To strengthen your personal universe, you have to challenge it, and there are at least two different kinds of challenges that make it stronger.
The first is the kind of challenge that questions what you think of as true. When you say “Such and such is true,” the challenger says “Are you sure? Prove it to me.” It’s like a night guard demanding that you identify yourself and also give the secret password so he knows you’re not an enemy pretending to be a friend.
The other is the kind of challenge that stretches you, that wants you to take it to the next level. When you say “Such and such is true,” the challenger says “Yes, but is that the whole truth? What’s another part of the story? How does it relate to X?” It’s like having a great professor working to draw out your best work.
Both kinds of challenges are important, though I think the first one is less familiar to most of us.
