The best pitcher in the league steps to the mound. That pitcher is the Universe itself. You know, what we call life ;).

So you step to the plate staring life straight into the eyes mono e it. It delivers the first pitch. Strike one, growls the ump.

That’s all you got life? I’ve crushed balls way faster than that you tell yourself. You’ll admit it’s a hair outside your comfort zone, but you have the chutzpah to connect bat to ball.

The pitcher cannons the same pitch straight down the pipe. This time you’re ready.

Going….. Going….. Going…… Foul ball!

You send a cocky little smirk back to life. You know the one that says, “I may be down two strikes, but I’ve got you figured out life. If it wasn’t for that foul pole that ball would have soared out of here.”

Just when you thought you have life completely figured out, that’s when life delivers the nastiest curveball you’ve ever seen. The curveball that curves way beyond your bat and sets you flat on your ass with a sprained ankle.

Strike 3. You’re out.

But are you really out?

The pain coursing through your ankle feels like a yes, but you know there’s still another inning to prove your worth.

You sit in the dirt contemplating your choices. Should you bat again or should you surrender to the pain by hanging your cleats in the locker room?

“Always remember that even when it feels like things are going wrong, your life is rearranging perfectly to give you what you need.”

This was the pitch you didn’t see coming. This was the challenge from life you didn’t expect. You were on a roll. You thought you were crushing life. Just as you thought everything was going according to your plan when life decided to pull the carpet out from under you and unveil its very own plan: A severely sprained ankle.

“Sometimes challenges happen not because you’re doing anything wrong… but rather because you’re being strengthened, redirected, and prepared for all the good things that are coming.”

You sit in the dirt stumped. It feels like your world is spinning out of control. You squeeze the dirt in your hands frustrated beyond belief. You feel as though you’ve done everything right. You gave it your all in everything you did. You listened intently to your intuition. You know you’re a good person. “Why did I deserve this sprained ankle”, you ask yourself?

You deserve a sprained ankle because the Universe loves you. The Universe is not an angry opposing player trying to strike you out, but more like your batting coach teaching you how to hit your challenges out of the park. Don’t just look at the result that happened at its surface level. It’s never just a sprained ankle. The reality is that there is a lesson hidden in every experience. Instead dive deeper and ask yourself what you can learn from the experience. There is always something. The Universe is steering your attention towards your weak spots so you can improve upon them. The Universe wants you to wake up into a more evolved spiritual being. Life’s is just prepping you with the emotions needed to press on past your current limitations and into something greater.

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” John Kabat-Zin

Initially, your challenge to overcome may seem impossible at the time, but the knowledge and skills acquired after completion may lead you in a different direction than you originally expected. Originally you may have played music because you believed you would eventually become the best musician in the world. In reality life made you realize something completely different. You realized you weren’t as passionate about music as you originally thought. You quit and decided to carry that lesson onto the baseball field. It was there where you discovered your true calling outworking everyone on the field and became an All Star.

“No matter what’s going on in your life today, remember, it is only preparation. People come and go; situations rise and fall. It’s all preparation for better things.” -Iyanla Vanzant

The truth is that we all have the potential to be All Stars. The Universe is trying to carve the All Star in you. It is our job to face each challenge and learn from that experience. By listening closely, your inner voice will reveal the important lesson. It is your job to take this lesson and apply it out in the real world to improve yourself.

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” - Pema Chodron

One of the greatest caveats to our challenging lessons is the fact that the knowledge gained from our lessons can never be unlearned. We can reuse these powerful nuggets of wisdom to catapult us through more challenges until the day we die. These nuggets of information cannot be fully internalized from reading it through the words written by others. These words must be our very own after slugging through our battles first hand. There are life long rewards for pushing through our battles.

So don’t curse the Universe the next time you strike out. Realize that the Universe is on your side and is only motivating you to push past your current limitations and into a stronger spiritual being. There is an underlying meaning behind the door of all your challenges. It’s is your job to listen to your intuition in order to find the key that opens that door that leads you to your underlying meaning. Inside the door it might be a dark and scary place, but walk through that challenge because it is the path to progression and with progression there is happiness.

How often have you heard people say, “I grew closest to God when my life was free from pain and suffering”? – Randy Alcorn