Monday Muse: Be Unstoppable
June 15th, 2009 | Published in Get Focused | 3 Comments
Obstacles are a part of life. It’s the way it works.
I’m not trying to be a downer. The truth of the matter is, you live your life surrounded by other people, by physical things, by circumstances. Because of this, from time to time, things aren’t going to go exactly as you planned or exactly as you visioned.
But it’s ok.
The obstacles don’t have to be a big deal.
You simply have to figure out how to get around them.
Yesterday, I went for a trail run. One of my favorite things to do. However, we’ve had A LOT of rain here lately. And Saturday night, a veritable monsoon moved through. I knew the trail would be muddy in spots.
I decided to hit one of my favorite trails, which starts out crossing a bridge over a stream, and then hits a pretty steep incline. I wasn’t prepared for the fact that the incline itself had turned into a stream. There was water pouring down. I almost gave up right then and there.
But, I checked in with myself and asked “what do you want to do?” And I really wanted to run. So I gave the trail another look and realized that the sides of the trail were muddy, but they were run-able, so I forged ahead. I ran for about 20 minutes, and then decided to move on to another trail.
Here again, I was stopped in my tracks by a huge puddle across the tail. And, this time, on either side, it was basically a swamp.
I had been working my way around mud and puddles, and wet tree branches for 30 minutes at this point, and I thought, “well, there’s no way around this, I might as well turn around.” But, when I tuned in, what I REALLY wanted to do was move ahead. So, I took a deep breath, gave the puddle another look and realized there was a big shallow area right in the middle of the puddle. I gently ran across it, and moved forward up the trail.
In both cases, I came up against unexpected obstacles that could have ruined my run. Instead, I took a deep breath, tuned into my inner wisdom and asked myself what I really wanted. In both cases, I really wanted to continue my run.
By taking another, calmer, more centered look at the obstacles, I was able to see ways around, and through them.
Sometimes, when obstacles crop up, we react to them. We lose sight of what we really want, and use the obstacles as excuses, or falsely think that they are signs that we shouldn’t do what we want.
This week, take the time to tune into what you really want. When you bump up against an obstacle, take a deep breath, tune in, and take another look. Is there a way around the obstacle that you didn’t see before?
Remember, you can always create what you want, and have what you want. Sometimes, you just need to take a different path.
June 15th, 2009 at 2:35 pm (#)
Great article, obstacles can be opportunities if we take the time to look at them in a new way. You always have a way of making things work out.
June 20th, 2009 at 3:29 pm (#)
Not that I often remember this, but it’s helpful to notice that sometimes obstacles are really a matter of perspective and expectation. If we can soften around the head-butting, or complaining, and open up to the possibilities, the detours around the obstacles may have been the more appropriate path for us. Or non-doing. We really just don’t know.
It’s about trust, I think. Not in the way of “everything happens for a reason.” Bleh. But trusting in that we have limited perspective and narrow agendas, and that there is always a bigger picture, and a way around everything. And that there are no obstacles, really. :)
June 20th, 2009 at 7:01 pm (#)
I loved what you wrote about checking-in. It’s important to listen and to trust oursevles! Personally, I think it’s think the only to experience the full extend of who I am. I’m working on not only checking in, but trusting what I’m hearing.