Overcoming Obstacles

"Joy is of the will which labours, which overcomes obstacles, which knows triumph." -William Butler Yeats

I have faced obstacles in my life, challenges that could have stopped me dead in my tracks. There have been the moments of complete frustration when a car broke down, no money to pay for repairs. There was a time when I was stocking shelves wondering if I could ever do more.

There has been illness, death, divorce and a list of others obstacles placed by circumstance in my life. Each one of these seemed insurmountable at the time. Each might as well have been a deep canyon separating me from where I was to where I wanted to be.

What first?

Well into my years when these obstacles appeared, I fretted and worried tremendously about my abilities. I questioned myself, I blamed others and felt like giving up. What I immediately failed to realize each time, is that I had overcome so much before.

I started to ask myself why it is I always went immediately to defeat. Doing so only made the obstacle bigger, giving it more power over my life than it deserved. So believing that "this too I shall overcome" became the first thing to tell myself.

What next?

I began to tell myself that I will make it through, over, by, around, or anyway I could. As humans we are innately creative in finding ways to overcome and survive. And that is what you do, you poke, you prod, you explore every option.

Eventually you will find a way to climb the mountain or to walk around it. You might even find a way to move the mountain out of the way. What ever method you find, keep pursuing, keeping pushing through and you will find that the obstacle is not insurmountable.

What is behind you?

As you move past the obstacle in life, go ahead and look back, but only once. Look back to see what you accomplished. Look back and tell yourself that you did that, you can do anything. But do not dwell on it too long.

Many will stop and admire the accomplishment. They will marvel at the success while all the time failing to continue their forward progress. Use the experience as a means to carry you forward. What you have learned from the experience will prepare you for the road ahead.

What lay ahead?

What lay ahead? Life of course. Your future, more circumstance, more unforeseen obstacles, more effort. But a great life and success also exists out there in front of you.

The journey we take in life is going to be full of many different experiences. Some of us reach complete success, but do we really? Most times the success is the journey itself, always moving forward, always living life.

Keep overcoming, keep moving forward, and stay inspired my friends.