No Problem

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Welcome to Two Thousand Thirty-One, minus twenty-five. (Sorry... that was how an old song I know started.)

Anyway, after last night's hopeful post- I wanted to push on and talk a bit about problems and/or obstacles. They are everywhere in our lives- for everyone in the world. They are small and large, simple and complex in nature... like money problems or employment issues or family situations or a thousand other examples. No matter what you do or where you go, there will be some kind of obstacle in your way at some point. It is one of the things that all human beings have in common.

Some people, though, seem to be much better than others at handling them... even to the point where sometimes it appears that the person doesn't have any obstacles or problems at all. So, what makes that someone successful at dealing with obstacles where someone else fails at the same task? Personal talent...? Determination...? Luck...? Probably all of those and more. Mostly, though, attitude is probably the single greatest defeater of obstacles.

I have come to believe (and I share this idea all the time) that an obstacle is nothing more than an invitation to courage (understanding that the true definition of courage is not the absence of fear- but rather the overcoming of fear).

There are only a few ways of dealing with an obstacle:

1) Ignore it (which usually leads to the obstacle dealing with you instead of the inverse).

2) Go over it.

3) Go around it.

The choice we make there is often much more telling about our character than how we address the simple things in life... sort of like the old "adversity doesn't build character- it reveals it." I personally have tried all three methods... with number two being the most successful for me. In fact, that is the one I recommend to most anyone. Just go run right over that obstacle. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Yeah... right.

If it were that easy, people wouldn't have the problems that they do- or, more accurately, they would have the same problems, but they would solve them very quickly.

So... why is it so damn hard for us to find and utilize a method of facing our problems and obstacles and not letting them get us? Most of the time, obstacles defeat people through simple intimidation... and that is a fact. Often, we let our fears and insecurities color the truth... making the obstacle into something much bigger than it actually is. That is, of course, once we actually admit consciously that there is a problem.

Also, I think that really good and effective problem solving skills are so hard to develop because we get caught up in thinking of every problem as being unique- rather than just seeing all obstacles/problems as being the same basic beast... and slaying them accordingly. Does that make sense? While it may, indeed, take different "technical" skill sets to solve different types of problems (e.g., money and love issues), the fact is that we have to begin the process of solving them the exact same way: by deciding to not be defeated by the obstacle.

It's that attitude thing I mentioned above. Just the simple act of recognizing a problem/obstacle as such and then facing it is a huge first step. Calling the enemy the enemy is the start of winning the battle. Next comes girding ourselves for the coming conflict... and deciding which method to use in charging the particular hill we are facing.

I think it starts with building simple, but strict, personal habits. For example, when I really started learning how to run years ago, I fell in love with it and wanted to get better and better. While training for races (and, of course, Marine Corps stuff), I developed certain techniques that still serve me to this day. A particularly good one involves running on hills: whenever I come to the base of a hill, I make myself speed up and "attack" the hill. Even if I am actually going slow, due to fatigue or whatever, I still push as hard as I can and charg the hill. Often, I have to slow way down once I get to the top... but I never, ever let up on myself while ascending the hill. That became a mental thing that worked very, very well for me. Whenever I see a hill coming on the horizon, my body and spirit begin to get ready for it... and this has become an automatic reaction and an almost instinctive part of myself.

See? Told you it was simple. Now just go out there and attack all your obstacles thusly... then report back here.

Seriously, I would be very interested to hear input from anyone and everyone in how they deal with obstacles. I'm not always successful at it... and I know I can always learn a lot from others.

Take care and happy New Year again.

kmg

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