Right before our Tuesday call, she had been preparing a document to send to an executive. As she was reviewing it, she caught a glaring mistake — one that originated in a section for which her colleague was responsible.

Her immediate reaction? Frustration. Anger. Thoughts of blame. Let’s just say there wasn’t a lot of love flowing toward her colleague in that moment.

When she came to the call, she said:

“Here’s what happened. Here’s how I’m feeling. And I’ve been asking myself: What kind of human do I want to be in this moment?”

Such an excellent question.

Through coaching, she came up with practical steps to address the situation. Then I asked her a different question:

“If this situation was in fact working for your benefit, how might that be true?”

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That question shifted everything. My client discovered the Alchemy Gold hidden in the situation. She realized this frustrating moment was actually giving her:

• An opportunity to create a better communication system and process with her colleague.
• A chance to expand her capacity to be a better human … to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting harshly.
• Time to practice sitting with the initial hard emotions without letting them become the whole story.

Here’s the thing — life is always 50/50. We’ll have moments that feel easy and joyful, and moments that feel hard and messy. When we see the tough moments as part of the whole picture, and ask:

• What kind of human do I want to be here?
• If this is for my benefit, how might that be true?

…even the hard stuff starts working for us, not against us.

This week’s challenge: Spend the next few days mining Alchemy Gold. How could everything that’s happening be happening for you — even the situations you wish weren’t happening at all!

Ask: If this isn’t happening to me, but for me… how might that be true?

Find the gold and watch yourself become an even better human because of it!