“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” Booker T. Washington

We all encounter hardships in our lives. Overcoming obstacles and hardships set before us is one reason why we’re all here. What are the obstacles you face? How can you overcome them? How can you make them your strengths instead of your weaknesses?

There are hardships put before use that we have not created ourselves. Some people are born into extreme poverty or have disabilities that are far beyond their control. While these are difficult circumstances to overcome, I’ll be focusing on created obstacles today. I also want to remind those that struggle with obstacles that are beyond they’re control that you have the power to choose the way you react to them.

Here are a few common things people do to create obstacles in their lives.

Holding on to past hurts.

Have you ever known someone who seems to be looking to be offended? Have you even known someone who holds on desperately to every hurtful thing that was ever said or done to them and just can’t seem to move beyond it? Are you guilty of doing this? Some people get so wrapped up in being offended that they can’t move forward in life. They look for ways to be wounded and they hold on to that hurt and refuse to move away from it.

Holding grudges and refusing to forgive others hurts you far more than the other person. If you want to be clear-headed. If you want to do your best in life, you must be able to let go of past hurts and move forward with an eye towards the future. Doing anything else is just looking backwards. How far will you get in your life if you’re always looking behind you?

Giving in to tragedy.

Tragedy comes to all of us at times in our lives. The death of a loved one, illness, or heartbreak is something that we all have to deal with. Letting your life stop because of it will do you no good.

My mother had a terrible accident a few years ago. In the accident her left shoulder was shattered. She had two surgeries to repair the damage. Her left shoulder was replaced. After much physical therapy,  she is still in constant pain from the injury and she has a very limited range of motion in that arm. Some people might’ve used this as a reason to give up. She could’ve have easily taken to bed and felt sorry for herself, but she hasn’t.

My mother continues to do the same things that she’s always done. Sure she’s had to modify them a bit. She does have physical limitations now, but I have never heard her complain about them. She struggles with pain, but she continues to move forward making the best of what she has. If anyone ever suggests that she can’t do something because of her arm she says, “My right arm still works, doesn’t it?”

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Holding on to bad habits.

What are you doing to get in your own way? The hardest thing to change can be your own behaviors. Look at the difficulties people who overeat have overcoming that habit. We get stuck in undesirable behaviors that seem so difficult to overcome. Sometimes we can’t even see that what we’re doing is undesirable.

My husband is a professional musician. He plays the bass and he’s quite good. Granted, I’m biased, but he really is good. Anyway, his music career hasn’t gone the way he would’ve hoped. Just recently he told me that he’s spent so much time feeling “hard done by” that he’s been unwilling to look at the weaknesses in his playing that may have caused him to miss opportunities. He’s practiced in a way that’s allowed him to ignore those weaknesses. If he finds something that he’s lacking musically, he just moves on to something else instead of working on that problem. Now that he’s noticed the pattern he’s been working on correcting it. This will take time. He’s established this bad habit over years and years of playing for many hours everyday, but he is trying to correct it.

It’s so easy to ignore these things and try to move forward without correcting them, but until you correct your bad habits you can’t truly move forward.

Letting fear stop you from moving forward.

We all feel fear at some point in our lives. The question is will you let that fear stop you from moving forward? Fear can keep you from making changes in your life because you are afraid of failure. You’re afraid of change. You’re afraid to try. Fear can be a major roadblock that keeps you from reaching your full potential. To overcome this fear you have to walk right into it. That is how you gain courage.

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I hope that this has helped you look at some obstacles you have in your life that need to be overcome. I’m far from perfect and am working at overcoming obstacles daily. As we push forward through these roadblocks, we will become stronger and more of who we are meant to become.

Photo by notsogoodphotography

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