OVERCOMING LIFE’S OBSTACLES
Henry Ford once said, quote, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” There is certainly a lot of truth in those words. We are all on different life journeys and following our own unique paths. It doesn’t matter how well we are doing or what we may be planning though, life sometimes has other plans and it can throw a curveball your way that you’re not expecting. Now when things don’t go our way the most natural response is anger, sadness, maybe even stress. It is okay to feel this way. Your emotions are absolutely valid. But what a lot of people struggle with when life throws them these curveballs is getting back up and brushing themselves off again. But the human mind is a fascinating thing and we can actually train our minds to turn a difficult obstacle into an beneficial opportunity. In fact, some scientists have even suggested that the good majority of successful people have this ability is abundance. So … how do we turn obstacles into opportunities?
The first step is taking back your emotions. Unexpected obstacles can leave us feeling a plethora of negative emotions. It can turn a great day into an awful one. But it is a lot harder to fix anything when you’re angry or stressed out about the problem. By all means, vent. Let it out! You’re are entitled to your feelings and shouldn’t be ashamed of having them. But after you give yourself a bit of time to process the issue and accept it, you then need to work on trying to clear your mind so that a solution will become easier to find and execute.
The second step is understanding the problem. You won’t always understand the underlaying cause of particular obstacle that you’re facing. Sometimes they come out of nowhere for no reason at all. But the majority of issues stem from either a person or a situation. Once you discover where this issue came from, you can learn to avoid it in the future or figure out a way to deal with it in a healthy way.
The third step is finding a solution for the obstacle you’re now facing. Not every problem has a solution, unfortunately. And this can be a difficult thing to process and accept. But even if you can’t fix it, it doesn’t mean you can’t plan ahead to ensure the future looks brighter. For example, if you’ve lost your job, you may not have a way of getting it back. Things may even be very difficult for you for a while. But, it could be chance to find another job that maybe you’ll love even more than your last one and you’ll come to realize that your job loss was actually a gain! It is a way of turning lemons into lemonade, so to speak. We must train our minds to see all of the positive outcomes of our issues and push to create goals to obtain those positive outcomes.
The fourth step is self-love. As you execute your plan to eliminate your obstacle, don’t forget that you are important and that you matter. We often get so wrapped up in our problems that we ignore ourselves and our hearts. Get the massage, eat the chocolate cupcake, soak in the bath salts and melt your stresses away. Being in a better mood can help pull you through your obstacles as well as keep you more mentally healthy and happy. This means better ideas and solutions! It is important to take care of yourself at all times of your life. It is especially important though, when you’re feeling down.
Life gets tough but taking control of your emotions, finding the root causes of your issues, developing and executing a plan to fix those issues, and taking good care of yourself are essential to overcoming life’s obstacles.
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