I Challenge You...

Let's talk about challenges.

Depending on your point of view, a challenge may be something exciting that serves to help you grow and develop, learn a new skill or accomplish a task 

OR

A challenge may be an obstacle or a hindrance, something that is standing in your way and preventing you from doing something. 

The truth is that a challenge is almost always both, in one way or another. No growth, no improvement, no art, no story, exists without difficulty. 

I like this definition of challenge: 

“to stimulate or engage especially by presenting with difficulties that test someone's ability”

A challenge, by definition, isn't easy or a given. It tests you, but it also stimulates and engages. It encourages action and produces growth. 

So, what challenges are you currently engaging in? I say engaging in, rather than facing, because that encourages a more positive outlook. 

At the beginning of the year I embarked on several challenges. I began a reading challenge, to read a minimum of 12 books in 2026. I wanted these books to be a mix of modern hits and classics, fiction and non-fiction, easy and … challenging. We are seven and a half months into the year and I've already met the challenge.

Here's what I've read so far in 2026:

The Blue Journey: Memoirs of a Cop's Cop by Mike Geier

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Through the Portal: The Enchanted Map Adventures by Joy Joyner 

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

52 Churches by Peter DeHaan

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Martian by Andy Weir

I'm currently reading:

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

I have several lined up TBR, including: 

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

...and others yet to be decided. 

I also started a writing challenge, to write a minimum of 250 words every day. I started strong with that one, but after about a month or two I quickly lost steam, leaving that challenge unmet, sort of.

See, there's a difference between a goal and a challenge. A goal focuses on a specific, measurable outcome with a deadline. From that perspective, I failed my writing goal. A challenge, however, is about the growth and development that happens along the way. It's the morals and lessons and ideals that you gain in your pursuit of a goal. So, from that perspective, every word I write helps me develop a habit of writing. It helps me improve my writing abilities. The challenge is ongoing and useful, even if the goal is not met.

So, what challenges are you engaged in? Not necessarily the goals, but what challenges are a part of your life? How are they helping you grow, as a writer, as a reader, as a person?

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For a great book that deals with challenges, check out She Ran: A Marathoner’s Devotions, as it documents, not only the physical challenge of training for a marathon, but the mental, spiritual, emotional and relational challenges of life and motherhood and growing with God.