Obstacles

Is it just ME, or do you, too, sometimes, feel weighed down by what you might call obstacles?

Please, tell me I’m not alone!

“You've been around long enough, Doll”, would be what my Dad would tell me, “You know how it goes.”

True, true, true…and that was many years ago!  I've had plenty of time to understand how right he was.

Obstacles are challenges.  I've come to think of them as little tests along the way. They pop up here and there as if to force me to dig down deep and determine my resolve about something, measure my passion for it, or reevaluate the value of its results.  They almost seemed timed or calculated.

Obstacles are not reasons to give up.  They are not indications of failure or poor attempts; they are just tests, trials, if you will, and they are there for a reason.

Take a moment to think about ANYTHING in your life that truly has great value that didn't – or doesn't come with its own set of obstacles: go ahead…think about it…make a list…I’d say I’ll wait, but then I’d be waiting a long time – for nothing of great meaning or value comes without obstacles.  They are tests!

Annoying or as challenging as they may be, obstacles build character.  They force you to think, to come up with alternative plans, to grow, to stretch your mind, your belief in yourself and what it is you have set out to do.  They are tests and as with most tests, you must take them, pass them, and move on to the next ….obstacle.

We live in a world with the want of instant gratification, entitlements, success for the very desire of it.  We want it all without challenge, without discouragement, without obstacles.  It usually just doesn't work out that way, now does it? 

Relationships, jobs, finances, children, friends…they all come with challenges; they all come with obstacles.  You have to compromise, consider the feelings of other – even when they don’t necessarily align with your own; these are obstacles; these are tests of the value and importance these relationships, jobs, finances, children, friends…mean to you.  If you are not willing to deal with the obstacles, the pain, the sacrifice that comes with responsibility, perhaps you have  identified the biggest obstacle in your life – YOU!

We are grown-ups, we are supposed to have coping mechanisms on demand. As women, we are supposed to produce these mechanisms, these means of dealing with obstacles, not just for ourselves but for everyone else, as well. Obstacles suddenly seem to have obstacles….UNLESS….

Unless and until you realize that obstacles, and your ability to deal with them, to handle them, and to overcome them can be your greatest accomplishments, your greatest opportunity to become better, stronger, wiser, you will not have experienced one of the greatest feelings of triumph, success and satisfaction.

  

You will have passed the test!

Leonardo Da Vinci put it this way, “Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve.”

So, is it just me, or do you, too, RESOLVE to show up for the test, take the test, pass the test and move on.  If you don’t pass the first time, take it again and resolve to never let an obstacle stand in your way.  When you get to the wall, you can do 3 things:  you can stare at it, you can go around it or you can climb over it.

Testing, testing; 1,2,3