Life is a Challenge

Life is a Challenge insuperable, or that which is – within limits – quite surmountable. The latter challenge can prove to be a stepping stone to further progress, but if the challenge is so enormous as to be of a crippling nature, it can reach unmanageable proportions and, it goes without saying, can have disastrous consequences. As a rule, challenges fall into two categories – the tractable and the intractable. The former kind of challenge is a regular feature of nature’s functioning or is part of the scheme of things as laid down by the Creator. It is the way of nature to create such situations as will result in the kind of challenges which motivate people to strive to their utmost, thus unfolding their hidden potential. As a rule, challenges which are reasonably easy to deal with result from some natural process, but in the case of any insurmountable challenge, it is invariably the result of man’s own unrealistic policies. There is a well-known saying, ‘To err is human’. And it is not unusual for an individual or nation to make mistakes. But, it is also important that the moment we feel we have taken a wrong step, we must immediately take a U-turn in order to save ourselves from disaster. There are several examples of this in the recent past. For instance, in 1965, due to internal pressure, Singapore separated from Malaysia. This event was a loss for Malaysia in terms of territory. It did present major problems, but had no devastating effect, because Malaysia adopted the realistic approach of accepting this as a challenge and dealt with it head on. It thus remained