Stronger Than All Obstacles

“The dance between darkness and light will always remain, the stars and the moon will always need the darkness to be seen, the darkness will just not be worth having without the moon and the stars.” ― C. JoyBell C.

When just short of two years old, this child fell ill and it took from her both sight and hearing. There were many people who wrongly attached the stigma of being dumb when faced with this blind and deaf child. It was said that being unable to see or hear the speech of others, a child could not learn.

Despite these challenges, this child grew up to become

... a college graduate.
... a public speaker.
... the author of several books.

The accomplishments of this child, this woman, were not entirely accomplished by self alone. There were other people that believed in her as well. But if she had not worked with all her ability to respond to the efforts of her teacher and those other people, this woman would not have reached all of those great accomplishments.

The woman that I speak of is of course Helen Keller.

She is quoted as saying, "the most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrast between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March; 1887, three months before I was seven years old."

Helen gave an example of what she experienced by saying, "Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour."

Achieving with small steps of progress, slowly finding your way down a path of experience is a wonderful thing.

In her accomplishments, Helen Keller goes on to say, "No deaf child who has earnestly tried to speak the words which he has never heard--to come out of the prison of silence, where no tone of love, on song of bird, no strain of music ever pierces the stillness--can forget the thrill of surprise, the joy of discovery which came over him when he uttered his first word. It is an unspeakable boon to me to be able to speak in winged words that need no interpretation. As I talked, happy thoughts fluttered up out of my words that might perhaps have struggled in vain to escape my fingers. "My little sister will understand me now," was a thought stronger than all obstacles."

Achievement is possible in many forms with persistence towards that end.

For Helen Keller, it could be said it was if Isaiah's prophecy had been fulfilled in her. And each of us will experience this same feeling in which "the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands!"

Experience the wonder of achievement by never allowing darkness to win.

Your life is worth every tone of love, song of a bird and stronger than any obstacle.

Stay inspired my friends.

Facing Obstacles

"Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." - Orison Swett Marden

There are times in life when we are moving forward towards our goals and we encounter a wall. The wall might contain a locked door or potentially no door at all. Many times it may be similar to swirling sand and dust blocking your path.

Our vision becomes clouded and we become frightened that we may become lost. We fear losing the path we are upon and it is very likely that you may drift. Our obstacles come in many different forms and how we face them determines what happens to our goals.

Some will choose to hide inside where four walls might protect. The landscape outside changes from the blowing winds, but once these people leave those four walls, venturing outside, nothing looks familiar. Still others will close their eyes and march head long into the storm, not looking where they are going and losing their way completely.

How should we confront obstacles?

I have no one answer that will suffice but I can offer some tips. What follows comes from a short-lived blog by Shane Magee, an inspirational writer.

- If we can stay cheerful when confronted with a problem, that automatically reduces the size of the problem. It can be very difficult to resist the slide into despondency; we have to cultivate the attitude of a warrior, and stand firm and not let our negative thoughts rule us. We can gain strength by remembering the times when we were cheerful, and the energy and vibrancy that that cheerfulness gave us.

- Like any other positive quality, our determination can be cultivated and increased. When fear of an impending obstacle strikes the pit of your stomach, you can visualise breathing out this fear and breathing in determination and resolve. If it is the sheer magnitude of a task that is worrying you, break it down into smaller tasks and tell yourself to just focus on getting the first small task done.

- Inspiration is such an important factor in maintaining one's resolve. By reading stories, we know we are not alone and that within the human spirit lies the capacity to solve these problems. Try to surround yourself with as much inspiration in the form of books, music and people as possible. By the same token you can remove yourself from influences that are discouraging you from reaching your goal.

- We often increase obstacles with our own self-doubt. We should instead try and increase our faith in ourselves and our ability to surpass the object in front of us. When a doubting thought comes, we can ask ourselves whether this thought really has any basis in reality; most of the time it does not have any basis at all. Sometimes by even accomplishing some small preparatory tasks we can instill faith in ourselves for the bigger tasks to come.

There are many different ways to face obstacles in life that you will inevitably face. But a sign of encouragement that I recently saw had these words, "Problems are inevitable, misery is optional."

Choose a different way of confronting your problems...choose to live to overcome and not live in misery. The cloud will pass and leave you with a clear view of your goal.

