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Overcoming obstacles
“Obstacles do not block the path. They are the path.”
- Zen Proverb
When we encounter challenges in life, we are faced with the duty of rising to the task and doing our best to meet and overcome anything preventing us from achieving whatever it is we have set out to accomplish. Raising a family. Starting a business. Switching careers. Our plans rarely match how reality plays out. It’s not a matter of whether there will be setbacks and roadblocks along the way. It’s a matter of how willing and prepared we are to face and overcome those obstacles.
Roadblocks can be looked at as a challenge we accept or decline. Ignoring the situation is the same as not accepting the challenge, and can even make matters worse. I’m thinking of sluggish sales numbers or a rocky marriage. If we instead choose to tackle the matter head on, we can work toward resolving the issue, even if that means closing the business or ending the marriage. I know those seem like extreme resolutions, but sometimes the obstacle may be blocking that path for a reason. It may or may not be the right path to keep pursuing, but we won’t know until we address the problem.
Obstacles present opportunities for personal growth. If something is not working out the way we planned it, or preventing us from moving forward, it is on us to do something about it. I will sometimes ask…
