact, for most of my life, I had really struggled with spontaneous challenges - it was hard for me to remain calm and handle them with the “best case scenario” in mind.

Sometimes we know we have grown as a person, but that knowledge is mainly "intellectual". We know it somehow, but is it really true? Often it takes challenge and adversity to really prove to us that we are now reprogrammed to respond in different, healthier ways.

Sometimes, it takes challenge to truly validate our growth.

So, next time you face challenge of any kind, notice - is this an opportunity to validate how much you, too, have grown?