Stay inspired my friends!

What Journey Are You On

Sanctuary Net

"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." - Tobias Wolff

Anything we do in life is going to have some level of resistance. That resistance comes in many forms. It will create obstacles in front of us as we attempt to reach a goal, from reaching an accomplishment.

Think of those mundane activities we do such as driving to work each morning. Traffic frustration can be an obstacle to overcome in getting to your place of work. Or maybe it is the check out line at the grocery store with a long slow moving line.

There are also bigger, more important obstacles in life we have to overcome.

A job advancement that you might be struggling to grab hold of. It could be a relationship issue with a loved one. Even greater it could be a death in the family.

There are many and numerous major life events we encounter. Yet everyone of these obstacles represent opportunities to assess and find new paths in our life.

To find motivation in order to overcome the obstacles we face is a part of the process; your particular journey.  And perseverance is key to continuing on that journey..never give up, never give up.

The journey may change, just don't give up on the journey. Overcome those things in life that will try to keep you from achieving your own brand of greatness.

Stay inspired my friends!

Power of the Journey

The Hero's Journey and the Five Rhythms"

"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." -Tobias Wolff

Anything we do in life is going to have some level of resistance. This resistance will come in many forms that place obstacles to completing that which we want to accomplish.

Think of the mundane things we do such as driving to work each morning. The varying traffic can be an obstacle to overcome in getting to your place of business. Or possibly the check out line at the grocery store with a long slow moving line.

There are also much larger or more important things in life in which we work to overcome. A job advancement goal that you might be struggling to grab hold of. In all of these things we do, persistence is your greatest ally.

In a book I wrote, I went out looking for stories of 'change' from people in all levels of life. Average everyday people to the famous and powerful people have been contacted. This can present a problem in that you are asking people to open up to someone they do not know. My persistence was in knowing there are people who really want to tell their story.

There were of course some that did not wish to participate and I can fully respect those decisions. The varying letters of rejection were sometimes amusing, while some were very blunt. There were of course letters that provided me with great encouragement for success. And each of those letters, regardless of the response, told me that I was connecting with people.

It is this connection that gives me the encouragement to persevere in my efforts. It is a strong belief in connection that can cause influence in their lives. It provides me with motivation to keep me pursuing my goal. The same can be done by you in the journey you are on.

Obstacles represent opportunities to assess and find new paths to those goals. Motivation is the culmination of things or reasons why you are on your particular journey. Perseverance is key to continuing on that journey and never give up; once again, never give up.

The journey may change, just don't give up on the journey. Stay inspired my friends.

Overcoming Obstacles

Benjamin Franklin by RadmanRB

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." -Helen Keller

Benjamin Franklin left us with many great things that have endured and remain relevant even today. Many see him as one born into greatness and a life of ease. But this is far from the truth of the obstacles he had to overcome.

One of the things he did was serve as an apprentice in a print shop to his older brother. Now you have to understand the time and place this occurred. This would be in Boston back in 1718 and was basically indentured to perform the menial tasks while learning the trade. His brother who was much older and would take out his frustrations on Benjamin by beating him.

He persevered and was able to see that there was another way. During these times it would mean trying to gain his freedom from his apprenticeship only to find that no one would hire him as his brother had put the word out. So it was through various means he set off for New York, nearly penniless and no letter of recommendation in order to get hired.

To read of the obstacles or 'rocks within his wagon' is quite astounding to read. But I will not say that his trials and tribulations were any more then what someone else may have endured. As I have said before, tell me your sad story and I'll tell you a hundred sadder stories.

As I read about Benjamin Franklin, he didn't let these issues deter him or lessen his enthusiasm to better himself in life. Much like you need to do in life, continue with a positive attitude to overcome whatever confronts you. Benjamin Franklin said when writing his autobiography, "as I reflect on my current happiness, I can honestly say that if I were given the opportunity to live my life over again from the beginning I would do so."

He goes on to say that he would like to correct certain things in life...but knowing if he could not he goes on to say, "nonetheless, even if both requests were denied, I would still accept the offer." Make what you can of life in such a manner so that you can say without pause that you would accept the offer to live it all over again.

Stay inspired my friends.