Road Blocks

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway, and then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King's' wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Eventually a peasant, carrying a load of vegetables, came along. As he approached the boulder he laid down his burden to move the stone to the side of the road; and after pushing and straining for quite some time he finally succeeded. As the peasant bent over to pick up his load of vegetables he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. Character is sometimes defined as the ability to do what is best when no one is watching, and because of this peasant's character he learned what many of us never understand: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

 

Life doesn't exist without its share of problems of course, but as Norman Vincent Peale pointed out, "In every difficult situation is potential value. Believe this, then begin looking for it". We've all heard the saying (or one like it), it's not the problems that determine our state, it's our attitude towards them; of course this often seems much easier said than done. Sometimes it seems like life is preventing you from achieving your goals. You define your goals right, you make them align with your values, you plan the time to work on them, and then … something unexpected happens. This can be anything. Life can be very creative in throwing obstacles onto your path. I’ve come to believe that these obstacles are actually a gift of life, because they are trying to tell me something. All I need to do is listen before I go on. In his book The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho touches on this topic, "Whoever you are or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth. And when you want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". As true and inspiring as this is, Coelho also says that before you can reach your dream you will be tested by the very same universe.

 

How can we learn from obstacles? First you need to look at obstacles as tests, because they are not there to prevent you from reaching your dreams or achieving your goals. They are there to teach you something about yourself. Staying cheerful when confronted with a problem automatically reduces the size of the problem. Like any other positive quality, your determination can be cultivated and increased. Remove yourself from influences that are discouraging you from reaching your goal. Surround yourself with as much inspiration in the form of books, music and people as possible. Break larger tasks down into smaller tasks and tell yourself to just focus on getting the first small task done. Self-doubt increases obstacles so don't give in to doubt, instead try to increase your faith in yourself and your ability to surpass the object in front of you. When doubt does come, ask yourself whether this thought really has any basis in reality; most of the time it doesn't. Sometimes, accomplishing a small preparatory task can instill faith in ourselves for the bigger tasks to come. Most importantly, don't forget to pray.