☀️ The Nicole Magnusson Newsletter

A fresh hot cup of inspiration delivered straight to your inbox every morning.

📆 Daily Issue 24 | ⏱️ Read time: 2 min

From Overwhelm to Empowerment: Embracing Life’s Challenges as Gifts

“Life is not happening TO you, it's happening FOR you,”

Tony Robbin’s words echoed through my brain.

I stared at my unpaid bills, unfolded laundry, and empty fridge.

I guess this was all happening “for me”…

It's easy to follow motivational teachings when we’re on top of the world. But it gets a lot tricker to see the truth in these motivational words when we’re feeling down.

Currently, I was treading water, barely able to keep my head up. How was this happening FOR ME? I wondered…

The answer came through loud and clear: to make me STRONGER.

In this world, possessions come and go, jobs come and go, and people come and go…

But what never leaves you?

Your character. Your faith. Your strength.

The person you are underneath all the frills, titles, and numbers… that’s the real YOU. And the only way to build up the real you, is to break you down.

I wish there was another way.

But it's through the process of demise and rebuilding that God shapes us into who we are meant to be.

And right now: these bills, this laundry and this empty fridge were my roman empire.

“Praise God,” I said to myself, half-heartedly, under my breath.

But then, my sarcasm quickly evaporated as I realized that these mundane tasks ACTUALLY WERE a gift. God giving me the opportunity to become someone of substance was the greatest gift She could ever bestow upon me.

Something inside me shifted.

I paid my bills with a little more kindness towards the phone operator.

I folded my laundry with a little more pep and gumption.

I walked through Whole Foods with a little more gratitude that I could afford to eat at all.

Tony Robbin’s words echoed through my head again, “life is not happening to you, its happening for you”.

This time, I believed him.

If you are out there going through a challenging time, don’t give up.

Whatever is happening, no matter what, try to remember that it is happening for you somehow.

It may not be clear in the moment, but trust that you will come out a better person than you went into this experience.

The pain will bless you with more compassion.

The challenge will bless you with more strength.

The overwhelm will bless you with more inner peace.

I don’t know you, but I know you are a blessing on this Earth.

I know there are people out there who need the version of you that is about to come out on the other side of this time.

NEVER give up. I’m right there with you.

And as always…

Keep inspiring,

Nicole