It is tempting for me to see challenges on the personal or professional level as a kind of “test”, with the implication that the challenge is something that I could succeed at — or fail.

Today in conversation with a good friend, I was reminded that love and work are not some kind of performance, they are opportunities to serve and contribute, to experience being fully alive.

This is not a test, my friend Gail said to me, this is a practice field; it is the opportunity for you to honor all that is sacred to you, and to practice all you have learned and all you have become.

Which seems like good advice for any of us, on this journey.

Gail is a longtime friend, and a coach for executives and leaders. http://www.osullivanwright.com/why-us/our-partners/gail-angelo/