{"id":1113,"date":"2014-10-20T23:30:36","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T23:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2014-10-21T17:30:27","modified_gmt":"2014-10-21T17:30:27","slug":"the-challenge-is-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2014\/10\/20\/the-challenge-is-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge is Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;That is world peace. Only do it. Only do it.&#8221; Zen Master Seung Sahn<\/p>\n<p>Some weeks ago I received a call from Rita. She is an old friend who, for many years, refused to date or go out with anybody. I understood her heartbreak. Her first marriage has been a nightmare. It was a relationship based on manipulations, emotional abuse, and tremendous shame and guilt.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_374\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2011\/11\/DSCN6661.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-374\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-374\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2011\/11\/DSCN6661-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"A Family Shelter During the Rain--They Were Rescued by Boat\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-374\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The loneliness of Challenges<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I felt bad for Rita because I know deep down in her heart she longed for a relationship, for trust and a family. But it was a tremendous challenge for her to even go out with the intentionality of meeting someone. She told me she would get so nervous, just thinking about it, she would feel paralyzed. \u00a0&#8220;Thinking&#8221; was definitely her challenge. I remembered Zen Master Seung Sahn teaching&#8217;s on &#8220;just do it.&#8221; When you realize that our &#8220;challenge&#8221; is created by our minds or our hearts, then it is easy to see where the healing starts. \u00a0If we make a problem, then there is a problem. If we don&#8217;t make anything, then you are free to act, to just do it.<\/p>\n<p>My friend Rita, a few weeks ago, was able to date again. She was able to remove the \u00a0hindrance so her heart and mind were free. Then she just did it. Try this:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Take a few minutes to release any tensions and come back to your center.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 As you are breathing in, ask yourself, \u201cWhat is the challenge, this resistance I am sensing right now?\u201d \u00a0Now invite the challenge, let it be next to you, and talk to you like an old friend.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 After listening and seeing clear what is the hindrance, breathe out all the tension and communicate your gratitude for the new insight.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 When you are ready, open your eyes. Write down your new insights about the nature of your challenge and the steps you will take to remove the obstacles toward transformation.<\/p>\n<p>Peace,<\/p>\n<p>Juan<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;That is world peace. Only do it. Only do it.&#8221; Zen Master Seung Sahn Some weeks ago I received a call from Rita. She is an old friend who, for many years, refused to date or go out with anybody. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2014\/10\/20\/the-challenge-is-us\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mindful-leader","category-spiritual-practice","category-writing"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"writeherewritenow","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/author\/writeherewritenow\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/mindful-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Mindful Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/spiritual-practice\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Spiritual Practice<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/writing\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Writing<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"&#8220;That is world peace. Only do it. Only do it.&#8221; Zen Master Seung Sahn Some weeks ago I received a call from Rita. She is an old friend who, for many years, refused to date or go out with anybody. &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1113"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1122,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions\/1122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}